During the Tudor period in history, the church was a major part of almost everybody’s lives in England. In this time, the church and religion filled every aspect of your life. This is because church organizations provided hospital care, medicines, care for orphans, education and safe lodgings for travelers in the monasteries and convents. Churches were present in small towns and villages so it became a center point of everyone’s lives. By being in such close range to everyone and providing all these facilities to them, the church kept great control. Part of the reason the church maintained such good control is through fear. The fear of the less educated people in the town kept the church popular and very wealthy. The church encouraged any fear or gossip throughout the towns of the supernatural.

The Supernatural was part of everyday life during the Tudor period, as the church had a major role in people’s lives and they would let rumours and gossip circulate in the towns as a method of control. Supernatural happenings were very common in this time because they claimed finding lost possessions, recovery from sickness and resumption of egg-laying from hens to be a saintly intervention. These were all proclaimed as miracles and this was a very regular occurrence. The church let these rumours and gossip stay in circulation because it mixed ‘supernatural happenings’ and religious beliefs together. This kept everyone under control, the church rich whilst still confirming people’s belief of what the church taught.

Delving further into my last point, the less educated people and normal townspeople could not distinguish very well between religious rituals/beliefs and supernatural/superstition because of gossip and fear throughout the town. The church kept a well-maintained authority all over England without the people even realizing. This is because the people only knew what the church educated them with. When people proclaimed miracles, they would think it is an act of God and their faith of the church grew stronger. Making the church more and more powerful. Because people were so afraid they would be sent to purgatory for a long period of time after they die, many would try and buy their way out. Leaving the church in great wealth. The gossip of supernatural left people wanting to be close to the church as they were afraid of the unknown and what was waiting for them once they had died.

Many ‘religious’ practices the church taught had dubious authenticity and left the less educated god-fearing people of the town putting any success or misfortune down to divine intervention. With many of England believing God was intervening in the affairs of the world, even as little as finding something that went missing, left the church with many ignorant followers. Fortunately for the church religion was a main point in people’s lives because it gave them hope and a chance to think there was something better after they died, after they had finished their time in purgatory.

The church was a manipulative, controlling and dominant organisation in the Tudor period, that everyone followed mainly out of fear of going to purgatory after they died. Despite saying this, the Church also provided privileges they would not of been able to receive if it wasn’t there. As well as giving people in small towns an education, medical care and a strong sense of faith. This kept people throughout the town mentally strong and happy, as they truly believed after they served their time in purgatory for their original sin they would go to heaven. But to make sure these followers did not stray from the church, the church encouraged gossip of ‘supernatural miracles’ that happened in everyday life.