the western
emperor Valentinian III in 455 to order the whole western church to obey
the bishop of Rome as the heir to the primacy of Peter. The Pope Gelasius
(492-496 A. D.) asserted the power of the priests to be superior to the
imperial authority, but the establishment of the Ostrogothic kingdom in
Italy and the reconquest of the peninsula by the eastern emperor weakened
the independence of the Roman bishopric. Justinian was able to compel the
popes to submit to his authority in religious matters.

*The patriarchate of Constantinople.* A rival to the papacy developed in
the patriarchate of Constantinople, which at the Council of Constantinople
in 381 was recognized as taking precedence over the other eastern
bishoprics and ranking next to that of Rome, "because Constantinople is
New Rome." However, the primacy of the bishop of Constantinople in the
eastern church was challenged by the older patriarchates of Ephesus,
Antioch and Alexandria, all of which had been apostolic foundations, while
the claims of Constantinople to that honor were more than dubious. Between
381 and 451 the bishops of Alexandria successfully disputed the doctrinal
authority of the see of Constantinople, but at the council of Chalcedon
(451 A. D.) Pulcheria and Marcian reasserted the primacy of the patriarch
of the capital. At this time also the bishopric of Jerusalem was
recognized as a patriarchate. The patriarch of Constantinople was now
placed on an equality with the pope, a recognition against which the Pope
Leo protested in vain. However, the patriarchs of Constantinople never
acquired the power and independence of the popes. Situated as they were in
the shadow of the imperial palace, and owing their ecclesiastical
authority to the support of the throne, they rarely ventured to oppose the
will of the emperor. Under Justinian the patriarch held the position of a
"minister of state in the department of religion."

*The temporal power of the clergy.* When Christianity became a religion of
state it was inevitable that the Christian clergy should occupy a
privileged position. This recognition was accorded them by Constantine the
Great when he exempted them from personal services (_munera_) in 313 and
taxation in 319 A. D. Those who entered the ranks of the clergy were
expected to abandon all worldly pursuits, and an imperial edict of 452
excluded them from all gainful occupations. In addition to their
ecclesiastical authority in matters of beli