The era of the early middle ages in Europe is characterized by two important circumstances. At this time, the European spiritual culture was penetrated not peculiar to it before the "Eastern" values of hierarchy, order, unselfishness and philanthropy. At the same time, under the influence of the strengthening of the Eastern understanding of the role of the state and forms of state participation in the organization of the system of social relations, the legal consciousness was undergoing a change. Under the influence of these factors, the foundations of state social policy were laid in the Byzantine Empire. Within its framework, a social protection system had been created, which was based on the established practices of social relations in professional corporations and rural communities and was legitimized by state legal acts. Western Europe had adopted Byzantine social technologies but adapted them to the traditional institutions of self-organization that had developed in local guilds and workshops.