I don't know what period you're longing for, but it sounds like an outlier. The church history I'm familiar with is one where the Pope had power at least on par with the head of any government or military near their sphere of influence. Also, crusades.
Churches amassing massive wealth is far from new. Nor do I suspect the LDS has even a small fraction of the Roman Catholic Church's wealth.
I don't know what period you're longing for, but it sounds like an outlier. The church history I'm familiar with is one where the Pope had power at least on par with the head of any government or military near their sphere of influence. Also, crusades.
Churches amassing massive wealth is far from new. Nor do I suspect the LDS has even a small fraction of the Roman Catholic Church's wealth.