The Church was astronomically wealthier than the State, but its wealth was responsibly acquired and generously put to use to provide a wide range of social services. The State preferred to keep its lesser resources for military purposes and considered it the Church’s duty to care for those in need. The Church provided education, and our three oldest universities were established by the Church - St. Andrew’s in 1413, Glasgow in 1451 and Aberdeen in 1495.
The wealth and power which they Church had accrued as an unintended consequence of its hard work aroused jealousy and greed in some and this was to be a contributing factor to the religious upheavals in the next century.