ə), d. c.1342, Italian political philosopher. He is satirically called Marsiglio. Little is known with certainty of his life except that he was rector of the Univ. of Paris c.1312. When Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV Louis IV or Louis the Bavarian, 1287?–1347, Holy Roman emperor (1328–47) and German king (1314–47), duke of Upper Bavaria...... Click the link for more information. was seeking a theorist to assist him in his struggle with Pope John XXII John XXII, 1244–1334, pope (1316–34), a Frenchman (b. Cahors) named Jacques Duèse; successor of Clement V. Formerly, he was often called John XXI. He reigned at Avignon. John was celebrated as a canon lawyer under Boniface VIII, whom he supported.
..... Click the link for more information. , Marsilius composed a tract, Defensor pacis [the defender of peace], probably in collaboration with the Averroist John of Jandun. It was published in 1324 and proved to be one of the most revolutionary of medieval documents. The work held that all power is derived from the people and their ruler is only their delegate; there is no law but the popular will, as expressed in the ruler. The church too has no authority apart from the people, and the actual power of the Holy See is self-arrogated; the church should be under the ruler, its province should be purely that of worship, and it should be governed by periodic councils. The notion that princes derive their power from the people was current in scholasticism, but the antiecclesiastical argument of the work aroused great scandal. It was repeatedly condemned by the Holy See. Marsilius, however, continued under the emperor's protection and went in Louis's train to Rome for his coronation and attended him afterward. His lesser works include an argument that the emperor had final jurisdiction in matrimonial cases (1342). The Defensor pacis had a long life; John Gerson Gerson, John (Jean Charlier de Gerson) , 1363–1429, French ecclesiastical statesman and writer. He studied (1377–94) under Pierre d'Ailly at the Univ. of Paris, where he took his doctorate in theology and succeeded Ailly as chancellor (1395).
..... Click the link for more information. recommended it, and in England, during Henry VIII's fight with the church, Thomas Cromwell patronized its translation into English (1535).
Bibliography
See the modern edition of A. Gewirth (1967); also A. Gewirth, Marsilius of Padua and Medieval Political Philosophy (1951).
Marsilius of Padua
(born c. 1280, Padua, Kingdom of Italy—died c. 1343, Munich) Italian political philosopher. He was consultant to the Ghibellines until condemned as a heretic (1327) after writing Defensor pacis (1320–24) and fleeing to the court of Louis IV of Bavaria. He helped declare Pope John XXII a heretic, install Nicholas V as antipope, and crown Louis emperor (1328). In his secular concept of the state, the power of the church is limited, and political power lies with the people, a theory that influenced the modern idea of the state.
Marsilius of Padua
Marsilius of Padua
Born betwen 1275 and 1280 in Padua; died circa 1343 in Munich. Italian political thinker; ideologist of the urban elite.
Marsilius studied medicine, philosophy, and theology at the universities of Padua and Paris. He wrote the treatise Defender of Peace (1324, published 1522), in which he was one of the first in the Middle Ages to propose the idea of the emergence of the state as the result of a social contract. Opposing the claims of the papacy to secular power, he held that secular power was higher than spiritual. He considered the best form of government to be a monarchy in which the soveriegn’s legislative authority would be separate from his executive authority. Further, the sovereign would be limited by a governmental body drawn from the nobility, although elected by the people and subject to their recall. For his bold criticism of the papacy and open support of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria in his struggle against Pope John XXII he was excommunicated in 1327.
REFERENCES
En’ko A. G. “‘Defensor pads’ Marsiliia Paduanskogo … .” Vestnik MGU: Istoriia, 1964, no. 2.Segall, H. Der “Defensor pacis” des Marsilius von Padua. Wiesbaden [1959].
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