caesaropapism
Caesaropapism (noun) means Caesaropapism is a system in which a political ruler also holds authority over religious or church affairs. Example: “Historians sometimes use caesaropapism to describe rulers who controlled church appointments.”
How to use caesaropapism
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishWhen political rulers also take charge of religious authority, merging state and church power.
Caesaropapism is a formal, academic term found in writing on history, politics and religion.
Split the word into caesar, meaning ruler, and papism, meaning papal or church authority, to recall what it describes.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Historians sometimes use _____ to describe rulers who controlled church appointments.
Etymology
Caesaropapism was formed from caesar and papism, likely modelled on the New Latin term caesaro-papia. It is generally credited to the German legal scholar Justus Henning Böhmer, who used the idea in his eighteenth-century work on Protestant church law.
