ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Church in its many guises, its beliefs, organisation, the types of religious men and women, the monastic experience, the parish, types of churches and finally the Reformations that occurred across Europe in the sixteenth century. The Church Fathers, early leaders of the church in the first and second century after Jesus' death, included this feature in their explanations of the many elements of Christian religion, and from this early period it was believed that prayers for the dead would aid their souls after death. Churches were built along an East West axis, with the eastern end of the church considered more spiritually important, as it was closer to Jerusalem, and it held the major or High Altar. Today Gothic architecture is described and defined using the surviving cathedrals and larger churches across Europe that demonstrates national characteristics.
