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{{Short description|French jurist and political philosopher (c. 1530–1596)}}
{{Infobox philosopher
|region           = [[Western philosophy]]
|era              = [[Renaissance philosophy]]
|image            = Jean Bodin.jpg
|caption          =
|name             = Jean Bodin
|birth_date       = {{Circa|1530}}
|birth_place      = [[Angers]], [[Province of Anjou|Anjou]], France
|death_date       = 1596
|death_place      = [[Laon]], [[Picardy]], France
|school_tradition = [[Mercantilism]]
|main_interests   = [[Legal philosophy]], [[political philosophy]], [[economy]]
|notable_ideas    = [[Quantity theory of money]], [[absolute sovereignty]]
|signature        =
}}
{{republicanism sidebar}}
'''Jean Bodin''' ({{IPAc-en|b|oʊ|ˈ|d|æ|n}}; {{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ bɔdɛ̃|lang}}; {{Circa|1530}} – 1596) was a French [[jurist]] and [[political philosophy|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 [[French Wars of Religion|religious conflict in France]]. He seemed to be a nominal [[Catholic]] throughout his life but was critical of [[Primacy of the Bishop of Rome|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]],<ref>{{Cite book |author=James I (King of England) |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=gmxjAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PP16 |title=Daemonologie. Edinburgh 1597 |date=1603 |publisher=A. Hatfield for R. Waldgrave }}</ref> as his later years were spent during the [[peak of the early modern witch trials]].

==Life==
Jean Bodin was successively a friar, academic, professional lawyer, and political adviser. An excursion as a politician having proved a failure, he lived out his life as a provincial [[magistrate]].

===Early life===
Bodin was born near [[Angers]], possibly the son of a master tailor,{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} into a modestly prosperous middle-class background. He received a decent education, apparently in the [[Carmelite]] monastery of Angers, where he became a [[novice]] friar. Some claims made about his early life remain obscure. There is some evidence of a visit to Geneva in 1547–48 in which he became involved in a [[heresy]] trial. The records of this episode, however, are murky and may refer to another person.

===Paris and Toulouse===
Bodin obtained release from his vows in 1549 and went to Paris. He studied at the [[University of Paris|university]], but also at the [[humanism|humanist]]-oriented ''Collège des Quatre Langues'' (now the [[Collège de France]]); he was for two years a student under Guillaume Prévost, a little-known ''magister'' in philosophy.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} {{Google books|NPlesawx63AC|Jacobsen, p. 55|page=PA55}}</ref>  His education was not only influenced by an orthodox [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] approach but was also apparently in contact with [[Ramism|Ramist]] philosophy (the thought of [[Petrus Ramus]]).

Later, in the 1550s, he studied [[Roman law]] at the [[University of Toulouse]], under [[Arnaud du Ferrier]], and taught there. His special subject at that time seems to have been comparative jurisprudence. Subsequently, he worked on a Latin translation of [[Oppian of Apamea]], under the continuing patronage of [[Gabriel Bouvery]], [[Bishop of Angers]]. Bodin had a plan for a school on humanist principles in Toulouse, but failed to raise local support. He left in 1560.<ref name=Stanford>{{cite SEP |url-id=bodin |title=Jean Bodin |last=Turchetti  |first=Mario|date=2006-12-12}}</ref><ref>Robert Alan Schneider, ''Public life in Toulouse, 1463-1789: from municipal republic to cosmopolitan city'' (1989), pp. 56–7; [https://books.google.com/books?id=mSz9euEaX-oC&pg=PA56 Google Books].</ref>

===The Wars of Religion and the ''politiques''===
From 1561, Bodin was licensed as an attorney of the ''[[Parlement]]'' of Paris. His religious convictions on the outbreak of the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] in 1562 cannot be determined, but he affirmed formally his Catholic faith, taking an oath that year along with other members of the Parlement.<ref>[[Marion Leathers Kuntz|Kuntz]], p. xxi; [https://books.google.com/books?id=fpkvrr-qyoMC&pg=PR21 Google Books.]</ref>  He continued to pursue his interests in legal and political theory in Paris, publishing significant works on [[historiography]] and economics.

Bodin became a member of the discussion circles around the [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Prince François d'Alençon]] (or d'Anjou from 1576). He was the intelligent and ambitious youngest son of [[Henry II of France|Henry II]], and was in line for the throne in 1574, with the death of his brother [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]]. He withdrew his claim, however, in favor of his older brother [[Henry III of France|Henry III]], who had recently returned from his abortive effort to reign as the [[King of Poland]]. Alençon was a leader of the ''[[politiques]]'' faction of political pragmatists.<ref>Kuntz, Introduction p. xxii. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fpkvrr-qyoMC&pg=PR22 Google Books].</ref>

