William of Ockham: A Short Discourse on Tyrannical Government... - 9780521352420

William of Ockham: A Short Discourse on Tyrannical GovernmentAuthor(s): William of Ockham, Arthur Stephen McGrade, John Kilcullen\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521352420, 978-0521352420\nSynopsis\nWilliam of Ockham (c. 1285c. 1347) was the most eminent and influential theologian and philosopher of his day, a giant in the history of political thought. He was a Franciscan friar who came to believe that the Avignonese papacy of John XXII had set out to destroy the religious ideal on which the Franciscan order was based: the complete poverty of Christ and the apostles. This is the first complete text by Ockham to be published in English. The Short Discourse is a passionate but compelling statement of Ockham's position on the most fundamental political problem of the medieval period: the relationship of supreme spiritual authority, as represented by the pope, to the autonomous secular authority .