Hence arose that important influence of the bishops which was
to have so perceptible an effect on the subsequent development of the
principles of liberty in the communes.
To appreciate properly, and to give the true value to this power in
its later progress, we must remember one thing: that it did not have
its origin by any seeking of power by either the Roman or the
Ambrosian church as a body, in any concerted effort to extend the
ecclesiastical power at the expense of the civil. It came from the
spontaneous effort of the pastor, the natural and at that time the
only protector of the people, trying to save his flock from the
extortion and the injustice of their temporal rulers. In addition to
this it must be remembered that at that time the office of the bishop
was the only one where even the shadow of the democratic idea was
preserved, the only one where the lowest of the people, theoretically
at least, had a voice in the election. In later times, when the feudal
system becomes established in its completeness, the position of the
bishop undergoes a great change, as his relations to the state and to
society become more complex in their character; and his importance in
the community, while it at first increases, in time surely diminishes,
under the influence of his double relation of lord and vassal to some
higher temporal power.
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