===Under Henry III===
After the failure of Prince François' hopes to ascend the throne, Bodin transferred his allegiance to the new king [[Henry III of France|Henry III]]. In practical politics, however, he lost the king's favor in 1576–7, as delegate of the [[Estates General (France)|Third Estate]] at the [[Estates General (France)|Estates-General]] at [[Blois]], and leader in his Estate of the February 1577 moves to prevent a new war against the Huguenots.<ref>Mack P. Holt, ''The Duke of Anjou and the Politique Struggle During the Wars of Religion'' (2005), p. 85; [https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt5sraGYbWcC&q=Bodin Google Books].</ref> He attempted to exert a moderating influence on the Catholic party, and also tried to restrict the passage of supplemental taxation for the king.  Bodin then retired from political life; he had married in February 1576. His wife, Françoise Trouillart, was the widow of Claude Bayard, and sister of Nicolas Trouillart who died in 1587; both were royal attorneys in the [[Provost (civil)|Provost]] of [[Laon]] and attorneys in the [[Bailiwick]] of [[Vermandois]], and Bodin took over the charges.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} {{Google books|NPlesawx63AC|Jacobsen, p. 47|page=PA47}}</ref>

Jean Bodin was in touch with [[William Wade (English politician)|William Wade]] in Paris, [[Lord Burghley]]'s contact, at the time (1576) of publication of the ''Six livres''.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Waad, William}}</ref> He later accompanied Prince François, by then Duke of Anjou, to England in 1581, in his second attempt to woo [[Elizabeth I of England]]. On this visit, Bodin saw the English Parliament.<ref name=Purkiss196>Purkiss, p. 196 note 14; [https://books.google.com/books?id=18c4MQO5MyIC&pg=PA196 Google Books ]</ref> He brushed off a request to secure better treatment for English Catholics,<ref>Thomas M. McCoog, ''The Society of Jesus in Ireland, Scotland, and England 1541-1588: "our way of proceeding?"'' (1996), p. 156; [https://books.google.com/books?id=BB4u8Lg9-lwC&pg=PA156 Google Books].</ref> to the dismay of [[Robert Persons]], given that [[Edmund Campion]] was in prison at the time.<ref>Richard Dutton, Alison Findlay, Richard Wilson, ''Theatre and Religion: Lancastrian Shakespeare'' (2003), p. 120; [https://books.google.com/books?id=IDHZmFCFqXwC&pg=PA120 Google Books].</ref> Bodin saw some of Campion's trial,<ref name=Purkiss196/> he is said also to have witnessed Campion's execution in December 1581,<ref>Leonard F. Dean, ''Bodin's "Methodus" in England before 1625'', Studies in Philology Vol. 39, No. 2 (Apr., 1942), pp. 160-166; note on p. 160.</ref> making the hanging the occasion for a public letter against the use of force in matters of religion.<ref>Kuntz, pp.xxiii–xxiv; [https://books.google.com/books?id=fpkvrr-qyoMC&pg=PR23 Google Books]</ref> Bodin became a correspondent of [[Francis Walsingham]]; and [[Michel de Castelnau]] passed on to [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] a prophecy supposed to be Bodin's, on the death of Elizabeth, at the time of the [[Babington Plot]].<ref>John Bossy, ''Under the Molehill: An Elizabethan Spy Story'' (2001), p. 110 and note.</ref>

Prince François became [[Duke of Brabant]] in 1582, however, and embarked on an adventurous campaign to expand his territory. The disapproving Bodin accompanied him, and was trapped in the Prince's disastrous raid on [[Antwerp]] that ended the attempt, followed shortly by the Prince's death in 1584.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} {{Google books|NPlesawx63AC|Jacobsen, p. 49|page=PA49}}</ref>

===Last years===
In the wars that followed the death of Henry III (1589), the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] attempted to prevent the succession of the Protestant [[Henry of Navarre]] by placing another king on the throne. Bodin initially gave support to the powerful League; he felt it inevitable that they would score a quick victory.

Jean Bodin died in Laon, during one of the many [[bubonic plague|plague]] epidemics of the time.<ref name=Stanford/>

==Books==
Bodin generally wrote in French, with later Latin translations.<ref>Trevor-Roper, p. 114.</ref> Several of the works have been seen as influenced by [[Ramism]], at least in terms of structure.

Bodin wrote in turn books on history, economics, politics, demonology, and natural philosophy;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Ann |title=Tradition on Innovation in Early Modern Natural Philosophy: Jean Bodin and Jean-Cecile Frey |journal=Perspectives on Science |date=1994 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=428–454 |doi=10.1162/posc_a_00468 |s2cid=143299403 |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3403055/blair_natural.pdf?sequence=2}}</ref> and also left a (later notorious) work in manuscript on religion (see under "[[#Religious tolerance|Religious tolerance]]"). A modern edition of Bodin's works was begun in 1951 as ''Oeuvres philosophiques de Jean Bodin'' by [[Pierre Mesnard]], but only one volume appeared.

===''Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem''===
In France, Bodin was noted as a historian for his ''Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem'' (1566) (''Method for the easy knowledge of history''). He wrote, "Of history, that is, the true narration of things, there are three kinds: human, natural and divine". This book was one of the most significant contributions to the ''[[ars historica]]'' of the period, and distinctively put an emphasis on the role of political knowledge in interpreting historical writings.<ref name=Stanford/> He pointed out that the knowledge of historical legal systems could be useful for contemporary legislation.

