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Against the Backdrop of Sovereignty and Absolutism
The Theology of Godâs Power and Its Bearing on the Western Legal Tradition, 1100â1600
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With a foreword by Diego Quaglioni
This book attempts to determine the degree to which the modern fate of the Western legal tradition depends on one of the most long-standing debates of the Middle Ages, the distinction between potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata (Godâs absolute and ordered power). The mediaeval investigation into Godâs attributes was originally concerned with the problem of divine almightiness. It underwent a slow but steady displacement from the territory of theology to the freshly emerging proceedings of legal analysis. Here, based on the distinction, late-mediaeval lawyers worked out a new terminology to define the extent of the power-holderâs authority. This effort would give rise, during the early modern era, to the gradual establishment of the legal-political framework represented by the concepts of the prince and sovereignty.
This book attempts to determine the degree to which the modern fate of the Western legal tradition depends on one of the most long-standing debates of the Middle Ages, the distinction between potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata (Godâs absolute and ordered power). The mediaeval investigation into Godâs attributes was originally concerned with the problem of divine almightiness. It underwent a slow but steady displacement from the territory of theology to the freshly emerging proceedings of legal analysis. Here, based on the distinction, late-mediaeval lawyers worked out a new terminology to define the extent of the power-holderâs authority. This effort would give rise, during the early modern era, to the gradual establishment of the legal-political framework represented by the concepts of the prince and sovereignty.
Massimiliano Traversino Di Cristo, University of Trento, has three PhDs, in Law, Theology, and Humanities, from the Universities of London (Birkbeck College), Geneva, and Trento, respectively. His monographs and articles concentrate on mediaeval and modern ideas, including Diritto e teologia alle soglie dellâetà moderna (2015).
Foreword
by Diego Quaglioni
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1âA Normative History of Power The Distinction between potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata
2âThe Theology of Godâs Power as an Archaeology of the Modern Notion of Power
â1âThe Role of the Roman Church in the Middle Ages and the Canon Lawyers
â2âThe Theology of Godâs Power(s) and Its Juridification
â3âNatural Logocentrism and Divine Voluntarism
â4âWilliam of Ockham and the Early-Modern Tendencies towards Religious Reform and Natural Philosophy
â5âThe Question of Godâs Power Applied to the Construction of Papal Authority
â6âThe Fourteenth-Century Civil Lawyers and Their Analysis of the Princeâs Power
â7âOne Step Backward, One Step Forward: The Divide between Reason and Will and the Christian Tendencies towards Religious Reform
3âThe Classic Age of the Distinction The Pontificate of John xxii (1316â34)
â1âThe Church and the Question of Poverty in the 1320â30s
â2âThe Debate over Poverty as a Juristic Confrontation on Papal Power
â3âThe Distinction potentia Dei absoluta/ordinata in Scotus, Ockham, and John xxii
â4âGod as Unity and Simplicity in Eckhart and Ockhamâand Eckhartâs Rejection of the Distinction potentia Dei absoluta/ordinata
â5âEckhartâs Way to the Modern Era
â6âGodâs Powers, a True or an Alleged Distinction?
â7âJohn xxiiâs Pontificate and the Cases of Eckhart and Ockham: Conservative and Innovative Tendencies
4âThe Distinction in the Early-Modern Era Bruno, Gentili, and the Sixteenth-Century Debate on Native Americans
â1âThe Question of the Condition of Native Americans
â2âReligion and Humanism in the Debate over the European Right of Conquest
â3âInitial Conclusions
â4âBrunoâs Notions of the Infinite and potentia Dei absoluta
â5âCivil and Ethical Spin-Offs: The âAmerican Proofâ of Brunoâs Cosmological Infinite
â6âGentiliâs Criticism of War in General
â7âGentiliâs View on Colonization: His Concepts of Natural Equality and Historical Inequality
â8âThe Question of whether Trade Is a Factor of Civilization and Indicative of Social Progress
â9âFinal Conclusions
5âGentiliâs Religion and the Secularization of the Theology of Godâs Power
Conclusion
Appendix
List of Works Cited
Index of Names
by Diego Quaglioni
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1âA Normative History of Power The Distinction between potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata
2âThe Theology of Godâs Power as an Archaeology of the Modern Notion of Power
â1âThe Role of the Roman Church in the Middle Ages and the Canon Lawyers
â2âThe Theology of Godâs Power(s) and Its Juridification
â3âNatural Logocentrism and Divine Voluntarism
â4âWilliam of Ockham and the Early-Modern Tendencies towards Religious Reform and Natural Philosophy
â5âThe Question of Godâs Power Applied to the Construction of Papal Authority
â6âThe Fourteenth-Century Civil Lawyers and Their Analysis of the Princeâs Power
â7âOne Step Backward, One Step Forward: The Divide between Reason and Will and the Christian Tendencies towards Religious Reform
3âThe Classic Age of the Distinction The Pontificate of John xxii (1316â34)
â1âThe Church and the Question of Poverty in the 1320â30s
â2âThe Debate over Poverty as a Juristic Confrontation on Papal Power
â3âThe Distinction potentia Dei absoluta/ordinata in Scotus, Ockham, and John xxii
â4âGod as Unity and Simplicity in Eckhart and Ockhamâand Eckhartâs Rejection of the Distinction potentia Dei absoluta/ordinata
â5âEckhartâs Way to the Modern Era
â6âGodâs Powers, a True or an Alleged Distinction?
â7âJohn xxiiâs Pontificate and the Cases of Eckhart and Ockham: Conservative and Innovative Tendencies
4âThe Distinction in the Early-Modern Era Bruno, Gentili, and the Sixteenth-Century Debate on Native Americans
â1âThe Question of the Condition of Native Americans
â2âReligion and Humanism in the Debate over the European Right of Conquest
â3âInitial Conclusions
â4âBrunoâs Notions of the Infinite and potentia Dei absoluta
â5âCivil and Ethical Spin-Offs: The âAmerican Proofâ of Brunoâs Cosmological Infinite
â6âGentiliâs Criticism of War in General
â7âGentiliâs View on Colonization: His Concepts of Natural Equality and Historical Inequality
â8âThe Question of whether Trade Is a Factor of Civilization and Indicative of Social Progress
â9âFinal Conclusions
5âGentiliâs Religion and the Secularization of the Theology of Godâs Power
Conclusion
Appendix
List of Works Cited
Index of Names
Scholars and students with interests in the fields of late-mediaeval and early-modern legal history, theology, history of christianity, and philosophy.