Work · Medieval & Scholastic
The Defender of the Peace (Defensor pacis)
Power comes from the “human legislator”, the body of citizens; priests may teach but not coerce, and the papal claim to fullness of power is the chief cause of strife in Italy.
Introduction
A long Latin treatise completed in Paris on 24 June 1324 and dedicated to Louis of Bavaria. The first discourse uses Aristotle’s Politics to explain the state, law and government: law is a command backed by coercion, and its source is the “human legislator”, the whole body of citizens or its weightier part. The second and longest discourse argues from scripture and church history that priests have no coercive jurisdiction, that the papal claim to fullness of power is the cause of the wars in Italy, and that a general council called by the secular ruler is the highest authority in matters of faith. A short third discourse sums up the conclusions. In 1327 John XXII condemned five of its propositions as heretical.
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Connections
Builds on
- Politicsc. 335 BCE · Aristotle
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