The ''Methodus'' was a successful and influential manual on the writing of technical history.<ref>[[Denys Hay]], ''Annalists and Historians'', pp. 129-31.</ref> It answered by means of detailed historiographical advice the skeptical line on the possibility of historical knowledge advanced by [[Francesco Patrizzi]].<ref>Hay, p. 170.</ref> It also expanded the view of historical "data" found in earlier [[Humanism|humanists]], with the immediacy of its concerns for the social side of human life.<ref>Lawrence Manley, ''Convention, 1500-1750'' (1980), p. 214; [https://archive.org/details/convention1500170000manl/page/214 Internet Archive].</ref>

Jean Bodin rejected the biblical [[Four Monarchies]] model, taking an unpopular position at the time,<ref>Trevor-Roper, p. 137.</ref> as well as the classical theory of a [[Golden Age]] for its naiveté.<ref>Breisach, p. 182.</ref> He also dropped much of the rhetorical apparatus of the humanists.

===Economic thought: the ''Reply to Malestroit''===
The ''Réponse de J. Bodin aux paradoxes de M. de Malestroit'' (1568) was a tract, provoked by theories of [[Jean de Malestroit]], in which Bodin offered one of the earliest scholarly analyses of the phenomenon of [[inflation]], unknown prior to the 16th century. The background to discussion in the 1560s was that by 1550 an increase in the [[money supply]] in Western Europe had brought general benefits.<ref>Holt, p. 194.</ref> But there had also been appreciable inflation. Silver arriving via Spain from the South American mine of [[Potosí]], together with other sources of silver and gold, from other new sources, was causing monetary change.

Bodin was after [[Martín de Azpilicueta]], who had alluded to the issue in 1556 (something noticed also by [[Francisco López de Gómara|Gómara]] in his unpublished ''Annals''),<ref>Davies.</ref><ref>Elliott, p. 62.</ref> an early observer that the rise in prices was due in large part to the influx of precious metals.<ref>Bodin J., ''La Response de Joan Bodin a M. De Malestroit'', 1568. Cited in ''European Economic History: Documents and Reading'', p. 22. (1965). Editors: Clough SB, Moiide CG.</ref> Analysing the phenomenon, amongst other factors he pointed to the relationship between the amount of goods and the amount of money in circulation. The debates of the time laid the foundation for the "[[quantity theory of money]]".<ref>[[Fernand Braudel]], ''The Mediterranean'', p. 521.</ref> Bodin mentioned other factors: population increase, trade, the possibility of [[economic migration]], and consumption that he saw as profligate.<ref>Elliott, pp. 65-6.</ref>

===The ''Theatrum''===
The ''Theatrum Universae Naturae'' is Bodin's statement of natural philosophy. It contains many particular and even idiosyncratic personal views, for instance that [[eclipse]]s are related to political events.<ref>[[Keith Thomas (historian)|Keith Thomas]], ''Religion and the Decline of Magic'', p. 386 note.</ref> It argued against the certainty of the astronomical theory of [[stellar parallax]], and the terrestrial origin of the "comet of 1573" (i.e., the supernova [[SN 1572]]).<ref>Rose, p. 274.</ref> This work shows major [[Ramism|Ramist]] influences. Consideration of the orderly majesty of God leads to encyclopedism about the [[universe]] and an analogue of a [[memory system]].<ref>Paolo Rossi, ''Logic and the Art of Memory: The Quest for a Universal Language'', (English translation, 2000), p. 79–80.</ref>

Problems of Bodin became attached to some Renaissance editions of Aristotelian ''[[problemata]]'' in natural philosophy. Further, Damian Siffert compiled a ''Problemata Bodini'', which was based on the ''Theatrum''.<ref>Ann Blair, ''The Problemata as a Natural Philosophical Genre'', in Grafton and Siraisi (ed.) ''Natural Particulars'' (1999).</ref>

=== ''Les Six livres de la République'' <span class="anchor" id="Les Six livres de la République"></span><span class="anchor" id="les sex livres de la république"></span><span class="anchor" id="Les Six Livres de la République"></span><span class="anchor" id="Les Six Livres De La République"></span><span class="anchor" id="The Six Books of the Republic"></span><span class="anchor" id="six books of the republic"></span><span class="anchor" id="the six books of the republic"></span> ===
{{Monarchism}}
Jean Bodin's best-known work was "''[[The Six Books of the Republic]]''" ({{lang|fr|Les Six livres de la République}}), written in 1576.<ref>{{cite book |title=Les six liures de la republique de I. Bodin |publisher= Chez Iacques du Puys, libraire iuré, à la Samaritaine |year= 1577 |place= Paris |url=  https://archive.org/details/lessixliuresdela00bodi |access-date= February 10, 2018 |via= Internet Archive}}</ref> The discussion regarding the best form of government which took place in those years around the [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]] (1572) gave the inspiration. Bodin's, classical, definition of sovereignty is: "{{lang|fr|la puissance absolue et perpetuelle d'une République}}" (the absolute and perpetual power of a Republic). His main ideas about sovereignty are found in chapter VIII and X of Book I, including his statement "The sovereign Prince is accountable only to God".

