Editing Inheritance (section)

===Christian laws===
At first, Christianity did not have its own inheritance traditions distinct from Judaism. With the accession of [[Constantine the Great|Emperor Constantine]] in 306, Christians both began to distance themselves from Judaism and to have influence on the law and practices of secular institutions. From the beginning, this included inheritance. The Roman practice of [[Adoption in ancient Rome|adoption]] was a specific target, because it was perceived to be in conflict with the Judeo-Christian doctrine of [[primogeniture]]. As Stephanie Coontz documents in ''Marriage, a History'' (Penguin, 2006), not only succession but the whole constellation of rights and practices that included marriage, adoption, legitimacy, consanguinity, and inheritance changed in Western Europe from a Greco-Roman model to a Judeo-Christian pattern, based on Biblical and traditional Judeo-Christian principles. The transformation was essentially complete in the Middle Ages, although in English-speaking countries there was additional development under the influence of [[Henry VIII|Protestantism]]. Even when Europe became secularized and Christianity faded into the background, the legal foundation Christendom had laid remained. Only in the era of modern jurisprudence have there been significant changes.