Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275/80–1342/3)

Bettina Koch

The Italian political thinker Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275/80–1342/3) is one of the most intellectually significant fourteenth-century political theorists in the West. Marsilius's writings primarily reflect his thoughts on the conflict between the elected Roman emperor Ludwig the Bavarian and Pope John XXII. While Marsilius can be considered a political actor in his own right, by virtue of his authorship of important political treatises, he also served as a counselor. In fact, Marsilius's theory of the relationship between the papacy and the Roman empire, a topic which covers most of Marsilius's major work, Defensor Pacis (1324), had a significant impact on Ludwig's politics. Despite the fact that Marsilius's theories on the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical powers was of major interest to his contemporaries and influenced political discourse in the centuries that followed, including in the Age of Reformation, scholars interested in his work focused for decades primarily on his ...

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