Giles of Rome's on Ecclesiastical Power - (Records of Western Civilization) Annotated (Paperback)

About the Book

Written at the turn of the 14th century, Giles of Rome's De ecclesiastica potestate is a papal tract written at the height of Pope Boniface VIII's conflict with King Philip IV of France.

Book Synopsis

Giles of Rome was the archbishop of Bourges and a loyal champion of Pope Boniface VIII during the Franco-papal crisis of 1296-1303. On Ecclesiastical Power was written at the height of the conflict between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France and represents the earliest fully articulated and philosophically developed defense of the "hierocratic" ideology of the medieval papacy. Giles's theory that all government must be legitimized by the pope was based on scriptural, philosophical, patristic, and canonical sources, and his conclusion that the pope is the rightful ruler and final judge of the world--even in secular matters--is the definitive statement on papal power in the Middle Ages.

This book offers a new and complete critical edition of the Latin text, based on a collation of five fourteenth-century manuscripts. It is accompanied by a literal English translation and a detailed introduction analyzing the context and content of the treatise. The book takes into account the hitherto unconsidered Cremona manuscript of On Ecclesiastical Power and will be indispensable to scholars and students of the history of political thought and international relations.

Review Quotes

A welcome addition to the corpus of medieval political thought in Latin and in translation.--Kenneeth Pennington "Speculum"

It is to be hoped that this excellent version of Giles of Rome's key work is soon to be joined by a similar critical edition.--Chris Jones "Comitatus"

About the Author

The editor and translator of nine medieval texts, R. W. Dyson is a lecturer in politics at the University of Durham in the UK. He is also director of the Centre for the History of Political Thought.