Tyranny, Despotism, and Consent in Marsiglio of Padua's Defensor pacis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3971703 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cary J Nederman (0000-0001-8175-7141, Texas A&M University, 4348 TAMU College Station, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 247-264 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The European Legacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10848770.2024.2448077 |
| OpenAlex | W4406243799 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
Within the political lexicon of the European Middle Ages, tyranny (along with related terms such as tyrant and tyrannical) constituted one of its most ubiquitous and flexibly applied discursive fields. Moreover, once Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics began to circulate in the West after their translation into Latin in the mid-1200s, a closely related term for tyranny emerged: despotism. Yet when we turn to Marsiglio of Padua, the fourteenth-century political theorist who is often regarded to be the quintessential medieval exponent of Aristotelian political ideas, we find remarkably few references to either tyranny or despotism. The present article examines how Marsiglio deploys the languages of tyranny and despotism in his major work, the Defensor pacis (completed in 1324). Three intertwined theses are proposed. First, the occasions on which Marsiglio invokes tyranny and despotism reveal a great deal about his intellectual connection to his supposed source, Aristotle. Second, unacknowledged dimensions of Marsiglio’s highly critical attitude toward the papacy, especially the doctrine of the papal plenitude of power (plenitudo potestatas), may be illuminated. Third, examination of the languages of tyranny and despotism reveals additional insights into Marsiglio’s signature theory of political consent espoused in the first discourse of the Defensor pacis
Art · Political science · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
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On the Government of Rulers
Political Thought in Europe, 1250–1450
Religion, Law and the Growth of Constitutional Thought, 1150-1650
The Foundations of Modern Political Thought
A Companion to Marsilius of Padua
Marsilius of Padua
A Short Discourse on the Tyrannical Government
Marsilius of Padua at the Intersection of Ancient and Medieval Traditions of Political Thought
Religion, Law, and the Growth of Constitutional thought, 1150-1650
Conciliarism and constitutionalism
Community and Self-Interest
Marsilius of Padua's Argument from Authority
Despotism' and 'Tyranny' Unmasking a Tenacious Confusion
Three Concepts of Tyranny in Western Medieval Political Thought
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |