Cobbett's History of the Reformation in England and Ireland paints a very different picture of Catholic England. Monasteries and abbeys all over the country which owned land. Low stable rents for farmers, lots of work for local craftsmen, a third of the revenues devoted to taking care of the poor.
Libraries, hospitals, colleges all founded by the church. All destroyed when Henry the Nads looted them.
Maybe the Church dictated what clothes people wore, but maybe it's better than living under a bridge in a cardboard box while bankers squeeze the country like a sponge.