The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the
first records of history. Religion has served as a pillar of strength
to some and binding chains to others. There are vast amounts of
information and anthropological studies revealing the interaction of
religion and humankind. However, for the purposes of this paper, the
time periods of study will be broken up into three sections. Each
section will give a general description of how religion affected the
institution of the state and its Sovereignty in a Euro-centric
perspective. The first period is the early period, which will encompass
from Christianity and the Roman Empire to the Medieval times (approx.
311 to 1100 A.D.). The second period will include the Renaissance, the
Reformation to the Treaty of Westphalia (1101 to 1648 A.D.). The third
and increment of history will range from 1649 to 1945 A.D.
The date 311 A.D. marks the issuing of the "Edict of Toleration"
for Christians. This date is important because it symbolizes "national"
acceptance of Christianity, and planted its roots as a political
institution. Later the Roman Empire on the verge of internal collapse
acknowledged the importance of Christianity and used it to hold
together the remnants of it former self. This adoption of Christianity
took form and eventually became the Catholic church.
The church became intermingled with politics and became a strong
entity. The policies delivered from the church had more authority than
the local rulers and magistrates of the developing feudal ...