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Medieval Society

Clergy

This was certainly the single most privileged group in the Middle Ages, even more than the nobility. The specifics of their privileges cannot be detailed because these changed with time and place and even with circumstance. Nor were the limits and boundaries of their privileges perfectly clear at all times, but rather were constantly being negotiated and litigated. Some general comments can nevertheless be made reliably, and this will be enough for our present purposes.

Taxes

The clergy were exempt from taxes (churches still are, in many countries). As you may have learned from a study of medieval economics, there was no such thing as regular taxes in the Middle Ages, so "exempt" is a little misleading in this context. In practice, the clergy within any secular administrative unit (kingdom, duchy, town, whatever) had to be asked for money by the ruler. The "tax" paid by clergy was usually couched in the form of a donation; that is, the king might ask for a ninth part of the annual income from the churches within his realm. It was up to the bishops of the realm to organize the details of tax collection and then present the king with however much money they collected (it was rarely as much as was asked). This was presented as a "gift." Normally the king was expected to ask for this sort of thing only to cover extraordinary expenses, such as a war.

One of the significant developments of the late Middle Ages was the increasing success kings had in levying regular taxes on their churches. By the later 15th century, kings in England and France, plus certain rulers elsewhere, had established their right to impose taxes on their clergy without having to ask permission.

The clergy did have to pay other taxes, though. These were the tithes and fees paid by bishops to the pope. In the earlier Middle Ages, these were negligable or even non-existent, but by the 1400s they were becoming substantial, especially in Italy and Germany.

Criminal Law

A second area where the clergy enjoyed tremendous privileges was in the area of crime, for the Catholic Church had its own legal system, its own courts and judges, and members of the clergy were tried in Church courts rather than in secular courts.

As you might guess, this led to chronic disputes, as kings and towns didn't much like the idea that a priest could commit a crime but then not be prosecuted for that crime in a civil court. The problem of "criminous clergy" was one that persisted all through the high and late Middle Ages. The privilege was fiercely protected by the bishops and the papacy. Along with taxes, the privilege of a separate legal system was what set the clergy apart from the rest of society in a practical and visible way.

Monasteries

Especially with the rise of the friars (Franciscans and Dominicans) in the 13th century, monasteries acquired enormous privileges. These were more akin to the privileges enjoyed by the nobility; that is, rights over agricultural land, fishing rights, forestry and hunting rights, but also special privileges that empowered a monastery to levy tolls, hold markets, or exclusive right to manufacture something.

Other Privileges

These are too numerous and varied too much with time and place for me to detail here. Suffice it to say that the privileges might include anything from the right to dress a certain way, to be introduced at a formal event in a certain way, to economic rights or social privileges. These might be granted to individuals, to groups, or to the clergy in general. They might be granted explicitly, in a charter, or implicitly through practice. The sum of these, though, made the clergy clearly separate from the rest of society.