There is a tendency to argue in favor of Roman Catholic practices,

[marylandblue]

79. It's more complicated than that.

There were civil and church authorities. Kings were crowned by bishops, but they did not answer directly to the bishops or the Pope. Bishops did not choose kings, they crowned whoever succeeded to the throne or won a war. Kings sometimes chose bishops and always had influence over them. Kings themselves had trouble controlling their vassals. The Pope was far away and had no army to impose his will. Church and state sometimes cooperated and sometimes clashed.

It was a complex and changing system, not the static church-controlled dark age often portrayed. That view was promoted by Rennaissance humanists who wanted to revive classical culture and broaden scholarship and the arts.