The long journey of Marsilius of Padua’s political theory through modern historiography.

Authors

  • BERNARDO BAYONA AZNAR

Keywords:

Marsilius of Padua, The Defender of Peace, State, republicanism, absolutism.

Abstract

Marsilius of Padua’s thought represents an unprecedented effort to base power on rational grounds at the beginning of the 14th century. His contribution to the history of western political thought was his defence of politics as a separate realm and the self-sufficient foundations of the State. However, he was consigned to oblivion for a long time, until he was discovered and became greatly admired by German and Italian historians during the 19th century. Since then, Marsilius’ work has been interpreted in different senses, some quite divergent; especially with reference to his supposed republicanism or absolutism. This article analyses the most important moments in history of Marsilian criticism and tries to provide the reader with the main bibliography for this author.

Published

2008-03-24

Issue

Section

ARTICLES