Marsilius of Padua

Timeline

1. c. 1280–1312Paris · Île-de-FranceBorn in Padua, he later studied at the University of Paris, encountering Aristotelian political philosophy and canon law, laying the theoretical foundation for his later critique of clerical political power.
2. 1324–1327Padua · VenetoTogether with John of Jandun he completed the Defensor Pacis, systematically arguing for popular sovereignty, the allocation of legislative power, and that clergy should not hold coercive secular power; the work was condemned by the papacy in 1327.
3. 1341–1343Munich · BavariaAfter 1327 he followed Louis IV to Munich, residing at the imperial court alongside Franciscan scholars such as William of Ockham, continuing political and theological writing, and died in Munich around 1342–1343.