Katya Camacho July 2, 2013
HIS 204 Essay 1

Early Medieval Church and State The rulers of medieval time needed active support of the church, because during that period of time, there was chaos and the ruling elite had a hard time controlling the vast amount of land in the Western and Eastern sections of the Roman Empire. Due to the lack of control, the land was invaded over and over again my Germanic people. In order to keep control of the land and unify the people, Constantine legalized Christianity. The church gave great benefits to Constantine and the leaders to follow. For one, Christianity gained influence and attracted many people because it promised salvation for everyone, despite what their social status was or class. Christianity also helped transform the empire into a powerful and wealthy institution called Church. The Church was beneficial because it provided religious unity in a time where the political aspects of the empire were severely fragmented. The Church was also helpful to the rulers, because it helped to get the alliance of the Germans and Celts. By adopting Christianity and the laws of the Church, the Germans and the Celts simply changed their traditional ways of life to reflect those of the Christian way of life. For example, they converted all of their old shrines into Christian churches. If the rulers did not have the support of the Church, then their empires might have never been united, and their political structure would have remained to be in ruins. Also, with out the active support from the church, they could have