Religion in France is diverse, with the largest religion group being Christianity. A very significant part of the population is not religious, and significant minorities profess Islam and other religions. Freedom of religion and freedom of thought are warranted by the legacy of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and by the principle of laïcité (or "freedom of conscience") enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 law on the Separation of the Churches and the State. Roman Catholicism was the major religion in the real of the French monarchy for more than a millennium, and it also held the role of state religion;[1] the monarchy had such close ties to the Roman papacy that France was called the "eldest daughter of the Church" (French: fille aînée de l'Église).[2]