The dominance of what factor characterized Medieval Europe

The dominance of religion/the church characterized Medieval Europe.

Explanation:

Medieval Europe was not the best place to live. Even though often it is too harshly criticized and that it stagnated are not entirely true, but that it fell behind in the development behind other regions it did. The dominant factor in this period of Europe's history was the religion or rather the church. The religious authorities had immense political power and either collaborated or controlled the rulers of the countries.

The religious authorities, in order to keep their power needed to keep under their control and survailance. This led to brutal behavior from their side toward the population, especially toward the people that were engaged in science and medicine, often ending up in prison or dead. Such behavior led to a significant slowing down of Europe's progress, and it was only after the religious authorities lost their power that the continent flourished again.

a variant spelling of the word dote (british)