Medieval Theory of International Relations. In the Middle Ages, local dominion took the place of world dominion, and the principles of universal law were pushed into the background. The medieval period has been called an age of organized anarchy. The wager of battle was a recognized form of judicial trial, private warfare was common, and … Read more

Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli rarely rendered Nicholas Machiavel was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise The Prince, written about 1513. He has often been called the father of modern political philosophy and political science. Niccolo Machiavelli By the end of … Read more

The Jurists of the Fifteenth Century. The interest in legal analysis and speculation created by the study of Roman law was especially marked during the conciliar controversy of the fifteenth century. Roman law was familiar with the concept of a corporation, and its principles were applied in explaining collective ecclesiastical and political organizations, such as … Read more

The Conciliar Movement was a reform movement in the 14th-, 15th- and 16th-century Catholic Church which held that supreme authority in the Church resided with an ecumenical council, apart from, or even against, the pope. The movement emerged in response to the Western Schism between rival popes in Rome and Avignon. The Conciliar Movement:- In … Read more

The tendencies of the later part of the medieval period were reflected in the doctrines of John Wycliffe  (1320-1384) in England and Jan Hus (1369-1415) in Bohemia, and in the national, anti-papal, and democratic movements for which their teachings were held responsible. While both Wycliffe and Hus devoted themselves mainly to theological questions, they were … Read more

General Tendencies during the Middle Ages. The period of European history extending from about 500 to 1400–1500 CE is traditionally known as the Middle Ages. The term was first used by 15th-century scholars to designate the period between their own time and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. General Tendencies during the Middle Ages:- … Read more

In the third part of his Dialogues, William of Ockam briefly dealt with Marsilius of Padua’s theory of conciliar infallibility. By contrast, none of the contemporary papal responses to the Defensor pacis discussed the Marsilius anti-papal conciliar program. Marsilius of Padua The greatest and most original political treatise of the Middle Ages was the work … Read more

The most logical and systematic statement of the imperial theory was that of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321 ). Dante had considerable experience in the politics of his city (Florence); and in his wanderings from city to city and from court to court during his long exile, he gained valuable knowledge and experience. He was interested chiefly … Read more

The Fourteenth Century Controversies. The controversy between ecclesiastical and secular authority at the opening of the fourteenth century centered around the dispute between Pope Boniface and Philip the Fair, king of France. Unmindful of the growth of national states and the popular support of royal power, the pope tried unsuccessfully to extend the ideals of … Read more

Saint Thomas Aquinas, an Italian Dominican theologian, and Roman Catholic saint is the foremost medieval Scholastic. He was responsible for the classical systematization of Latin theology, and, as a poet, he wrote some of the most gravely beautiful Eucharistic hymns in the church’s liturgy. Saint Thomas Aquinas The thirteenth century was marked by the culmination … Read more