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The Period of Invasions 195 long as the emperors remained strong and active there was no reason for the clergy to assume any responsibility in the manage- ment of the State. But as the great Empire fell apart the Church was often called upon to assist in matters which properly belonged to the government. The authority of the various barbarian kings was seldom suffi- cient to keep their realms in order. There were always many powerful landholders scattered throughout the kingdom who did pretty much what they pleased and settled their grudges against their fellows by neighborhood wars. Fighting was the main busi- ness as well as the chief amusement of this class. The king was unable to maintain peace and protect the oppressed, however anxious he may have been to do so. Under these circumstances it naturally fell to the Church to keep order, when it could, by either threats or persuasion ; to see that contracts were kept, the wills of the dead carried out, and marriage obligations observed. It took the defenseless widow and orphan under its protection and dispensed charity; it pro- moted education at a time when few laymen, however rich and noble, could even read. These conditions serve to explain why the Church was finally able so greatly to extend the powers which it had enjoyed under the Roman Empire, and why it under- took duties which seem to us to belong to the State rather than to a religious organization. 309. Origin of Papal Power. We must now turn to a con- sideration of the origin and growth of the supremacy of the popes, who, by raising themselves to the head of the Western Church, became in many respects more powerful than any of the kings and princes with whom they frequently found themselves in bitter Conflict. There had always been a tradition that Peter was the first bishop of Rome. The beltef appears to have been gen- erally accepted at least as early as the middle of the second cen- tury. Peter enjoyed a preeminence among the other apostles and was singled out by Christ upon several occasions. In a pas- sage of the New Testament (Matt, xvi, 18-19), which has affected history more profoundly than the edicts of the most powerful