Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis to close down all the Catholic churches in the country, forced the Holy See to accept an agreement of the type known as a modus vivendi, a term that literally means "a way of living". This particular agreement was unofficially described as instead a "modus non moriendi" ("a way of not dying"). By it, all but 5 of the country's more than 70 churches were handed over to the state, including what had been the cathedral of the archdiocese, while the state, for its part, promised that the buildings would be put only to use of public interest consonant with
Archbishopric of Bremen aristocracy", the service gentry, non-capitular "clergy", "free peasants" and burghers of chartered towns. The "modus vivendi" of interplay of the "Estates" and the archiepiscopal authority, being in itself divided into the "Prince-Archbishop" and the "Chapter", became the quasi constitution of the "Prince-Archbishopric". However, the interplay was not determined by fixed standards of behaviour. While the consecutive "Archbishops" worked on discarding the "bishopric's Estates" from the political landscape, the latter fought for the enforcement of the "modus vivendi" to become a real constitution. The "Chapter" often swung between increasing its influence by fighting the "Estates" jointly with the "Prince-Archbishop" and repelling