The ''Six livres'' were an immediate success and were frequently reprinted. A revised and expanded Latin translation by the author appeared in 1586. With this work, Bodin became one of the founders of the pragmatic inter-confessional group known as the ''[[politique]]s'', who ultimately succeeded in ending the Wars of Religion under King [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], with the [[Edict of Nantes]] (1598). Against the [[monarchomach]]s who were assailing kingship in his time, such as [[Theodore Beza]] and [[François Hotman]], Bodin succeeded in writing a fundamental and influential treatise of social and political theory. In its reasoning against all types of [[mixed constitution]] and [[resistance theory]], it was an effective counter-attack against the monarchomach position invoking "popular sovereignty".<ref>Kelley, p. 309.</ref>

The structure of the earlier books has been described as Ramist in structure. Book VI contains astrological and numerological reasoning.<ref name="Rose, p. 277">Rose, p. 277.</ref> Bodin invoked [[Pythagoras]] in discussing [[justice]] and in Book IV used ideas related to the [[Utopia]] of [[Thomas More]].<ref>Mazzotta, p. 177-8.</ref> The use of language derived from or replacing [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]'s ''città'' (Latin ''civitas'') as political unit (French ''cité'' or ''ville'') is thoughtful; Bodin introduced republic (French ''république'', Latin ''respublica'') as a term for matters of [[public law]] (the contemporary English rendering was ''commonweal(th)'').<ref>Bock, Skinner and Viroli eds, ''Machiavelli and Republicanism'', p. 71.</ref> Bodin, although he referred to [[Tacitus]], was not writing here in the tradition of [[classical republicanism]]. The [[Ottoman Empire]] is analysed as a "seigneurial monarchy".<ref>[[Peter Burke (historian)|Peter Burke]], ''European Renaissance'' p 214.</ref> The [[Republic of Venice]] is not accepted in the terms of [[Gasparo Contarini]]: it is called an aristocratic constitution, not a mixed one, with a concentric structure, and its apparent stability was not attributable to the form of government.<ref>Edward Muir, ''Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice'' (1986), p. 50; [https://books.google.com/books?id=bM-ky1XgGWcC&pg=PA50 Google Books].</ref>

The ideas in the ''Six livres'' on the importance of climate in the shaping of a people's character were also influential, finding a prominent place in the work of [[Giovanni Botero]] (1544–1617) and later in [[Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu|Baron de Montesquieu]]'s (1689–1755) [[climatic determinism]]. Based on the assumption that a country's climate shapes the character of its population, and hence to a large extent the most suitable form of government, Bodin postulated that a [[hereditary monarchy]] would be the ideal regime for a temperate nation such as France. This power should be "sovereign", i.e., not be subject to any other branch, though to some extent limited by institutions like the high courts (''Parlement'') and representative assemblies (''États'').  Above all, the monarch is "responsible only to God", that is, must stand above confessional factions.

The work soon became widely known. Gaspar de Anastro made a Spanish translation in 1590.<ref>J. H. Elliott, ''The Count-Duke of Olivares'' (1986), p. 182.</ref> [[Richard Knolles]] put together an English translation (1606); this was based on the 1586 Latin version, but in places follows other versions. It appeared under the title ''The Six Bookes of a Common-weale''.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Six Bookes of a Commonweale Written by I. Bodin, a Famous Lawyer and a man of great Experience in matters of State, Out of French and Latine Coplet done into English by Richard Knolles   |place= London |publisher=Impensis G. Bishop |year=1606 |url=https://archive.org/details/sixbookesofcommo00bodi |access-date= February 10, 2018 |via= Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{ODNBweb|id=15752|title=Knolles, Richard|first=Christine|last=Woodhead}}</ref><ref>Rose, p. 288 note 26.</ref>

===''De la démonomanie des sorciers'' ===
[[File:Démonomanie des sorciers Bodin.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Title page of ''De la démonomanie des sorciers'' (1580)]]

Bodin's major work on [[Magic (paranormal)|sorcery]] and the [[witchcraft]] persecutions was ''[[On the Demonomania of the Sorcerers]]'' ({{lang|fr|De la démonomanie des sorciers}}), first issued in 1580, with ten editions published by 1604.<ref>[http://www.bvh.univ-tours.fr/Consult/index.asp?numfiche=221 1580 ed. of ''De la Demonomanie des Sorciers'']</ref> In it he elaborates the influential concept of "pact witchcraft" based on a [[deal with the Devil]]<ref>Purkiss, p. 64.</ref> and the belief that the evil spirit would use a strategy to impose doubt on judges to look upon magicians as madmen and hypochondriacs deserving of compassion rather than chastisement.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Calmet|first1=Augustine|title=Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants: of Hungary, Moravia, et al. Translated by Rev Henry Christmas & Brett R Warren. 2016|date=1751|isbn=1-5331-4568-7|page=45|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |edition=1}}</ref>

The book relates histories of sorcerers,<ref>[[E. M. Butler]], ''The Fortunes of Faust'' (1998), p. 7.</ref> but does not mention [[Faust]] and his pact.<ref>E. M. Butler, ''Myth of the Magus'', p. 129.</ref> It gave a report of a 1552 public [[exorcism]] in Paris,<ref>Sarah Ferber, ''Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France'' (2004), p. 30.</ref> and of the case of [[Magdalena de la Cruz]] of [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordova]], an abbess who had confessed to sexual relations with the Devil over three decades.<ref>Ferber, p.118.</ref> Bodin cited Pierre Marner on [[werewolf]] accounts from [[Savoie]].<ref>[[s:The Book of Were-Wolves/Chapter V]]</ref> He denounced the works of [[Cornelius Agrippa]], and the perceived traffic in "sorceries" carried out along the [[Spanish Road]], running along eastern France for much of its length.<ref>Owen Davies, ''Grimoires: A History of Magic Books'' (2009), p. 68 and p. 78.</ref>

He wrote in extreme terms about procedures in sorcery trials, opposing the normal safeguards of justice.<ref>Pennethorne Hughes, ''Witchcraft'' (1969), p. 181.</ref> This advocacy of relaxation was aimed directly at the existing standards laid down by the Parlement of Paris (physical or written evidence, confessions not obtained by [[torture]], unimpeachable witnesses).<ref>[http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=wmjowl&sei-redir=1#search=%22Jean%20Bodin%20%2BParlement%22 Barbara L. Bernier, ''The Praxis of Church and State in the (Under)Development of Women's Religion from France to the New World'' (PDF)] p. 676–7 of article.</ref> He asserted that not even one witch could be erroneously condemned if the correct procedures were followed, because rumours concerning sorcerers were almost always true. Bodin's attitude has been called a populationist strategy typical of [[mercantilism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heinsohn |first=Gunnar |author2=Steiger, Otto |year=1999 |title=Birth Control: The Political-Economic Rationale behind Jean Bodin's Démonomanie |journal=History of Political Economy |volume=31 |issue=3 |pmid=21275210 |pages=423–448 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/history_of_political_economy/v031/31.3heinsohn.html |doi=10.1215/00182702-31-3-423 |s2cid=31013297 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246957308_Inflation_and_witchcraft_The_case_of_Jean_Bodin|"Inflation and Witchcraft - The Case of Jean Bodin," by Gunnar Heinsohn and Otto Steiger</ref>{{vague|date=October 2011}}

The book was influential in the debate over witchcraft; it was translated into German by [[Johann Fischart]] (1581),<ref>[[Peter Burke (historian)|Peter Burke]], ''European Renaissance'', p. 137.</ref><ref>{{in lang|de}} [https://digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10192455 online text].</ref> and in the same year into Latin by [[Franciscus Junius (the elder)|François Du Jon]] as ''De magorum dæmonomania libri IV''.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.bvh.univ-tours.fr/Consult/index.asp?numfiche=201 BVH page]</ref> It was quoted by [[Jean de Léry]], writing about the [[Tupinambá people|Tupinamba]] people of what is now [[Brazil]].<ref>Purkiss, p. 252.</ref>

One surviving copy of the text, located in the University of Southern California's Special Collections Library, is a rare presentation copy signed by Bodin himself, and is one of only two known surviving texts that feature such an inscription by the author.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://uscp.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=4297316%7BCKEY%7D|title=De La Démonomanie Des Sorciers: a Monseignevr M. Chrestofle de Thou Cheualier Seigneur de Coeli, premier President en la Cour de Parlement, & Conseiller du Roy en son priué Conseil|last1=Bodin|first1=Jean|last2=Du Puys|first2=Jacques|date=2000-01-01|publisher=Chez Iacques du Puys Libraire Iuré|location=A Paris}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The USC ''Démonomanie'' dedication is to a C.L. Varroni, thought to be a legal colleague of Bodin's.


==Views==

===Law and politics===
Jean Bodin became well known for his analysis of sovereignty, which he took to be indivisible, and to involve full legislative powers (though with qualifications and caveats). With [[François Hotman]] (1524–1590) and [[François Baudouin]] (1520–1573), on the other hand, Bodin also supported the force of [[customary law]], seeing [[Roman law]] alone as inadequate.<ref>''General Crisis'', p. 124</ref><ref>Elliott, p. 92.</ref>

He hedged the absolutist nature of his theory of sovereignty, which was an analytical concept; if later his ideas were used in a different, normative fashion, that was not overtly the reason in Bodin.<ref>Glenn Burgess, ''Ancient Constitution'' p. 123.</ref> Sovereignty could be looked at as a "bundle of attributes";<ref>Holt, p. 160.</ref> in that light the legislative role took centre stage, and other "marks of sovereignty" could be discussed further, as separate issues. He was a ''politique'' in theory, which was the moderate position of the period in French politics; but drew the conclusion that only [[passive resistance]] to authority was justified.<ref>Elliott, p. 224.</ref>

Bodin's work on political theory saw the introduction of the modern concept of "state" but was in the fact on the cusp of usage (with that of [[Corasius]]), with the older meaning of a monarch "maintaining his state" not having dropped away.<ref>Ball etc. ''Political Innovation'', p. 120.</ref>  [[Public office]] belonged to the commonwealth, and its holders had a personal responsibility for their actions.<ref>Wernham, p. 502.</ref> Politics is autonomous, and the sovereign is subject to divine and natural law, but not to any church; the obligation is to secure justice and religious worship in the state.<ref>Wernham, p. 490.</ref>

