The Church was the richest institution in Europe. From the farmers, the Church collected tithes. One-tenth of the yearly income was taken as tithes. The Church also received a lot of contributions from the rich lords or nobles. Many of the feudal rituals and conventions were also practiced in the Church. For example, the practice of praying to stand on knees, with bent heads and folded hands was borrowed from feudalism. In the feudal system, a knight declared his loyalty to his Lord in this manner. Similarly, the word ‘Lord’ denoting God is also borrowed from feudalism. Thus we can see there was much in common between the Church and Feudalism.
