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The sun and moon allegory is used to describe a political system of the Middle Ages which submits the secular power to the spiritual power, stating that the Pope is like the sun i.e. the only source of own light, while the Emperor is like the moon, which merely reflects lights and has no value without the sun. The system dominated Europe in the 13th century.〔 http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/duo-luminaria_%28Federiciana%29/〕 It is related to the general concept of Papal supremacy as articulated by the Roman Catholic Church in history. An affirmation of this view, which was confirmed by the Lateran Council I, is seen in the letters of Pope Innocent III. "The Lord gave Peter the rule not only over the universal Church, but also the rule over the whole world." "No king can reign rightly unless he devoutly serves Christ's vicar." "The priesthood is the sun, the kingdom the moon. Kings rule over their respective kingdoms, but Peter rules over the whole earth."〔http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Innocent.html〕 While the content of the letters was subtle in their inferred goal of securing his authority, when read in total, his goal becomes more obvious:
This view was later entered into Canon law and extended by the allegory of the two swords in ''Unam sanctam''.〔 The "Allegory of the two suns" is further enhanced and defended "rationally" by Dante Alighieri in his work ''De Monarchia'' and others and puts the pope and the emperor on the same level, with different functions. ==References== 〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sun and moon allegory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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