Early Medieval Political Thought
Upul Abeyrathne
Dept. of Economics,
University of Ruhuna
Matara
The Establishment of the Church
• It took its rise in the eastern part of the
Roman Empire.
• It was the zenith of Roman Empire.
• Hence, it developed slowly.
• However, the gradual decline of the empire
during 4th Century , it spread rapidly. High
social classes adopted it during this time.
The Establishment of the Church
• Constantine’s Edict in 313 A.D. , liberated it
from all harsh legislation against it.
• In 380, Christianity was declared the official
religion of Roman Empire by Emperor
Theodosius.
• The early localized organization of Christian
Church became centralized.
The Establishment of the Church
• Church of Rome became the headquarters of
the Christianity
• Adoption of Christianity as official religion in
the Roman Empire, the organization of church
became more or less identical with the
political organization in the empire.
• Empire of Constantine began a succession of
weak rulers and powerful church.
The Establishment of the Church
• The Empire was smashed by Teutonic Barbarians.
• The Church retained its organization intact.
• Romulus Augustulus’s disposition in 476 A.D. marked the
end of Western Empire.
• The Church of Rome Replaced the Rome as the symbol of
unity.
• Church authorities absorb more and more power to
maintain peace and order.
• Organization of church became centralized around the
Bishop of Rome.
• This marked an important contribution to political thought
by highlighting the separate Entity from State.
Growth of Papacy
• Ecclesiastical importance of Rome began with
the establishment of Christianity as the official
religion of the state.
• Bishop of Rome became the legal
ecclesiastical adviser to the emperor.
• The belief of founding of Roman Church by
Chief apostle St. Peter increased its prestige.
• Doctrinal Controversies emerged within the
church.
Growth of Papacy
• General Church Council convened at Sardica,
made the highest court of appeal against
decrees of bishops.
• Valentinian III, made the Bishop of Rome the
head of the Church and highest court of
appeal in religious disputes.
• This marks the “best Roman intellect began
forsaking politics for religion”
Growth of Papacy
• The belief in the divine and eternal character of the
Roman Empire was reinforced by the Christian idea of
the Kingdom of Christ.
• The Fall of Western Roman empire and the adoption
of Constantinople as the headquater of Eastern Roman
empire had Bishop of Rome the most important official
in Rome with considerable political authority.
• This happened around 7th Century.
• It has given the Pope the supreme authority over
religious affairs and temporal government round the
Rome.
Growth of Papacy
• The Division of Church into Western and Eastern
Church left the Pope supreme in the west.
• The power of papacy began to increased rapidly
due to barbarian invasion.
• The church became the source of learning and
civilization
• The kings becoming Christian also made the
secular head subjected to a spiritual jurisdiction
of the church.
Comparison Between Roman Empire
and Roman Catholic Church
• There is a good deal of institutional and
functional similarity.
• 4th Century Church had been modeled after
Roman empire.
• Each city has got a bishop. Its territory was
similar to that of civil territory.
• Civil province also a ecclesiastical province
under a metropolitan who resided in the
provincial capital.
Comparison Between Roman Empire
and Roman Catholic Church
• The church was an authoritarian as the empire
had been.
• There is the monarchical principle in the
Roman Empire and Roman Church.
• The empire wielded ecclesiastical as well as
temporal power after Constantine. So did the
papacy particularly during middle ages.
• There was a touch of universalism in both.
Papacy and the Roman Empire
• 8th century witnessed the growing power of Lombardy in Italy.
• They wanted to absorb the Roman territory and Pope resisted and
sought the help of Frank.
• Leader of the Frank, Charles Marrel and his son Pepin defeated the
Lombards and conquered part of Italy and offered it to Pope.
• The Pope in tern legalized the usurpation and crowned him the
Roman Emperor.
• Around 800 A.D. medieval empire was established .
• This has lead to the major issues of political theory in coming era.
i.e. the connection between Empire and the Church. The Roman
empire was transformed into a Holy Roman empire in 962 with the
election as emperor of Otto the Great.
Christianity and Political Thought
• The Rise of Christianity was revolutionary
because Pre-Christian Political theory was secular.
• Earlier, man was a unified whole and no
distinction between the material or secular and
spiritual sides of man.
• State attended to all aspects of man life, material,
intellectual and spiritual.
• In ancient Greek, there was even a civic religion
and individual worshiped the deities of the city
state.
Christianity and Political Thought
• The state was all in all and could not tolerate the
existence of a separate and paralell institution that
compete with the state for loyalty of the individuals.
• In Greek political theory, emphasis was on citizen. Man
was primarily a political animal with his devotion and
his duties to the state.
• Due to the influence of Stoicism, the emphasis have
shifted from citizen to individual.
• It influence has been that it was thought that individual
could live independently of society and could
developed his personality in his own ways.
Christianity and Political Thought
• Stoicism made it possible for individual to
concentrate on the spiritual development of
his own .
• The Christianity had enhanced this notion
further.
• This distinction is clear in the statement made
by the Jesus Christ. “Render unto Ceasar what
is Ceasar’s and unto God what is God’s”.
Christianity and Political Thought
• The above statement is based on understanding
of twofold nature, the material and spiritual.
• For material in him, he needs the state and for
spiritual he needs the church.
• He must divide his loyalty between the two
organizations. These organizations are
independent authorities.
• The concept of dual society with two
organizations and two authorities is a
revolutionary concept.
Christianity and Political Thought
• The revolutionary effect of Christianity arose out
of its insistence on the duality of human nature.
• Man has Body and Soul. Hence material as well as
spiritual interests.
• He pursue his material interests through the
institution of state and spiritual through the
parallel and independent organization of the
church.
• The resultant effect has been the denial of
exclusive jurisdiction over individual and exclusive
claim over his loyalty.
Differences between Pre-Christian and
Christian Political Thought
• Christian emphasis on duality of human
nature
• Christian view of Good: Spiritual welfare and
salvation constitute the good for man.
• This spiritual good is beyond the state and is
to be realized through the medium church.
• Hence, church had to be independent and
parallel institution with its own organization,
rules and sanctions.
Differences between Pre-Christian and
Christian Political Thought
• Secular side had been represented by Roman
Empire and Spiritual side by Papacy.
• This distinction has provided new problems to
speculate on.
• Greeco-Roman Political theory differs from
Medieval Political theory because its primary
concern was with the problem of adjusting the
boundaries between the empire and the Papacy.
• The secular and spiritual distinction has given
way to another problem, i.e. Ecclesiatical Court
and Secular Courts.
Differences between Pre-Christian and
Christian Political Thought
• The Church had claimed that clerical offenders
should be tried and punished by religious
authorites.
• This has lead to the creation of a state within the
state.
• The Christian doctrine of excommunication and
interdiction had created another problem for
state.
• This doctrine has given power to church
excommunicate a recalcitrant ruler and absolve
his subjects of their oath of allegiance to him.