Bodin studied the balance of liberty and authority.<ref>[[Isaiah Berlin]], ''Freedom and Betrayal'', p. 29.</ref> He had no doctrine of [[separation of powers]] and argued in a traditional way about [[royal prerogative]] and its proper, limited sphere. His doctrine was one of balance as harmony, with numerous qualifications; as such it could be used in different manners, and was. The key was that the central point of power should be above faction.<ref>Nicholas Henshall, ''The Myth of Absolutism'' (1992), pp. 126-127, p. 204.</ref> Rose sees Bodin's politics as ultimately [[theocratic]],<ref>Rose, p. 276.</ref> and misunderstood by the absolutists who followed him.<ref name="Rose, p. 277"/>

Where Aristotle argued for six types of state, Bodin allowed only [[monarchy]], [[aristocracy]] and [[democracy]]. He advocated, however, distinguishing the form of state (constitution) from the form of government (administration).<ref>Wernham, p. 503-4.</ref> Bodin had a low opinion of democracy.<ref>[[Sheldon Wolin]] (2003), ''Tocqueville, Between Two Worlds'', pp. 59-60.</ref>

Families were the basic unit and model for the state;<ref>Kelley, p. 72.</ref> on the other hand [[John Milton]] found in Bodin an ally on the topic of [[divorce]].<ref>Hill, ''Milton and the English Revolution'', p. 123.</ref> Respect for individual liberty and possessions were the hallmark of the orderly state, a view Bodin shared with Hotman and [[George Buchanan]].<ref>Wernham, p. 506.</ref> He argued against [[slavery]].<ref>[[Peter Gay]], ''The Enlightenment 2: The Science of Freedom'' (1996), p. 408; [[David Brion Davis]], ''The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture'' (1966), pp. 111-114.</ref>

In matters of law and politics, Bodin saw religion as a social prop, encouraging respect for law and governance.<ref>
{{cite book
| last1                 = Holmes
| first1                = Stephen
| author-link1          = Stephen Holmes (academic)
| chapter               = Jean Bodin: The Paradox of Sovereignty and the Privatization of Religion
| editor1-last          = Pennock
| editor1-first         = James Roland
| editor2-last          = Chapman
| editor2-first         = John W.
| title                 = Religion, Morality, and the Law
| url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=qvpyt5ykHmwC
| series                = Nomos Series
| volume                = 30
| publisher             = NYU Press
| date      = 1988
| page                  = 28
| isbn                  = 9780814766064
| access-date            = 2015-09-04
| quote                 = In the ''Republique'', at least, religion captures Bodin's attention because of its influence on the sovereign's capacity to keep the peace. A false religion is nevertheless useful because it 'doth yet hold men in fear and awe, both of the laws and of the magistrates [...]' (IV, 7, 539). If fear of hellfire lends credibility to the law, then religion is a welcome ally [...] In other words, Bodin advances a social-prop theory of religion. The utility of religion does not hinge upon its truth.
}}
</ref>

===On change and progress===
Bodin praised printing as outshining any achievement of the ancients.<ref>Kelley, p. 232.</ref> The idea that the [[Protestant Reformation]] was driven by economic and political forces is attributed to him.<ref>Hill, ''Economic Problems of the Church'', p. ix.</ref> He is identified as the first person to realize the rapid rate of change of early modern Europe.<ref>Glacken 446.</ref>

In physics, he is credited as the first modern writer to use the concept of [[physical law]]s to define change,<ref>Rose, p. 273, citing d'Entrèves.</ref> but his idea of nature included the action of spirits. In politics, he adhered to the ideas of his time in considering a political revolution in the nature of an astronomical cycle: a ''changement'' (French) or simply a change (as translated 1606) in English;<ref>[[Perez Zagorin]], ''Court & Country'', p. 14.</ref> from Polybius Bodin took the idea of ''anacyclosis'', or cyclic change of constitution.<ref>Kelley, p. 64.</ref> Bodin's theory was that governments had begun as monarchical, had then been democratic, before becoming aristocratic.<ref>Mazzotta, p. 168.</ref>

===Religious tolerance===

====Public position====
In 1576, Bodin was engaged in French politics, and then argued against the use of compulsion in matters of religion, if unsuccessfully. Wars, he considered, should be subject to statecraft, and matters of religion did not touch the state.

Bodin argued that a state might contain several religions; this was a very unusual position for his time, if shared by [[Michel de l'Hôpital]] and [[William the Silent]]. It was attacked by [[Pedro de Rivadeneira]] and [[Juan de Mariana]], from the conventional opposing position of a state obligation to root out religious dissent.<ref>Davies, p. 134 note and p. 278.</ref> He argued in the ''Six livres'' that the [[Trial of the Knights Templar]] was an example of unjustified persecution, similar to that of the Jews and medieval fraternities.<ref>Marsha Keith Schuchard, ''Restoring the Temple of Vision: cabalistic freemasonry and Stuart culture'' (2002), p. 212; [https://books.google.com/books?id=YvBynNte54YC&pg=PA212 Google Books].</ref>

