How Medieval Thinkers Justified War: From Augustine to Aquinas
Explore how war was understood in the Middle Ages through the ideas of Augustine and Aquinas, including just war theory, public vs. private violence, and the role of sin and political authority.
The Invention of the Idea of Sovereignty in the Middle Ages
Discover how the concept of medieval sovereignty evolved through Roman law, canon law, and political theory—shaping papal power, imperial authority, and the rise of sovereign kingdoms in the Middle Ages.
The Moral Purpose of the Medieval State
Explore how medieval thinkers from Augustine to Aquinas debated the role of government, from preserving peace and order to promoting virtue and human fulfillment in the pursuit of the common good.
The Medieval Invention of Political Community
Discover how medieval thinkers reshaped the concept of political community using ideas from Roman law, Christian theology, and Aristotelian philosophy—laying the intellectual foundations for the modern state.
New Medieval Books: Ibn Khaldūn: Political Thought
Thirty-five selections from the writings of the 14th-century thinker Ibn Khaldūn, these translated texts reveal his thoughts on history, the state, cities and more.
New Medieval Books: On Niccolò Machiavelli
An introduction to the life and writings of Niccolò Machiavelli. The book aims to to explain how this medieval Italian writer conveyed his political ideas and the links between his works that others have often missed.
Medieval Foundations of Limited Government
Medieval Foundations of Limited Government Paper by Andrew Willard Jones Given at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Annual Student Honors Conference, held between August…
Medieval Contributions to Patriotism
The lecture will survey medieval variations of military patriotism (pro patria mori) and civil patriotism (the exercise of civic virtues for the common good) before turning to an examination of endemic patriotism in the late Middle Ages, which eulogised the native land and naturalised the love of country.
Constitutionalism and Consent: The Roles of Quod omnes tangit in the Political Thought of William of Ockham
Translated into English as “what touches all must be approved by all,” it has ordinarily been understood by scholars to express a nascent justification of constitutionalism, democracy or popular sovereignty, or at any rate a principle underlying some system of representative government that limited the power of rulers.
Political Advice from a Medieval Statesman
How should one govern a state? For answers, we can turn to the wisdom of Gino di Neri Capponi, a 15th-century statesman whose advice on politics and governance remains surprisingly relevant. Written nearly 600 years ago, Capponi’s insights continue to offer valuable lessons for both modern leaders and individuals alike.
New Medieval Books: Caliphate and Imamate
Translations of seven texts written between the eleventh and thirteenth century by Islamic writers that deal with politics and theology. They examine questions about who has political authority and why, whether they be Caliphs or Imams.
New Medieval Books: Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700-c.1500
A comparison of three regions of the medieval world – Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Middle East – in how governments and politics operated. It looks to explain the question of who were the political elites from these areas and how they maintained power.
New Medieval Books: Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy
Patrizi deserves to be recognized as the most substantial and influential voice of Italian humanist political thought between the time of Francesco Petrarca in the fourteenth century and Niccolo Machiavelli in the sixteenth.
New Medieval Books: Medieval Muslim Mirrors for Princes
You can read from nine texts from the medieval Islamic world that fall into the genre ‘Mirrors for Princes’ – political advice for a ruler. Many are translated for the first time, and give their views on topics such as the Nature of Sovereignty, the King’s Character, Royal Authority, and Good Governance.
Medieval ideas of Utopia
If medieval people could design their own utopian political and economic system, what would it look like?
Medieval Geopolitics: Striking Back against the Empire: Per venerabilem
‘The king in his kingdom is the emperor of his kingdom.’
A World Besieged: The Status of Politics in Augustine’s Sacramental Worldview
Augustine of how God acts in the world.
International Relation’s Medieval-Sovereignty Debate: Three Rival Approaches
When did a recognizably modern concept of sovereignty first emerge in Europe? Historically, can we point to a medieval idea of sovereignty? If so, how did this historically specific idea of sovereignty differ from its modern counterpart?
The Middle Ages and the Modern State
Did the modern state emerge in the seventeenth century or in the thirteenth century?
Medieval Geopolitics: The Late Medieval International System
What does my string of columns suggest regarding the nature of the late medieval international system? To begin with, it tells us that this system was in fact an international system.
Medieval Geopolitics: How different are medieval and modern ideas of sovereignty?
Over the last couple of months I have been writing about the disputes between kings and popes over who was more powerful and who held ultimate authority. What is the significance of this string of columns?
Medieval Geopolitics: John of Paris on why Kings, not Popes or Emperors, Should Rule
In his view, the world was naturally divided into separate kingdoms, like France and England, all of which claimed supreme authority within their borders.
Medieval Geopolitics: Why Kings (and not Popes) should rule
Looking at two texts from the early 14th century that put forth the arguments for total regnal supremacy.
How Medieval Europe thought of Justice
It was in this division of earthly and spiritual justice that the very notion itself encountered its first major challenge as an institution in medieval society.
