al approval was no longer necessary when electing a political leader. With this decree Pope Clement VI tried to depose Louis as ruler and elected in his place Charles IV. Though Louis ruled until his death in 1347, Charles did eventually ascend to the throne.The church also controlled the amount and type of knowledge people could possess. The church believed that true knowledge could only be attained through divine revelation. Any type of teaching that implied that God was not the creator was strictly condemned and the writer was often severely punished. Even with the domination of the church, the number of well-educated people began to rise. The increase in commercial and social interests allowed for more universities to be constructed and educational activities became more readily available to the public. The more educated people no longer heeded the strict teachings of the church, but could now comprehend a more scientific approach to life. An early philosopher named St. Augustine had taught, that since God had created nature, the study of nature was the study of God through his works.Theologians and scholars battled between Augustines ideas and the churches teachings for centuries. Though the church protested, the works of pagan philosophers continued to be taught mainly because their theories answered so many fundamental questions about how the universe functioned. The works of these philosophers and scientists flourished in the early 14th century. The population of Europe began to dwindle in size in the mid -1300s, and as a result industry and trade also decreased. The main causes of the population decrease were wars and natural disasters. The war interrupted trade and exhausted the economies of both England and France. Peasants had begun to join together and rise up against the tyrannical overlords who were taxing them too harshly. This seriously weakened the lords power and allowed the kings to bring large n...
