Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Philosopher · Lawyer · historian · Writer
French jurist and thinker. He developed his theory of sovereignty in the midst of the confusion of religious wars and provided an important basis for modern state theory. He is a person who understands the concept of national power.
View in catalogAngers
Birth
Laon
Work
Six Books of the Commonwealth
1576
Book
French Wars of Religion
1562–1598
War · Witness
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born in Angers, he studied law and worked as a bureaucrat and lawyer. In France, where conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots were intensifying, a major challenge was how to restore order.
In ``On the State,'' he discussed sovereignty as the supreme and lasting power that supports the nation. It is important that, while supporting the monarch, he considered a framework of law and order rather than unlimited arbitrariness.
Bodin was also known for his theories on witches, and his modern state theory coexisted with the religious worldview of the time. He is a person who simultaneously shows the progressiveness and limitations of 16th century thought.
When we study Bodin, we understand that the basic concept of modern politics, the sovereign state, was formed out of the crisis of the religious wars. It provides a foundation for understanding absolute monarchy and the history of international relations. It can also be used for comparison with surrounding areas from the same era.
