The Roman Empire and Christianity

I found the Political Life in Western Europe in Chapter 10 very interesting because the Roman Empire ceased to exist after 476 when the German general Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor in the West, but yet those who came after general Odoacer formed a series of regional kingdoms that continued to use and enforce the Roman laws. Many of these kingdoms were influenced by the Roman culture and even fantasized of re-creating the unity of the Roman Empire. For example, Charlemagne, who ruled the Carolingian Empire, behaved so much like an emperor that on Christmas Day in the year 800 the Pope crowned him as the new Roman emperor. Charlemagne’s kingdom did not last after his death in 814. However, Otto I of Saxony found himself as the next Roman emperor and once again the Pope crowned Otto I and his empire was known as the Holy Roman Empire. Another interesting fact I learned in Chapter 10 (which was briefly mentioned in Chapter 4, page 179) is that the Catholic church not only modeled its hierarchical organization after the Roman Empire (Popes, Bishops, Priests, and monasteries), but that it also took some of its political, administrative, educational, and welfare functions. (Strayer & Nelson, 427) Given our current political situation, I hope that our country maintains the separation of Church and State; that it does not go back to ancient times when the Church and State were intertwined, in which men of the cloth dictated how politicians should rule their cities. Moreover, I would like for religious organizations to stay out of politics. Religious men are no better than politicians.