The High and Later Middle Ages,which extended roughly from 1000 to 1500, were an era of great political and economic developments.
The period opened with a titanic struggle between the Empire and the Church for political power, a struggle that ended only when each had effectively destroyed the political power of the other outside its respective boundaries.
By the year 1500 the direct political power of the Church was confined t a small area in Italy called the Papal State.