meet in synods as before, but the councils became territorial synods;
they were called together at irregular intervals by the king, and their
decisions obtained legal effect only by royal sanction.

In these circumstances the intrusion of Germanic elements into
ecclesiastical law is easy to understand. This is most clearly
recognizable in the case of churches which arose alongside the
episcopal cathedrals. In the Empire all churches, and all the property
of the Church, were at the disposal of the bishops; in Germanic
countries, on the contrary, the territorial nobles were looked upon as
the owners of churches built upon their lands, and these became
"proprietary churches." The logical consequence of this was that the
territorial nobles claimed the right of appointing clergy, and the
enjoyment of the revenues of these churches derived from the land
(tithes). Even a certain number of the monastic establishments came in
this way into the possession of the feudal landowners, who nominated
abbots and abbesses as they appointed the incumbents of their churches.

With these conditions, and with the diminution of the ascendancy of town
over country that resulted from the Teutonic conquests, is connected the
rise of the parochial system in the country. The parishes were further
grouped together into rural deaneries and archdeaconries. Thus the
diocese, hitherto a simple unit, became an elaborately articulated
whole. The bishopric of the middle ages bears the same name as that of
the ancient Church; but in many respects it has greatness that is new.

This transformation of old institutions is the first great result of
Germanic influence in the Christian Church. It continues to the present
day in the universal survival of the parochial system.

In the middle ages the civilizing task of the Church was first
approached in England. This was the home of the Latin Christian
literature and theology of medieval times. Aldhelm (d. 709) and the
Venerable Bede (d. 735) were the first scholars of the period. England
was also the home of Winfrid Bonifatius (d. 757). We are accustomed to
look upon him chiefly as a missionary; but his completion of the
conversion of the peoples of central Germany (Thuringians and Hessians)
and his share in that of the Frisians, are the least part of his
life-work. Of more importance is the fact that, in co-operation with the
bishops of Rome, he carried out the organization of the church in
Bavaria, and beg