Answer:
The Church was one of the main poles of power in the Middle Ages. Literally, the Church was the main source of political power and cultural manifestations throughout Western Europe, especially the cultural pole of Roman heritage.
Thus, the power of the Pope was manifested at that time not only in the capacity he had to promote Crusades towards the Holy Land, but also in the legitimacy he had to, precisely, legitimize the different European kings: a king, to be such without controversies, had to be accepted by the Pope.
In addition, on the cultural side, the Church controlled the production of books and the dissemination of ideologies and scientific theories, thereby establishing a strict filter on all types of artistic or scientific expression.