Abstract

The article argues that existing scholarship has missed Melanchthon's central objective in writing the Commentarii in aliquot politicos libros Aristoteles. Rather than merely criticizing peasants and radical preachers, Melanchthon sought to refute the Ockhamist political thought of Gabriel Biel and John Mair. Using Aristotle's naturalism within the theological framework of the political order as ordained by God, Melanchthon criticized the conventionalist account of the Ockhamists, specifically the principles underlying the case for popular sovereignty or the power of the community over the ruler. Instead he put forward a theory of politics and constitutional monarchy grounded in natural law