priests had quite a lot of influence over the people.
Priests also collected a tenth of whatever the peasants had produced from their land over the course of the year. This was called a "tithe."
Anyone who was suspected of disagreeing with the church's teachings was called a heretic and burnt at the stake.
even if they did make it to heaven in the afterlife, they would have to spend a thousand years in purgatory to be cleansed of their sins on earth. So, many rich people would pay the church to say extra masses for them in the hope that it would reduce the amount of time in purgatory.