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The papacy gave the popes authority over the organization of the Church as a whole. Many popes used this document to prove that they have "always" been in charge. -
When Roman law started to fade away, it got replaced with a hierarchical, class-based form of government. This form of government had a complex web of rights and privileges that way the king could keep his subjects loyal. -
Medieval Christians didn't think they were worthy enough to connect directly with the divine. So every village, town, city, and city had a patron saint who advocated with the divine on their behalf. -
King Charlemagne created the Holy Roman Empire into a united state. This gave him all authority (with a few other emperors) over a huge empire. Also, whenever Charlemagne conquered another civilization, he would name himself king of that land as well. -
During medieval politics the kings were the most powerful noble. King Philip started to centralize the government by influencing all of the land he was in charge of. Many of the kings created new taxes and attacked many different civilizations. -
The Crusades were religious wars that not only increased the wealth of Europe, but also the wealth of the Church. The Crusades also increased the power of the pope. -
Monasteries would cultivate their land and sell their products with huge profit. This profit then was used to buy more land. By the late Middle Ages, Monasteries owned a full 20% of the arable land of Western Europe. -
There was a ton of corruption in the Church that led priests to live like princes. Wealthy churchmen could buy positions in the Church for their sons. Also, priests would control and receive incomes from territories, but never actually visited them. -
In 1417 a series of church councils established a new authority of one pope. The pope now had control over all of the churches and didn't have to share power with other popes. -
After the Black Death and the 100 Years War, the French crown introduced new taxes that burden the citizens of France even more. These taxes allowed the government to get rich while their subjects got poorer giving the government more power over them. -
The papacy, Patron Saints, the Crusades, Monasteries, and corruption within the Church allowed the popes to grow powerful. All of these events helped give the pope/Church more power and in some events more power than the government itself. The fading of the Roman law, King Charlemagne, politics, and the French crown all helped strengthen the kings power by allowing them to single handedly create laws that were unfair to most citizens,