Author: Jun YANG, Ph. D. Candidate, School of History, Renmin University of China.
Abstract:
The “Divine Mandate” of political authority was a dominant idea throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The origins of theological discourse on political authority may be traced back to the Bible, as later systematized by church theologians. Through this process, the divine right of secular authority was constructed, forming the concept of “royal power conferred by God.” The divine right of kings became an essential symbol of the legitimacy of kingship and was one of the political foundations of royal reign. With the rise of the Holy See, the doctrine of the supremacy of religious power in the Christian tradition, which advocates the "divine mandate of religious power,” was also much developed and evolved into a new theological theory in which religious power is superior to royal power. As a result, the theological expression of political authority was gradually transformed into a dual political theory in which clerical authority and secular authority acted in tandem.
Keywords:
Middle Ages, Christianity, Political Authority, Divine Mandate, Dual Political Authorities
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