There were in Europe at the beginning of the modern era several hundred more or less sovereign political units, in addition to which the western part of the Christian church was breaking up into smaller and smaller splinters. Previously, either the universal emperor or the church had at times at least commanded the political field of Europe, but towards the modern era they had been replaced by a patchwork of numerous little states. Examination of the Europe rhetoric of the time reveals one clear paradox with respect to the political trend: the deeper the political and religious rifts in Europe went, the greater the desire was to stress the unity of the continent and the significance of the unity of at least the western part.