How Did The Catholic Church Influence Western Civilization

Most people recognize the influence of the Catholic Church in music, art, and architecture. The purpose of this research paper is to demonstrate that the Church’s influence on Western Civilization goes beyond these areas.
With the exception of scholars of medieval Europe, most people believe that the thousand years prior to the Renaissance were a time of ignorance and intellectual control in which strong debate and intellectual exchange did not occur and strict conformity was imposed on whatever educated community might have existed. Students today can hardly be blamed for believing this after all it is only what they were taught in school and in American popular culture. No matter how hard you work and how much evidence you provide to the truth, just about everyone believes that the entire period was intellectually and culturally barren, that the Church contributed nothing to the West but subjugation.
Many professional authors still give credit to this view. In a book I recently read Second Messiah the authors paint a picture of the Catholic Church and its influences on Western Civilization that couldn’t be more wrong. They state “The establishment of the Catholic Church era marked the beginning of the Dark Ages: the period of Western history when the lights went out on all learning and

In addition the discovery of champagne can be traced to Dom Perignon of Saint Peter’s abby, Hautvilliers on the Marne. Dom Perignon was appointed cellarer of the abbey in 1688 and developed champagne through experimentation with blending wines. This fundamental principle he established continues to govern the manufacture of champagne today. Although this is not as glamourous as some of their intellectual contributions these tasks are nearly as important to building and preserving the civilization of the west during a time of turmoil and