John of Salisbury and the medieval Roman renaissance

Download or read book John of Salisbury and the medieval Roman renaissance written by Irene O'Daly and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-07 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a detailed but accessible treatment of the political thought of John of Salisbury, a twelfth-century author and educationalist who rose from a modest background to become Bishop of Chartres. It shows how aspects of John's thought – such as his views on political cooperation and virtuous rulership – were inspired by the writings of Roman philosophers, notably Cicero and Seneca. Investigating how John accessed and adapted the classics, the book argues that he developed a hybrid political philosophy by taking elements from Roman Stoic sources and combining them with insights from patristic writings. By situating his ideas in their political and intellectual context, it offers a reassessment of John’s political thought, as well as a case study in classical reception of relevance to students and scholars of political philosophy and the history of ideas.