  Durham e-Theses You are in:  Duo sunt: The historical and
intellectual foundations of the medieval 'two powers' principle
of government  Kiely, Philip (2005) Duo sunt: The historical and
intellectual foundations of the medieval 'two powers' principle
of government. Masters thesis, Durham University.    In the
statements of the early Middle Ages, the most perennial question
was how ought, regnum and Sacerdotium, the temporal power of
kings and the spiritual power of priests be related. This work
traces the development of an early formulation of the proper
roles of ecclesiastical and temporal powers ― the Gelasian
dualism. When Christianity first appeared in the Roman Empire,
it was a persecuted sect and had no distinctive social or
political philosophy. The maelstrom of the third century,
however, stimulated the growth of Christianity, and the
conversion of Constantine the Great, opened the possibility that
Christianity could form a state-religion. The Church began to
consolidate some form of central governm