How did the church gain power in the middle ages?

the high Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church became organized into an elaborate hierarchy with the pope as the head in western Europe. He establish supreme power. Many innovations took place in the creative arts during the high Middle Ages. Literacy was no longer merely requirement among the clergy.

Explanation:

The church become powerful during the medieval period as a result of the growing importance, after the decline in roman authority. The church used this opportunity to unify the western European forces. During the Middle Ages, the Pope anointed the Emperors, missionaries carried Christianity to the Germanic tribes, and the Church served the social, political, and religious needs of the people. Also the people want to have a direct experience with God whether through private, or mystical illumination which as a result brings about growing sense of religion and the need to be with Christ and his followers (The Church served to give people spiritual guidance and spiritual governance as well).

social contract theory basically says that all individuals are born equal, and provided a god given right to consent to be governed. american government is based of this

thomas hobbes and john locke said that we are selfish, individualistic, and constantly at war with each other, therefore we need to be controlled. 

government is defined as the legitimate use of force to control human behavior within territorial boundaries, here comes in hobbes and locke.

hobbes takes the part about controlling human behavior. while locke takes the part of legitimate use of force, since force is not legitimate unless there is consent of the people. 

there are basically 3 goals of the government: 1) maintain order by protecting life and property. 2) providing public goods, those which are typically not provided by the public sector, such as roads and education. 3) promote equality be it political, opportunist or outcome equality.