中世纪西欧教会法对教会与国家关系的理解和规范

本文依据中世纪西欧《教会法大全》讨论当时教会与国家的关系。中世纪的教会法学家和教皇们有一种二元论的政治理论 ,认为世俗政权和以教皇为首的教会领导机构应该有各自不同的势力范围 ,前者负责国家的治理 ,后者负责宗教事务。他们以为这一理论有利于教会和国家保持良好的合作关系。为了划分清楚教会和国家的权威范围 ,教会法学家把教会法界定为独立的法律体系。在复杂的现实政治中 ,对世俗权力和宗教权力做这种区分是极为困难的。

The Way the Relationship Between the Church and the State Was Perceived and Regulated by the Medieval Canon Law in Western Europe

Using the Corpus iuris canonici as a foundation, the author discusses the relationship between the church and state in medieval Western Europe. Legal representatives of the medieval canon and the popes of that time and place believed that the temporal and spiritual authorities should each have their own respective sphere of influence; while the former was responsible for the management of state affairs, the latter was responsible for religious affairs. The canon lawyers believed this theory to be of benefit for a benign relationship of cooperation between the church and the state. In order to clearly demarcate these two spheres, the canon lawyers defined the canon law as an independent legal system, in spite of the fact that it was very difficult to make such a political distinction between temporal and religious authority.