The sacerdotium-imperium relationship in the medieval West
The sacerdotium-imperium relationship in the medieval West

Summary/Abstract: In the Christian East, in the Byzantine Empire, the Church-State relation can be characterized as a symphony; in the Medieval West there were tensions and disputes that marked the evolution of the Church-State relationship. The “two swords” concepts of the Church-State relationship formulated by Pope Gregory VII in the “Dictatus Papae” presented the Roman Pontiff as holding two swords; one for the Church and one for the sovereign, who is subject to the Church. This was represented as the true model for Western Christianity. The climax of such sacramental and political powers was reached by Pope Innocent III, who sought to make vassals of the kings of France, England, Spain and Sicily, and adorned the tiara with three crowns, declaring in the fourth Lateran Council (1214) the sovereign papal state, with the pope as a sovereign of sovereigns and a patriarch of patriarchs.

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