Mahdi Complex

Medieval Christendom Medieval Europe’s political life was extremely fractured. The old continent was ruled by a variety of often feuding kings, emperors, lords and princes. Yet, political and cultural life still had a certain level of cohesiveness thanks to unifying force of Christianity and the Catholic Church. Indeed, the Church provided medieval Europe with a common rule of law by setting, for example, rules for marriage and the inheritance of property. This allowed the Church to eventually gain possession of between a quarter and third of all lands in most European countries. In the late eleventh century, the church also gained the power to appoint bishops, after what would become known as the investiture controversy, a power struggle lasting a few decades between popes and Holy Roman Emperors. Thus, the Church managed to establish itself as an important power broker, commanding loyalties and exercising sovereignty in a manner that transcended borders and traditional allegiances. The investiture controversy is illustrative of Christianity’s awkward relationship with politics, and the tensions that have existed between secular rulers and religious authorities, ever since Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 CE. Due to its origins as a minority sect under Roman rule, Christianity offers little guidance in the crafting of a just Christian political order. Unlike in Islam, there is no example for the Christian ruler to follow. And yet, unexpectedly thrust into the position of dominant religion in Europe, religious and secular rulers had to wrestle with the question of how to apply Christian doctrines to political life. After all, how could a religion purporting to have knowledge of the will of the creator of the Cosmos – the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth – not have anything authoritative to say on the matter of politics? Thus, Christian political-theology has been characterized by the tension between the “City of Man,” the t