The Library
1577 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
1001–1100
1 work
c. 1085
Latin
Liber ad Gebehardum
Manegold of Lautenbach · c. 1030–c. 1103
A defence of the pope against Henry IV, arguing that a king holds office under something like a contract with his people, and forfeits it if he becomes a tyrant.
1101–1200
1 work
1159
Latin
John of Salisbury · c. 1120–1180
On the follies of courtiers and the duties of rulers, comparing the commonwealth to a body and arguing that a tyrant may lawfully be killed.
1201–1300
2 works
c. 1265–1267; unfinished
Latin
De Regno
Thomas Aquinas · 1225–1274
Written for a king of Cyprus: monarchy is the best form of government and tyranny the worst, and a people may act against a ruler who has broken the terms of his office.
c. 1271, within the Summa
Latin
Thomas Aquinas · 1225–1274
Law defined as an ordinance of reason for the common good, in four kinds — eternal, natural, human, and divine — with unjust laws described as a kind of violence.
1301–1400
4 works
1302
Latin
Giles of Rome · c. 1243–1316
An argument that all temporal authority and even all lawful property derive from the pope, so that a ruler outside the church holds nothing rightfully.
c. 1302–1303
Latin
John of Paris · c. 1255–1306
A middle position: kings hold power from the people and not from the pope, church property belongs to the community rather than the pope personally, and a pope may be deposed.
c. 1312–1317
Latin
Monarchia
Dante Alighieri · 1265–1321
Three books arguing that a universal empire is necessary for peace, that Rome held its authority by right, and that the emperor receives it from God directly and not through the pope.
1324
Latin
Defensor Pacis
Marsilius of Padua · c. 1275–c. 1342
Authority belongs to the whole body of citizens; the clergy have no coercive power at all; and a general council, not the pope, is the church's highest authority.
1501–1600
1 work
1523
German
Martin Luther · 1483–1546
God rules the world through two governments, spiritual and temporal, and no prince has authority over the soul — heresy cannot be beaten down with iron.
1601–1700
1 work
1651
English
10 of 1577 works