Europe in the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church

Ladies and gentleman, I'm sorry to be absent today, as you know I wasn't feeling well yesterday and it only got worse, so instead of giving you my fever I decide to stay home. But as you know we have been talking about the middle ages in Europe.
Life in Europe during the Middle Ages was very different from today. The system of feudalism was in place which allowed for Kings, the nobility and Catholic church officials to have most of the power to govern while the vast majority of the populations stayed in the farm and worked. Those peasants who were treated like slaves by the lord of the manners, lived hard lives as serfs. At the same time knights owed allegiance and and protection to the nobles and the King.
Knights lived a high moral code called chivalry. This way of life meant that Knights had to spend most of the time in the year practicing for combats by attending tournaments and working their way as a knights apprentice: first as a page and later as a squire then a full fledged knight. These knights had to to look out for their lords, had to be religious and show great respect to women. Knights were such an important part of life in the middle ages that the literature was almost all about their brave battles or their romantic journeys to save the fair ladies at this time.
The Catholic Church as along with the monarchy the most powerful institution in Europe at the time. The Pope was in charge of the religious matters of all European kingdoms while several kings looked after the political needs of the kingdom. Most Europeans, except for a few Jewish communities, weer Catholic and took their religion very seriously.
One of these popes, Urban II claimed that Christian European knights and should go on a crusade to retake Jerusalem form the Muslims. You will remember the the land of Israel was holy to the Jews and was the birth place of Jesus. Jews were eventual kicked out of Israel by the Romans in ancient times which allowed Arab Muslims to come into the land and rename it Palestine. The Christian Europeans were very upset that the holy shrines of Christianity were controlled by Muslims. These Christian knights and other under the Popes command traveled to Palestine to retake it from the Muslim. Along the way many Jews in Europe were killed by Christians. Eventual after some time of fighting the Christian armies defeated the Muslims and took the city of Jerusalem. The strained relationship between Christians and Muslims begins in this unfortunate period in history.

cool video about feudalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdfCruKzAGQ