![]() Those who could not pay their debts to the church were threatened with excommunication. Germans bitterly complained that unending church fees, dues, taxes, tithes, and payments to support numerous clergymen impoverished the common people while enriching Rome. But many Germans, living under weak local rulers and an ineffective emperor, believed that the church took advantage of them. ![]() Catholic kings could usually protect their people from ambitious popes. Popes used this power to defend and expand the church's influence and wealth. The Roman Catholic Church was a major political and even a military power in Western Europe. The Holy Roman emperor attempted to impose his authority over them, but the Germans remained largely independent. But the middle of Europe was fragmented into many German principalities, duchies, and cities, known collectively as the Holy Roman Empire. At the beginning of the 16th century, the power of kings was increasing in most Western European countries.
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