During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was "the most powerful institution to be found anywhere in Europe.... (Duggan 2014) Another important source of the Church's income during the Middle Ages was taxes collected from rulers and peasants, the most common of which are annates. ... The Church was able to "control the taxation of church wealth and appointments to high positions in government.... However, with the rise of nation states like England, France, and Spain, monarchs began to challenge the leadership of the Church (Johnson, Johnson 67). As the monarchs of these nati...

• Word Count: 1465
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate