Ideal Government and the Mixed Constitution in the Middle Ages

James M. Blythe

Published by Princeton University Press 1992

Ideal Government and the Mixed Constitution in the Middle Ages

James M. Blythe

Volume 184 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400862603

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ancient Greeks and Romans often wrote that the best form of government consists of a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Political writers in the early modern period applied this idea to government in England, Venice, and Florence, and Americans used it in designing their constitution. In this history of political thought James Blythe investigates what happened to the concept of mixed constitution during the Middle Ages, when the work of the Greek historian Polybius, the source of many of the formal elements of early modern theory, was unknown in Latin. Although it is generally argued that Renaissance and early modern theories of mixed constitution derived from the revival of classical Polybian models, Blythe demonstrates the pervasiveness of such ideas in high and late medieval thought. The author traces medieval Aristotelian theories concerning the best form of government and concludes that most endorsed a limited monarchy sharing many features with the mixed constitution. He also shows that the major early modern ideas of mixed constitutionalism stemmed from medieval and Aristotelian thought, which partially explains the enthusiastic reception of Polybius in the sixteenth century.

Originally published in 1992.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xvii
PART 1: The Mixed Constitution
CHAPTER 1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
CHAPTER 2. The Mixed Constitution in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
PART 2: Thomas Aquinas and His Successors
CHAPTER 3. Thomas Aquinas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
CHAPTER 4. Giles of Rome Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
CHAPTER 5. Peter of Auvergne Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
CHAPTER 6. Ptolemy of Lucca Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
CHAPTER 7. Engelbert of Admont Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
CHAPTER 8. John of Paris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
PART 3: The Fourteenth Century
CHAPTER 9. Aristotelian Political Thought in the Fourteenth Century Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
CHAPTER 10. Relativism and the Best Polity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
CHAPTER 11. Kingship, Popular Sovereignty, and the Mixed Constitution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
CHAPTER 12. Nicole Oresme and the Synthesis of Aristotelian Political Thought Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
PART 4: The Fifteenth Century and the Early Modern Period
CHAPTER 13. Conciliarism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
CHAPTER 14. Later Theories of Mixed Government in England and Northern Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
CHAPTER 15. The Mixed Constitution and Italian Republicanism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	278
CHAPTER 16. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337

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