The medieval Catholic church was a mixed bag of corruption, persuasion, and fear-mongering. There are a number of scary historical facts about the Catholic church, many involving the use of intimidation and coercion against the faithful in an effort to - oddly enough - keep them faithful. Plus, this was a time when the majority of people were illiterate and highly superstitious, making it that much easier for the church to manipulate the population and make them ever dependent upon the church.