Literally, "money for a man." In Germanic law most crimes were treated personally, with punishment meted out directly by a person's family. The system of weregeld payments was orchestrated as a reaction to the heavy toll that was sometimes extracted by grieving family members who wished to receive retribution for …

520- 530 CE -- The Benedictine Rule written by Saint Benedict of Nursia, 480- 543 CE , advocated an ideal of moderation for monks who wished to maintain a righteous lifestyle. The sense of the rule is that one should moderate, yet one might also be compelled to deprive themself and receive …

The Petrine Supremacy is the belief that bishops of Rome were granted special office by Jesus, and therefore held a superior position within the church. The Gospel of Matthew relates that Jesus gave Peter, the first bishop of Rome, "the keys to the kingdom of heaven."

Emperor Constantine initiated the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE to help address questions about Jesus' nature. Specifically, the council convened to determine if Jesus was human or God. The council eventually found that Jesus was made of the "same substance" as God, and therefore was a God.

To go against or contradict the ruling or teaching of the Catholic Church is to commit heresy. For much of the Common Era, those who committed or were accused of heresy were persecuted or killed.

In 313 CE Roman Emperor Constantine, Constantine the Great , issued the Edict of Milan. The Edict of Milan caused the Roman government to formally recognize and tolerate the Christian religion.