Since the birth of Christ, the relationship between Jews and Christians and the state has radically shifted from one end of the spectrum to the other. Since its inception, Christianity had been the religion coping with intolerance from the Jews and the state, yet as time progressed the attitude toward Jewry turned for the worse. As more Christian rulers came into power, laws and regulations turned against those Jews who had once turned against those supporting Christ. Not until after the medieval ages did the state's position on Jews begin to loosen up again. This is not to say that time would heal all problems. In truth, time simply brought a change. Social and economic structure developed over the centuries and some restrictions on Jews were abandoned while still others were just being formed. Treatment of the Jews varied greatly from region to region. The Age of Enlightenment would bring changes that would finally have a long-standing impact on the Jewish community.
             The Middle Ages began poorly for the Jews of Europe. In the early fourth century, it was inconceivable to separate church and state. In fact, religion played an important role in the government until well after the Reformation. Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to limit the rights of the Jews in the Holy Roman Empire, disallowed any Jews from becoming missionaries for their faith or displaying any form of anger against Christians (Marcus 3). Twenty years later, Constantius forbade marriage between Jewish men and Christian women, and that law was later expanded to deny all marriages between Christians and Jews. In addition, Jews were no longer allowed to possess slaves. In 439, Theodosius II allowed only Christians to hold any public office that would give honor (4). Theodosius did, however, allow Jews to hold offices that were known to lead to financial decline. In addition, as an attempt to prevent Christians from converting to Judaism, Theodosius denied ...