====Private position in the ''Colloquium''====
In 1588, Bodin completed in manuscript a Latin work ''Colloquium heptaplomeres de rerum sublimium arcanis abditis'' (Colloquium of the Seven about Secrets of the Sublime). It is a conversation about the nature of truth between seven educated men, each with a distinct religious or philosophical orientation - a natural philosopher, a Calvinist, a Muslim, a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran, a Jew, and a skeptic.<ref>Kuntz.</ref> Because of this work, Bodin is often identified as one of the first proponents of [[religious tolerance]] in the western world. Truth, in Bodin's view, commanded universal agreement; and the [[Abrahamic religions]] agreed on the [[Old Testament]] (Tanakh).<ref>Wernham, p. 486.</ref> ''Vera religio'' (true religion) would command loyalty to the point of death; his conception of it was influenced by [[Philo]] and [[Maimonides]].<ref>Rose, p. 281-2.</ref> His views on [[free will]] are also bound up with his studies in Jewish philosophy.<ref>Rose, p. 269.</ref> Some modern scholars have contested his authorship of the text. The "Colloquium of the Seven regarding the hidden secrets of the sublime things" offers a peaceful discussion with seven representatives of various religions and worldviews, who in the end agree on the fundamental underlying similarity of their beliefs.

Bodin's theory, as based in considerations of harmony, resembles that of [[Sebastian Castellio]].<ref>Rose, p. 270.</ref> He has been seen as a scriptural relativist, and [[deist]], with [[Montaigne]] and [[Pierre Charron]];<ref>Bedford, p. 244.</ref> also in the group of learned [[Christian Hebraist]]s with [[John Selden]], [[Carlo Giuseppe Imbonati]], and [[Gerhard Vossius]].<ref>Mazzotta, p. 102.</ref> By reputation, at least, Bodin was cited as an unbeliever, [[deist]] or [[atheist]] by Christian writers who associated him with perceived free-thinking and sceptical tradition of Machiavelli and [[Pietro Pomponazzi]], [[Lucilio Vanini]], [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[Baruch Spinoza]]: [[Pierre-Daniel Huet]],<ref>Israel, p. 454 .</ref> [[Nathaniel Falck]],<ref>Israel, p. 632.</ref> [[Claude-François Houtteville]].<ref>Israel, p. 498.</ref> [[Pierre Bayle]] attributed to Bodin a maxim about the intellectual consequences of the non-existence of God (a precursor of [[Voltaire]]'s, but based on a traditional commonplace of French thinkers).<ref>[[Jonathan Israel]], Enlightenment Contested (2006), p. 364.</ref> [[Wilhelm Dilthey]] later wrote that the protagonists in the Colloquium anticipate those of [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]]'s ''[[Nathan der Weise]]''.<ref>[[Peter Gay]], ''The Enlightenment I: The Rise of Modern Paganism'' (1973) p. 298.</ref>

The Colloquium was one of the major and most popular manuscripts in clandestine circulation in the early modern period, with more than 100 copies catalogued.<ref>Israel, p. 690</ref> it had an extensive covert circulation, after coming into intellectual fashion. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica states "It is curious that [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], who originally regarded the ''Colloquium'' as the work of a professed enemy of Christianity, subsequently described it as a most valuable production".<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Bodin, Jean|volume=4|pages=149–150}}</ref> Its dissemination increased after 1700, even if its content was by then dated.<ref>Israel, p. 695.</ref> It was interpreted in the 18th century as containing arguments for [[Natural theology|natural religion]], as if the views expressed by Toralba (the proponent of natural religion) were Bodin's; wrongly, according to Rose, whose reconstruction of Bodin's religious views is a long way from belief in a detached deity.<ref>Rose.</ref> [[Grotius]] had a manuscript. [[Gottfried Leibniz]], who criticized the Colloquium to [[Jacob Thomasius]] and [[Hermann Conring]], some years later did editorial work on the manuscript. [[Henry Oldenburg]] wanted to copy it, for transmission to [[John Milton]] and possibly [[John Dury]],<ref>Garber and Ayers I, pp. 415-6</ref> or for some other connection in 1659.<ref>Lewalski, p. 670 note 35.</ref> In 1662 Conring was seeking a copy for a princely library.<ref>Lewalski, p. 406.</ref> It was not to be published in full until 1857, by Ludwig Noack, from manuscripts collected by [[Heinrich Christian von Seckenberg]].<ref>Kurtz p. lxx.</ref>

====Personal religious convictions====
Bodin was influenced by philosophic Judaism to believe in the annihilation of the wicked 'post exacta supplicia'.<ref>D. P. Walker ''The decline of hell Seventeenth-Century Discussions of Eternal Torment'' (9780226871066)  Page 74 footnoted 1857 [[Megaloburgiensium]] p341-4.</ref>

19th-century author Eliphas Levi esteemed Bodin as a student of Jewish esoterism: "The Kabalist Bodin who has been considered erroneously of a feeble and superstitious mind, had no other motive in writing his Demonomania than that of warning people against dangerous incredulity. Initiated by the study of the Kabalah into the true secrets of Magic, he trembled at the danger to which society was exposed by the abandonment of this power to the wickedness of men."<ref>https://Dogme{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} et Rituel de la Haute Magi Part I: The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic By Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant), Translated by A. E. Waite, England, Rider & Company, England, 1896, p. 77</ref>

