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Jean Bodin

File:Jean_Bodin.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Jean Bodin

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French jurist, witchcraft theorist and political philosopher (1529 or 1530–1596)

AI overview

Jean Bodin was a 16th-century French legal scholar and political thinker whose ideas significantly shaped European concepts of sovereignty and state power. He is also remembered for his influential writings on witchcraft, which unfortunately promoted the persecution of accused witches during a dangerous period in European history.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
c. 1530
Died
1596
Works
135

Top works

  • Discours de Iean Bodin sur le rehaussement et diminution des monnoyes, tant d'or que d'argent, & le moyen d'y remedier
  • Apologie de René Herpin pour la Republique de I. Bodin
  • Le théâtre de la nature universelle de Iean Bodin ... Auquel on peut contempler les causes efficientes & finales de toutes choses,desquelles l'ordre est continué par questions & responces en cinq liures ...
  • Los seis libros de la Republica de Ivan Bodino
  • Demonomania de gli stregoni

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Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Jean
Gender
male
Citizenship
France
Place of birth
Angers
Place of death
Laon
Languages spoken
Middle French
Field of work
economics
Image
Jean Bodin.jpg
Work location
Toulouse
Religious order
Carmelites
Show 12 more facts
Commons category
Jean Bodin
date of death
1596-06-07
date of birth
1530-00-00
Commons Creator page
Jean Bodin
Commons gallery
Jean Bodin
name in native language
Jean Bodin
cause of death
plague
writing language
Middle French
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikiproject Witches
manner of death
natural causes
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

Jean Bodin (/boʊˈdæn/; French: [ʒɑ̃ bɔdɛ̃]; c. 1530 – 1596) was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. Bodin lived during the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation and wrote against the background of religious conflict in France. He seemed to be a nominal Catholic throughout his life but was critical of papal authority over governments. Known for his theory of sovereignty, he favoured the strong central control of a national monarchy as an antidote to factional strife.

Towards the end of his life he wrote a dialogue among different religions, including representatives of Judaism, Islam and natural theology in which all agreed to coexist in concord, but was not published. He was also an influential writer on demonology, as his later years were spent during the peak of the early modern witch trials.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jean Bodin” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (4)