ABSTRACT

Throughout the medieval period the core doctrinal beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church were salvation through faith and works, transubstantiation, and the efficacy of grace transmitted through the seven sacraments. The Church taught that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary-the Passion-had atoned for the sins of fallen humankind and opened the way for his followers to enter the kingdom of heaven after death. Faith in Christ by itself, however, was insufficient to ensure a place in paradise; the way an individual acted while alive also determined his or her fate after death. Only by avoiding temptation, practising good deeds, and regularly seeking forgiveness for sins through the sacrament of penance, would he or she ultimately receive the reward of eternal life and escape the terrors of hell.