History: excommunicationinterdict

Excommunication is the formal process of banning someone from attending church. Excommunication was seen as one of the severest penalties in the middle ages. Persons could be excommunicated for committing any of a number of sins, after which, a church official would formally forbid them from returning to the church. Interdict was a form of punishment for a people or nation. The people subject to interdict could not partake in several important sacraments. In accord with the common belief system, this would hold serious consequences in the afterlife.