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Teutonic tribes stormed across the borders of the Roman Empire, taking Christianity in the process. In the east, the church became more and more an "imperial church" under the control of the emperor. In the west, the Bishop of Rome gained primacy. With growing self-confidence, he demanded supreme power over the teaching and the dispensation of justice in the church. This intensified the differences between the east and west.
At the beginning of the Seventh Century, a new religion emerged from the Arab world. It, too, saw itself as a revelation of the one God and developed an enormous pressure to expand. In no time, Islam had conquered the Near East, the Balkans and penetrated across Africa into Spain. The Franks were finally able to put a stop to this advancement. They had established a stable kingdom in western and central Europe and assumed Roman Christianity as their religion. In close cooperation with the pope, the Anglo-Saxon monk Boniface organized the Frankish church. When the Carolingian Pippin made a bid for royal power, the pope gave him valuable support. In return, the king assumed the role of protector and guardian of the church. His successor, Charlemagne, conducted countless wars of conquest against the Teutonic tribes and subjugated them to Christi |
