two swords

English

A depiction of the two swords being conferred by Jesus to the pope and the emperor

Etymology

Allegorical interpretation of Luke 22:38, “Behold, here are two swords”.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)dz

Noun

the two swords pl (plural only)

1. (chiefly history, Roman Catholicism) Spiritual and temporal power, church and state.
   • 1952, C. W. Previté-Orton, The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, volume 2, page 943:

     The most clear-cut definition of the Pope's possession of the two swords was given in Boniface VIII’s famous bull Unam Sanctam, which stressed the unity of Christendom under its single head.

   • 2004, Matthew Butler, Popular Piety and Political Identity in Mexico's Cristero Rebellion: Michoacán, 1927–29, →ISBN, page 3:

     […] the dispute between the two swords cut deep into the countryside in ways that the authors of ecclesiastical and revolutionary policy neither intended nor anticipated.

   • 2009, Peter Lodberg, Religion, Politics, and Law, →ISBN, page 146:

     In the crusader theology, the two swords were totally united and not divided as Bernard would have it.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see two,‎ sword.

Related terms

• Gelasian dyarchy

See also

• secular arm
• Sell your cloak and buy a sword (Luke 22:36-38)