With the fall of Rome, the world saw the rise of Christianity, specifically the Roman Catholic Church, which was created when a Roman emperor named Constantine adopted Christianity as its own personal and official religion of the Roman Empire. From that time until the Middle Ages, Christianity grew in power and influence, and the Church enjoyed an intimate relationship with the state. By the early fifth century, just one hundred years after Constantine's Edict of Milan, the power structure of Church and State were deeply intertwined. This had a profound impact on the way society was organized. During this period, feudalism and the decentralization of power were taking place politically. With the fall of the Roman Empire, various kingdoms arose. A king divided his kingdom among a few nobles who oversaw a section and reported directly to him. These nobles would in turn divide their areas of control, assigning smaller subsections to lesser aristocrats. The result was a patchwork of fiefdoms managed by lords who all answered to the king, but had direct control over the various regions. The people they ruled over were called serfs, and their lives were completely dedicated to the service of the king. These lower class farmers cultivated their land and gave a portion of their harvest to their lord as tribute. This tribute was payment for the actual, or hypothetical, protection that the serfs needed from the various invading armies that roamed the countryside. In exchange for their regular tribute, the king would maintain an army to protect the serfs from invasion or attack. This system, which provided miserable conditions for serfs, was sustained in part because the church supported it. Church bols… middle of paper… users could only charge for the amount of materials used in a project and how much it cost to feed themselves and their family. The result of these regulations on the skilled labor market has been a very static economic system in which no one accumulates wealth, except perhaps those who receive regular donations. With the emergence of the Renaissance, corporations were losing power. Banks and interest-bearing currency were gaining traction. The Catholic Church opposed these economic developments by declaring that charging interest on loans was a sin. This sin, called usury, was criminal by order of the church, since money was earned on what should have been an opportunity to perform an act of Christian charity. Even as the Middle Ages waned, the Church was suppressing the economic system. In this way they consolidated and maintained power throughout the era.