This is a critical study of the Defensor Pacis, one of the most interesting and significant works in medieval political philosophy. Marsiglio of Padua, a defrocked Franciscan friar, wrote this book in the aftermath of the Avignon papacy and during the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. Emerton provides insight into the historical and philosophical context in which the Defensor Pacis was written, as well as a detailed analysis of its ideas and...