death_date death_place influenced era birth_place main_interests notable_ideas birth_date image article_title name region
1596 laon giovanni botero montesquieu eric voegelin renaissance philosophy angers legal philosophy , political philosophy , economy quantity theory of money , absolute sovereignty 1530 jean bodin.jpg jean bodin
 jean bodin western philosophy
jean bodin

jean bodin -lrb- 1530 -- 1596 -rrb- was a french jurist and political philosopher , member of the parlement of paris and professor of law in toulouse .
he is best known for his theory of sovereignty ; he was also an influential writer on demonology .
bodin lived during the aftermath of the protestant reformation and wrote against the background of religious conflict in france .
he remained a nominal catholic throughout his life but was critical of papal authority over governments , favouring the strong central control of a national monarchy as an antidote to factional strife .
toward the end of his life he wrote , but did not publish , a dialogue among different religions , including representatives of judaism , islam and natural theology , in which all agreed to coexist in concord .
