A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century

by J.W. Allen

This presentation of the main phases and features of political thought in the sixteenth century is based on an exhaustive study of contemporary writings in Latin, English, French, German and Italian. The book is divided into four parts. The first part deals with the new thought of Protestantism. The rest describes special ideas that emerged in England, France and Italy.

Genres: Politics

533 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 1928

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is super old school and deeply involved in in-house debates so most folks shouldn’t read. But it is trying to show how much political thought in this time period was based on medieval debates and not terribly original. He shows how debates about sovereignty and shared government were around for a long time and didn’t change much in type or foundation. He likes to criticize folks for thinking Machiavelli is doing something unique. He also shows how God being involved in government wasn’t agreed on and that element didn’t change much between the medieval time and the 16th century.