church and state: In the Byzantine Empire

In the Byzantine Empire

In the East in the 6th cent., Justinian was ruler of church and state equally, and thereafter the Orthodox Eastern Church in the Byzantine Empire was in confirmed subservience to the state. This domination of state over church is called Erastianism, after the theologian Erastus. When the empire began to disintegrate, the power of the state over the church declined; and under the Ottoman sultans the situation was reversed to the extent that the patriarchs of Constantinople were given political power over the laity of their churches.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
In Latin America
On the Continent and Elsewhere
In the United States
In the British Isles
Early Years to the Reformation
In Russia and the USSR
In the Byzantine Empire
Bibliography

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Political Science: Terms and Concepts