Medieval Religion

The church was able to gain wealth by collecting taxes.

Today the word "banner" is used generally for any type or shape of flag or large poster; in medieval times it meant a very specific and particular type of flag and was just one of many different kinds: banners, banderoles, gonfalons, gonfanons, pennons, pennoncells, standards, streamers, and guidons.

Most people are unaware that there were many different grades of knight, each rank being allowed to carry (or have someone else carry) a specific and strictly-controlled type of flag.

At the very bottom of the grade system were knights bachelor, originally landless and therefore poor knights who had little or no experience of battle. They carried a pennoncelle attached to their spear - a small square or rectangular flag with two, three or more triangular tails on the edge opposite the spear; many of these can be seen on the Bayeux Tapestry carried by Norman knights. Higher grades of knight bachelor carried a pennon, usually a flag about 3 feet long and triangular in shape.

On becoming an experienced and trusted knight banneret, the knight was entitled to remove these triangular tails, leaving just the square or rectangular flag which was called a banner, carrying the same device as shown on the shield. This was carried in different sizes by increasingly higher grades of knight and might be fringed around the edge.

The next level of knights were of very high status and included royalty, their male relatives and most trusted barons. They carried (actually someone else carried for them) flags called standards, which were extremely long, narrow, tapering and swallow-tailed at the end. A royal standard could be 33 feet long. They did not display coats of arms, but the animal or other crests, livery colours, badges and mottoes of the family.

The purpose of the banner was to indicate the presence of a prticular knight on the battlefield; it served as a rallying-point for his own household troops and (since it symbolised the man himself) its loss was considered extremely shameful. It was from these banners that heralds in the opposing armies could identify the coats of arms (and therefore the names) of the important knights in the enemy ranks and where they were positioned.

It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.

The term basilica (there are two degrees, minorand major), deriving from the Greek word for a castle, is granted as an honorary title on certain churches which have shown prominence within the Church, particularly as pilgrimage sites. A basilica bears certain markings, such as a pavillion (a fancy umbrella used for shade) and a bell, both of which would be used in procession, were the pope to enter the basilica.

Age does not automatically grant special status to a Roman Catholic church. You probably refer however to a basilicawhich is a church usually of some importance that is granted special ceremonial rites or status by the pope. A basilica is not to be confused with a cathedral, which is the primary church of a diocese, the bishop's church, and might therefore be considered the most important church in the area.

It sounds as if you are asking about a basilica. A basilica is a type of Church, but it is also a title given to certain Churches because of their age or importance. Some are known as major basilicas, most as minor. A major basilica is an outstanding church in the Catholic world, outside of Rome, the best known is St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi, Italy. Minor basilicas fulfill the "churches remarkable for antiquity, historical association, or importance as center of worship" but it does not qualify as a major basilica. The Church at my Archabbey in Pennsylvania - St. Vincent, is a basilica.
A basilica