Universität Wien

010023 FS Spiritual Power and Secular State (2022W)

Ecclesiology and political theory in Marsilius of Padua (1275/80 - ca. 1342) and Giles of Rome (ca. 1247-1316)

Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 04.10. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 11.10. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 18.10. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 25.10. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 08.11. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 15.11. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 22.11. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 29.11. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 06.12. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 13.12. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 10.01. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 17.01. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 24.01. 18:30 - 20:00 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Tuesday 31.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The 14th century experienced a rise in political ecclesiology due to conflicts between state and church and a number of challenges to the monarchical understanding of the papacy. The controversy between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philipp the Fair of France produced a wealth of controversial literature, among which the treatise of John of Paris figures prominently, proposing an extremely hierocratic understanding of papal power supported by philosophical and theological arguments. One generation later, Marsilius of Padova presented in his Defensor pacis a stunning critique of papalism and papal power by relying on an uncompromising Aristotelian vision of society, in which religion and its representatives played no political role at all.

The seminar will study important parts of these two treatises as two political extremes, which frame the dense ecclesiological debates of the later Middle Ages. The participants will analyze the arguments and philosophical models, contextualize them within the debates and controversies of the time and discuss their theological meaning. The students, thus, will be trained in text analysis and in late medieval theological thought.

The texts will be available both in the original Latin and in English translations. Students are expected to give short presentations of selected chapters and historical events. The seminar will be taught in English.

Assessment and permitted materials

Active and informed participation based on text assignments; one short presentation; final research paper. The topic of the final paper should be selected after consultation with the professor.
Written component: research paper.
By enrolling in this course, participants agree that their papers will be checked against plagiarism.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Regular class attendance; three absences will result in a failed grade.
Active participation in discussions and text interpretations (20%);
one short presentation (20%);
one research paper, approx. 20 pages or 40.000 characters, including a 2-3 page bibliography (60%)

Examination topics

Reading list

Jürgen Miethke, Politiktheorie im Mittelalter, von Thomas von Aquin bis Wilhelm Ockham; durchges. u. korr. Studienausgabe (UTB, 3059: Theologie), Tübingen 2008 [Titel der 1. Ausg.: De potestate papae. Die päpstliche Amtskompetenz im Widerstreit der politischen Theorie von Thomas von Aquin bis Wilhelm von Ockham, Tübingen 2000].

Gianluca Briguglia, Marsilio da Padova, Roma 2013.

Association in the course directory

LV für Doktorat-/PhD-Studium, für 011 (15W) FTH 26, 199 518 MA UF RK 02 oder RK 05

Last modified: Sa 01.03.2025 00:07