Throughout history, religion and politics have always been interlaced to a certain extent. Indeed, the first has been an effective way to address the social relationship among the citizens and it had been useful to create a sense of belonging to a particular socio-political culture. This is further emphasized by the fact that most civilizations have had a particular religion that was often both correlated to, as well as supporting the political ideologies of the population. Considering the Egyptians, for example, the head of the church was also the pharaoh of the kingdom. This enabled the ruler to have absolute power both on the political structure of the civilization, as well as on the religious and ideological one. A similar approach has been present in the United Kingdom since 1534 when King Henry VIII rebelled against the papal spiritual rule within British territories. This schism resulted in that the king would not only be the absolute ruler but also the he
ad of the newly founded Ecclesia Anglicana. Nevertheless, with the passing of centuries, a secularisation process started to arise worldwide which caused a schism between the political and religious spheres of power and influence over the citizens. This was legalized, at least in the European continent, during the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, when the major European rulers met to agree upon the end the Thirty Years War. The Treaty emphasized the concept of sovereignty, the supreme authority within a territory, and with it the idea that cuius regio, eius religio (whose realm, his religion). As an outcome, the importance of religion in the political life as well as in the policy-making process started to fade, whilst meanwhile, modern nations states started to arise. Nevertheless, this process is still ongoing and, depending upon different factors, religion is either strongly affecting some countries or it ultimately became second to the general will of the citizens.