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Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275–c. 1342) was one of the most influential and controversial political thinkers of the Middle Ages. He is best known for his seminal text Defensor Pacis (1324) in which he attacks the papal theory of plenitude of power and defends an idea of political community based on the strict separation of political and religious authority. Marsilius’ work lies at the crossroads of different disciplines, ranging from political philosophy to civil and canon law, to medicine. Indeed, he presents an original synthesis of several contemporary themes and traditions such as Aristotelianism, Augustinianism, the debate on Franciscan property, the communal tradition of the Italian city-states, ecclesiology, medicine, and astrology. This edited volume analyses the life and thought of Marsilius of Padua in his own context and beyond. Gathering many of the leading experts in Marsilian studies across different national and linguistic traditions working today, this volume has two main goals. First, it aims to bring together experts who come from distinct fields in order to investigate the many branches of knowledge present in Defensor Pacis without losing sight of Marsilius as a comprehensive theorist. Second, the volume aims to shed new light on one of the most neglected aspects in Marsilian studies: the Marsilian influence, i.e., his impact in the early modern period during the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, up to twentieth century.

Political science --- Philosophy --- History --- Marsilius,

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Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275-c. 1342) was one of the most influential and controversial political thinkers of the Middle Ages. He is best known for his seminal text Defensor Pacis (1324) in which he attacks the papal theory of plenitude of power and defends an idea of political community based on the strict separation between political and religious authority. Marsilius' work lies at the crossroads of different disciplines, ranging from political philosophy to civil and canon law, to medicine. Indeed, he presents an original synthesis of several contemporary themes and traditions such as Aristotelianism, Augustinianism, the debate on Franciscan property, the communal tradition of the Italian city-states, ecclesiology, medicine, and astrology. This edited volume analyses the life and thought of Marsilius of Padua in his own context and beyond. Gathering most of the leading experts in Marsilian studies across different national and linguistic traditions working today, this volume has two main goals. First, it aims to bring together experts who come from distinct fields in order to investigate the many branches of knowledge present in Defensor Pacis without losing sight of Marsilius as a comprehensive theorist. Second, the volume aims to shed new light on one of the most neglected aspects in Marsilian studies: the Marsilian influence, i.e., his impact on the early modern period during the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, up to twentieth century.

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For centuries, the generally accepted view of Machiavelli’s theory was the realist interpretation of the works of the Renaissance thinker, which was characterised by the view that Machiavelli’s theory is immoral, evil and that its central theme is that ends justify the means. Yet, such interpretation of Machiavelli’s political theory is imperfect, because it omits many aspects which cast a different light on it. There were other readings, provided by, for example John McCormick, which concentrate on an idea that in his theory, Machiavelli addresses the people and displays the advantages of the republican government over the principality. However, such authors mostly focus their argument on Machiavelli’s other piece, Discourses on Livy. Both scholarly interpretations present radically different fronts regarding the approach to the political theory of Machiavelli. What is lacking is a connecting link between the two. Therefore, the argument of this work will create grounds for providing this link and present the theme of Machiavelli’s Prince from an unpopular and difficult side. This difficulty lies in the fact, that The Prince is the most common source of the realist understanding of Machiavelli’s political theory. This thesis reinterprets the shortest book of Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, in order to present that in his political theory, Machiavelli argues for the importance of the well-being of the people in a stable state. In order to provide a coherent interpretation, this work explores the reasoning behind the interpretations of the two representatives of the realist position to Machiavelli’s works – Tommaso Campanella and Leo Strauss and examine passages from The Prince which are the most often brought up when opting for the realist understanding of Machiavelli’s theory in order to prepare grounds for the argument. Then, the work responds to the realist ideas by stating that the actions of a ruler are restricted by the need to secure the state and in order to secure it well, he has to learn how to adapt to the situation. This will create a problem, because sometimes actions which are required to preserve the state are immoral. Thus, the work will solve the problem of morality by arguing that Machiavelli reinterprets it and leaves the traditional morality for the private sphere of life. Yet, he will not be able to abandon traditional morals, since the examples of the ruler’s dedication to traditional morality are crucial to maintain the stable relation between the people and the ruler. This will lead to the final argument, because when the chapter dedicated to morality outlines the fact that the people are of great importance in the state, the last chapter will follow this idea and show that since the people are so important for the ruler, then he has to care for their well-being as much as it is possible. In total, this work presents that since Machiavelli’s goal in The Prince is to guide how to create a secure and stable state, then appropriate treatment of the citizens is necessary to achieve it.