Defensor pacis
By: Marsilius of Padua ; translation and introduction by Alan Gewirth ; with an afterward and updated bibliography by Cary J. Nederman.
Contributors: Gewirth, Alan.; Nederman, Cary J.
Series: Records of Western civilization
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 466
Subjects: Church and state -- Early works to 1800.; State, The -- Early works to 1800.; Political science -- Early works to 1800.
Genres: Early works to 1800.
Description: "Marsilius of Padua is one of the few truly revolutionary figures in the history of political philosophy. The first to propound the separation of Church and State, he is considered the precursor to subsequent political thinkers, from Machiavelli to Marx.".

"The Marsilian revolution consisted not only in a radical change in the theory of the relations between religion and politics that culminated in the Protestant Reformation and other central developments of the modern era, but, even more importantly, it had an effect on the whole conception of human beings - their nature, acts, values, and sociopolitical relations.".

"As Cary J. Nederman writes in the foreword to the new edition, "Marsilius continues to speak to many of the salient issues of modern political life, expressing his doctrines in a language that has resonance and relevance.

Whether in addressing the role of citizenship as a buffer between individual and community, or in explicating the foundations of religious toleration, the Defensor pacis (and Marsilius' other writings) affords a distinctive theoretical perspective that rivals that of any of the great thinkers of the Western political tradition.""--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Originally published by Columbia University Press in 1956 as v. 2 of Marsilius of Padua, the defender of peace.