Excerpt from Medieval Political Ideas, Vol. 2 The church entered the Middle Ages as a complex structure of many offices whose mutual relations of p0wer were not clearly defined. Of these the papacy, like the secular monarchy, offered itself as the first obvious nucleus upon which doctrines of concentrated power might form, but with even greater case than in the case of the secular kingship. For, throughout the Middle Ages, its claim to direct divine institution through Christ's commission to Peter was rarely disputed; the tre mendous terms in which the keys of heaven had been granted to Peter argued a virtually limitless authority; it was easy to deduce from the lofty dignity of the Vicar of Christ an unconditioned duty of obedience and the doctrine that the pope, like the 'spiritual man' of the Scriptures, could 'judge all and be judged by none.'1 Moreover, the influence of Roman law could work with more effect on the law of the church than on that of secular kingdoms. Although all levels of the hierarchy were hallowed by tradition, precedents - genuine or accepted as such for papal intervention in every sphere of ecclesiastical activity were laid down in the confused period that preceded the systematization of the canon law; and when the canonists in the twelfth century began their work of codification and analysis, the materials for a theory of papal omnicompetence were already available to them. Unlike the lawyers who tried to adapt Roman concepts to the structure of the secular kingdoms, the canonists were not hampered by feudal con ceptions of divided dominion; the church was already an organized structure of offices; long before the secular kingdoms it looked like a state, though it was not till the early fourteenth century that James of Viterbo first defined it as a regnum. In the terms in which its law was couched and in its very geographical structure it was reminiscent of the Roman empire. Thus the rules of Roman law could be easily borrowed by the canonists for organization and interpretation of the law of the church, and, inevitably, the characteristics of the Roman i mperium were applied to the papacy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This original treatment of medieval and Renaissance Jewish thinkers expands the scope of Jewish philosophy and adds new depth to our understanding of Jewish culture of the period. While medieval Christian political philosophy was based on Aristotle's Politics, Muslim and Jewish philosophy adhered to the Platonic tradition. In this book, Abraham Melamed explores a major aspect of this tradition—the theory of the philosopher-king—as it manifested itself in medieval Jewish political philosophy, tracing the theory's emergence in Jewish thought as well as its patterns of transmittal, adaptation, and absorption. The Maimonidean encounter with the theory, via al-Farabi, is also examined, as is its influence upon later scholars such as Felaquera, ibn Latif, Narboni, Shemtov ibn Shemtov, Polkar, Alemanno, Abarbanel, and others. Also discussed is the influence of Averroe's commentary on Plato's Republic, and the Machiavellian rejection of the theory of the philosopher-king and its influence upon early modern Jewish scholars, such as Simone Luzzatto and Spinoza, who rejected it in favor of a so-called "Republican" attitude.

History of Political Theory: An Introduction is an engaging introduction to the main figures in the history of Western Political Theory and their most important works. The second volume traces the origin and development of liberal political theory, and so the foundations for contemporary views.

This volume continues the story of European political theorising by focusing on medieval and Renaissance thinkers. It includes extensive discussion of the practices that underpinned medieval political theories and which continued to play crucial roles in the eventual development of early-modern political institutions and debates. The author strikes a balance between trying to understand the philosophical cogency of medieval and Renaissance arguments on the one hand, elucidating why historically-suited medieval and Renaissance thinkers thought the ways they did about politics; and why we often think otherwise.

The third edition of Reading the Middle Ages retains the strengths of previous editions—thematic and geographical diversity, clear and informative introductions, and close integration with A Short History of the Middle Ages—and adds significant new materials, especially on the Byzantine and Islamic worlds and the Mediterranean region. This volume spans the period c.900 to c.1500. The stunning "Reading through Looking" color insert, which showcases medieval artifacts, has been expanded to include essays on weapons and warfare by medievalist Riccardo Cristiani. New maps, timelines, and genealogies aid readers in following knotty but revealing sources. On the History Matters website (www.utphistorymatters.com), students have access to hundreds of Questions for Reflection.

A new edition of the classic anthology of Christian, Muslin, and Jewish political philosophy in the Middle Ages.