caesaropapism

thumb|A small cross of Sheet metal|gold sheet, with rubbings of coins of [[Justin II (emperor in 565–574) and holes for nails or thread, Italian, 6th century]]

Caesaropapism is the idea of blending the social and political power of secular government with religious power, or of making secular authority superior to the spiritual authority of the Church, especially concerning the connection of the Church with government. Although Justus Henning Böhmer (1674–1749) may have originally coined the term caesaropapism (Cäsaropapismus), it was Max Weber (1864–1920) who wrote that "a secular, caesaropapist ruler ... exercises supreme authority in ecclesiastic matters by virtue of his autonomous legitimacy." According to Weber, caesaropapism entails "the complete subordination of priests to secular power."