The first known usage of the term in a legal context was in AD 380 by the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I, which made Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as "heresy". By this edict the state's authority and that of the Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and state was the sharing of state powers of legal enforcement with church authorities. This reinforcement of the Church's authority gave church leaders the power to, in effect, pronounce the death sentence upon those whom the church considered heretical. COUNT 5
QSN1 In what year was the first usage of the term heresy in a legal context? ANS1 AD 380 QSN2 Who intitiated Christianity to be a state church of the Roman Empire? ANS2 Thessalonica of Theodosius I QSN3 What was the church lacking before the edict that would allow them to legally counter heresy? ANS3 state-sponsored support QSN4 What did church authorities gain as a result of this edict? ANS4 state powers of legal enforcement QSN5 What punishment is cited as church authorities being able to exact on individuals perceived as heretics? ANS5 death sentence