Ethnarchy: typology of the secular rule of the clergy in the history of the eastern church

Alongside with the Western Church where the theocratic form of rule has been historically represented by the Papacy and has been theologically conceptualized in the theory of ‘two swords’, in the Orthodox and Ancient Eastern Churches the elements of theocracy were spread around as ethnarchy, which is a combination of clerical and civil rule of the clergy in autonomous Christian communities living under the conditions of the rule of some other religion. This practice was of necessity and, unlike the Papacy, the Christian East has never claimed to be specifically substantiated. However, it does not belittle its significance in history. This article analyses legal sources and historical background for ethnarchy, as well as the role of this phenomenon in the history of the Eastern Christianity.