商品詳細

At no time was empire more a subject for theoretical reflection and dispute than during the Late Middle Ages. After 1300, the volume of writing concentrating on imperial themes escalated rapidly and continued to represent a significant proportion of political treatises composed well into the Renaissance. Alongside the republican doctrines that have so often been highlighted by recent scholars, imperial thought remained a vital feature of the intellectual landscape of 14th and 15th century Europe. The present volume contains translations of three defences of the Roman Empire by some of the most important political authors of late medieval and Renaissance Europe - Engelbert of Admont, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini and Juan de Torquemada. None of these works has previously been translated into English in its entirety. Moreover, the volume contains a substantial introduction that places the tracts in their historical context as well as in their relation to this history of Western political thought. The collection should be of interest to advanced undergraduates, research students and professional scholars in European history, political science, philosophy, medieval studies, religious studies and theology.