caesaropapism

caesaropapism

Political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. It is often associated with the Byzantine Empire, where emperors presided over church councils and appointed patriarchs. The term has also been applied to other historical eras, including the rule of Tsar Peter I, who made the Russian Orthodox Church a department of the state, and the reign of Henry VIII in England.