State and religion

Government and religion have both played a big part in human societies throughout most of history. While they might seem to have very different roles, they have usually been quite closely connected. Religious figures were often among the most learned and skilled people in society. Many worked as advisors to rulers and as government officials. Rulers frequently provided money and support to religious institutions like churches and temples. Sometimes, rulers were seen as religious leaders themselves. Often, they claimed to have the support of God or the gods. At other times, of course, religious leaders and state rulers clashed with each other. All of these kinds of relationships existed in the period c. 1200–1450 CE. Let’s look at some examples.

The Islamic world

The relationship between state and religion was often very strong in the Islamic world. Between the seventh and tenth centuries, the area in which Islam was practiced was like a single state. It was known as the Caliphate. By 1200, however, there was no longer a single unified Islamic sphere. Islam had spread across a much larger area, stretching from West Africa to parts of Southeast Asia. Political authority was now divided among lots of different states.¹

 Islam also wasn’t a single religious faith in this period. Most Muslims were members of the Sunni sect. Muslims living in Persia were often members of the Shi’a sect. These two sects often disagreed about who should govern and how to interpret religious texts. Across the Islamic world, Muslim thinkers and scholars served as qadi, or judges. They helped sultans and other rulers keep order within society. In return, the rulers funded Islamic schools and temples.

However, Islamic thought could also inspire some to oppose the state. One Islamic religious movement, known as Sufism, emphasized personal spiritual experience. It stressed equality and brotherhood rather than obedience to authorities. Many Muslim rulers saw the growing Sufi movement as a threat. They began cracking down on Sufis in their territories. 

Religious pluralism in South and Southeast Asia

In the period c. 1200–1450 CE, Hinduism and Buddhism were two of the biggest religions in the world. Both emerged first in South Asia. Hinduism is a polytheistic faith, meaning that Hindus worship many gods rather than only one. Hinduism was based on older practices from northern India. It developed a powerful priestly class, the brahmins. Hinduism spread as far as Southeast Asia by about 200 CE.

Buddhism emerged in the sixth century BCE, in the same region and from the same set of older practices as Hinduism. However, Buddhists took a very different approach. Buddhism emphasized personal pathways to enlightenment, rather than gods and the authority of a priestly class. Buddhism spread rapidly into Southeast Asia and then to China, Korea, and Japan. Over time it took on many different forms.

In general, Hinduism proved to be a more useful religion for rulers in South Asia. In India, kings, or Rajputs, supported Hindu temples and religious orders. As a result, a strong alliance emerged between the priests (brahmins) and rulers. In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, many rulers became Buddhists, and set up a series of monasteries. Monks and nuns from these monasteries gained quite a bit of political influence.

The Chinese model

In China, Buddhism had become very important by the time of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE). It existed alongside Daoism, a belief system focused on nature. Neither of these two belief systems emphasized obedience to the state. That made them troublesome, as far as governments were concerned.

Rather than either of these religions, the Song Dynasty government promoted Confucianism. This thought system was based on the ideas of Confucius, a fifth century BCE thinker. Confucius’s ideas were collected in a book, called the Analects. The Analects emphasized the importance of loyalty and relationships based on social rank, including relationships between ruler and subject. It argued that these relationships reflected the relationship between Heaven and Earth.

Christendom

Religious leaders and rulers also formed alliances in Christian Europe. This was especially true in the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine emperors and the religious leaders, or patriarchs, of the Orthodox Church generally worked quite closely together. They governed the empire together and spread the religion to neighboring peoples. Christian clergy also provided rulers with administrators.

In Catholic Europe as well, rulers relied on priests and monks. Priests generally called upon people to obey their kings and princes, who were believed to rule with God’s approval. The two leaderships also cooperated on religious wars, or crusades, directed against Muslims and other non-Christians.

However, there was also division within the Catholic world. The Catholic popes were political figures as well as religious leaders, and they often competed with powerful kings. Popes could charge taxes and raise armies of their own. They also had another powerful weapon. They could expel, or excommunicate, people from the Catholic Church. An excommunicated ruler faced the risk of rebellion from their faithful Catholic subjects. In the mid-thirteenth century, the most powerful rulers of central Europe, the Holy Roman Emperors, fought with the pope for influence in that region. Emperor Frederick II was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV in 1239. In return, Frederick expelled many priests from his territory.

In general, however, church and state had a cooperative relationship. Christianity was too important to the population, and priests too useful to rulers, for a permanent break to occur.

The Bantu-speaking world

In sub-Saharan Africa outside of the Islamic world, rulers were also closely tied to belief systems. This was true throughout the Bantu-speaking world, the vast region of central, southern, and eastern Africa. Here, in most cases, there were no separate religious leaders. Instead, communities shared a common set of beliefs, focused on ancestors and spirits. Many Bantu-speaking states were confederations, or unions, made up of several communities. The rulers of these confederations used shared beliefs and practices to unify the different groups.

The Mongols

The Mongols created a huge empire through conquest. Among the conquered peoples were Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and followers of many other faiths. The Mongols’ own ancestors were generally animists, who worshiped a number of different gods, spirits, and ancestors. But the Mongols quickly adapted to their new surroundings. In the center and south of the Mongol Empire, many converted to Islam, although they mixed the new faith with their own preexisting practices and traditions. In China and surrounding regions, many Mongol leaders adopted Buddhism. In the west, some Mongol leaders became Christians.

Mongol rulers, called Khans, generally allowed many different religious to coexist. They defended religious minorities and supported temples and churches of many different faiths. Some scholars have argued that this was necessary to keep the peace in a vast empire. Others see it as a form of insurance. In other words, Mongol rulers supported all faiths just in case one turned out to be the “true” religion.

1 Rulers of later states like the Ottoman Empire claimed to be Caliphs—spiritual leaders of all Muslims—right up to the twentieth century. But they didn’t really have that power or authority.