Marsilius of Padua on Political Virtues and Aristotle’s Absolute Ruler
Marsilius of Padua on Political Virtues and Aristotle’s Absolute Ruler

Summary/Abstract: Aristotle’s portrait of the ideal ruler gave rise to various medieval interpretations and debates on kingship and its significancefortheformation and maintenance of a well-ordered political community. Several medieval political thinkers expressed a strong predilection for absolute kingship as the best form of government under the supposition that the ideal ruler would surpass all other members of the political community in prudence, political capacity and moral virtue. However, this view was by no means universal. For instance, in the early fourteenth century, Marsilius of Padua (ca. 1295–1343) diverged from this tendency, preferring instead an elected king. While scholars have sometimes devoted attention to Marsilius’ conception of elective monarchy, they have seldom held it up in direct contrast to the ideas of Aristotle and of medieval Aristotelians. This is unfortunate, since such an analysis will help us to appreciate the strengths and limitations of the Marsilian position. The objective of the present essay, then, is twofold: firstly,it will explore the way Marsilius’ image of the aspiring ruler accords with the systematic premises of his political theory as well as with the medieval view of the prince as judge. Secondly, it will provide a closer appraisal of the relationship between Marsilius’ discussion of the virtues of the ideal prince as developed in his masterpiece, the Defender of peace, and Aristotle’s notion of the absolute king. I argue that these two projects are connected, inasmuch as Marsilius’ conception of the officeoftherulerrequireshimtorejecttheAristotelianideaoftheabsolute king in preference for elective kingship.

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