The medieval church
The church was extremely important in medieval times and was a major part of everybody's life. Everybody believed that God and hell existed even if they were the wealthiest kings or the poorest peasants. People thought that the only way they could get to Heaven was if you were a good person and were on the good side of the church. The church taught people that if they were evil they would go to hell which scared everyone into doing the right thing. The church came to own lots of the land on a manor because rich people would donate land to the church in order to go to heaven. People payed 10% of what they earned to the church. This is called a tithe and made quite a few bishops very wealthy. If a person failed to pay a tithe, they were told by the church that they were condemned to hell.