>It is a bit of a stretch to paint them as simple-minded Germanic folk
Not them (as people), their doctrines (and eventual audience). It was a simplified and fundamentalist approach to theology -- and owes a lot to its translation to common folk language and the political interests of the day for its quick adoption.
>Instead of a strict separation of church and state, the Byzantine emperor Justinian appointed 3 successive popes after re-conquering Italy from the ostrogoths.
That was a power move, in an always tense political climate in the Eastern empire. There were the opposite moves as well -- the patriarch at war with the emperor, criticizing public policy, and so on, depending on the balance of power.
Such incidents aside (across a millennium of state history), they remained two separate domains, not a single unified source of church and state power.
Not them (as people), their doctrines (and eventual audience). It was a simplified and fundamentalist approach to theology -- and owes a lot to its translation to common folk language and the political interests of the day for its quick adoption.
>Instead of a strict separation of church and state, the Byzantine emperor Justinian appointed 3 successive popes after re-conquering Italy from the ostrogoths.
That was a power move, in an always tense political climate in the Eastern empire. There were the opposite moves as well -- the patriarch at war with the emperor, criticizing public policy, and so on, depending on the balance of power.
Such incidents aside (across a millennium of state history), they remained two separate domains, not a single unified source of church and state power.