The system which the course of civilization calls us to replace was the combination of spiritual (or papal and theological) power and temporal (or feudal and military) power.

As regards spiritual power, the birth of this system should be traced back to the emergence of the preponderance of Christianity in Europe, that is around the third or fourth century. As for temporal power, we should place its origin around the same period: in the first great attempts by the northern peoples to settle in the South of Europe, and in the earliest dismemberments of the Roman Empire.

These two powers were definitively constituted in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. At that time, on the one hand feudalism was universally established on settled foundations, as a national power; and on the other hand, the authority of the Holy See was fully organized as a European power.

Let us dwell for a moment on this notable period, to make two important observations.

In the first place, this dual organization was brought into being in a short time and without much difficulty, because it had been gradually prepared during the seven or eight hundred years that had passed since the birth of the two powers.