Incorporating research previously unavailable in English, this clear guide gives a synthesis of the latest scholarship providing the historical and intellectual context for political ideas. This accessible and lucid guide to medieval political thought * gives a synthesis of the latest scholarship * incorporates the results of research until now unavailable in English * focuses on the crucial primary source material * provides the historical and intellectual context for political ideas. The book covers four periods, each with a different focus: * 300-750 - Christian ideas of rulership * 750-1050 - the Carolingian period and its aftermath * 1050-1290 - the relationship between temporal and spiritual power, and the revived legacy of antiquity * 1290-1450 - the confrontation with political reality in ideas of church and of state, and in juristic thought. Canning has produced an ideal introductory text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of the period.
Dante Fedele’s new work of reference reveals the medieval foundations of international law through a comprehensive study of a key figure of late medieval legal scholarship: Baldus de Ubaldis (1327-1400).
First Published in 2005. The book covers four periods, each with a different focus. From 300 to 750 Canning examines Christian ideas of rulership. The often neglected centuries from 750 to 1050, the Carolingian period and its aftermath, are given special attention. From 1050 to 1290 the conflict between temporal and spiritual power and the revived legacy of antiquity comes to the fore. Finally in the period from 1290 to 1450, Canning focuses on the confrontation with political reality in ideas of church and state, and in juristic thought.
Together, the chapters in Empire and Legal Thought make the case for seeing the history of international legal thought and empires against the background of broad geopolitical, diplomatic, administrative, intellectual, religious, and commercial changes over thousands of years.
Focusing on individuals whose ideas shaped intellectual life between 400 and 1500, this book is an accessible guide to those religious, philosophical and political concepts central to the medieval worldview.