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How did St. Ambrose describe the duties of a Christian emperor?
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St. Ambrose
Image of St. Ambrose, detail from a stained-glass window in a Roman Catholic church in Antwerp, Belgium.
St. Ambrose established a foundational medieval concept of the Christian emperor as a "dutiful son of the church". In this view, the emperor is described as "serving under orders from Christ," which consequently makes him subject to the advice and strictures of his bishop.1
Ambrose demonstrated this belief through his own actions, such as imposing public penance on the emperor Theodosius following the massacre of citizens in Thessalonica. By asserting that even an emperor must answer to the church in spiritual matters, Ambrose helped shape the development of church-state relations in the West.1