===Cultural and universal history and geography===
Bodin was a [[polymath]], concerned with [[Human history|universal history]] which he approached as a jurist. He belonged to an identifiable French school of antiquarian and  [[cultural history]], with [[Lancelot Voisin de La Popelinière]], [[Louis Le Caron]], [[Louis Le Roy]], [[Étienne Pasquier]] and [[Nicolas Vignier]].<ref>[[Isaiah Berlin]], ''Proper Study'', p. 333.</ref>

Bodin's theory of the "Frankish Gauls", proposing a non-German genealogy for France, was still being reviled by [[Leibniz]] in the 18th century. Bodin argued that ''frank'' actually meant "free" in the Gallic language and, based on [[Caesar]], he said the Gauls had crossed the [[Rhine]] to escape the Roman yoke, and so were called Franks, and the country of France derived its name from them (who were originally Gauls). [[Leon Poliakov]] discussed this in ''The Aryan Myth'':<ref>Leon Poliakov, [https://archive.org/details/aryanmythhistory0000poli ''The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe''], trans. E. Howard (Basic Books, 1974), p. 22.</ref>

<blockquote>Etymological speculation and childish word games of this kind have been rife in western history ever since the Fathers of the Church, but it was the humanists of the Renaissance who first utilized them in the service of a new born chauvinism. It may be remarked, furthermore, that Bodin's theory attributes to the Frankish Gauls certain virtues which were unknown to the enslaved Gauls.</blockquote>

Historical disciples included [[Jacques Auguste de Thou]] and [[William Camden]]. The genre thus founded, drawing social conclusions, identified itself as "civil history", and was influenced particularly by [[Polybius]].<ref>Trevor-Roper, p. 135-6</ref> The ''Methodus'' has been called the first book to advance "a theory of universal history based on a purely secular study of the growth of civilisation".<ref>Paul D. L. Avis, ''Foundations of modern historical thought: from Machiavelli to Vico'' (1986), p. 56; [https://books.google.com/books?id=GAQOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56 Google Books]</ref> Bodin's secular attitude to history therefore goes some way to explain his perceived relationship to Machiavelli. While Bodin's common ground with Machiavelli is not so large, and indeed Bodin opposed the Godless vision of the world in Machiavelli,<ref>Mazzotta, p. 194.</ref> they are often enough paired, for example by [[A. C. Crombie]] as philosophical historians with contemporary concerns; Crombie also links Bodin with [[Francis Bacon]], as rational and critical historians.<ref>Crombie, p. 35 and p. 383.</ref> Both Bodin and Machiavelli treat religion as situated historically.<ref>[[Shlomo Avineri]], 16.</ref>

Bodin drew largely on [[Johann Boemus]], and also classical authors, as well as accounts from [[Leo Africanus]] and [[Francisco Álvares]]. He showed little interest, however, in the [[New World]].<ref>Hodgen, p. 133 and pp. 113-4.</ref> In terms of theories of [[cultural diffusion]] he influenced [[Nathanael Carpenter]], and many subsequently, with his "south-eastern origin" theory of the transmission from peoples of the Middle East to Greece and Rome (and hence to Northern Europe).<ref>Hodgen, p. 256)</ref> Another follower was [[Peter Heylyn]] in his ''Microcosmus'' (1621).<ref>Hodgen, pp. 284-5.</ref> In anthropology Bodin showed indications of [[polygenism]] as theory of human origins.<ref>Hodgen, p. 272.</ref> In clearer terms, on the other hand, he believed that mankind was unifying, the drivers being trade, and the indications of the ''respublica mundana'' (world commonwealth) and international law as developing. This was within a scheme of ''[[Vaticinium Eliae]]'' or three periods of 2000 years for universal history, to which he had little commitment, though indicating its connection with the three climate regions and their predominance.<ref>[[Ernst Breisach]], ''Historiography: ancient, medieval, and modern'' (2007), p. 183–4; [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Juypp-VVg4C&pg=PA183 Google Books].</ref>

The "south-eastern" theory depended for its explanation on Bodin's climate theory and astrology: it was given in the ''Methodus'', and developed in Book VI of the ''Six Livres''. He made an identification of peoples and geographical sectors with planetary influences, in Book V of the ''Six Livres''.<ref>Bull, ''The Mirrors of the Gods'', p. 26.</ref> His astrological theory is combined with the [[Hippocratic]] tradition; but not in the conventional way of [[Ptolemy]]. It has been suggested that he took them from a follower of [[Gerolamo Cardano|Cardano]], [[Auger Ferrier]].<ref>Glacken, p. 435 note.</ref>

==Reception==
Bodin's conception of [[sovereignty]] was widely adopted in Europe. In a form simplified and adapted by others, such as the French jurists [[Charles Loyseau]] (1564–1627) and [[Cardin Le Bret]] (1558–1655), it played an important role in the development of [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/theory-of-sovereignty|title = Answers - the Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions|website = [[Answers.com]]}}</ref>

===In France===
Influentially, Bodin defended an orderly  [[Gallicanism|Gallican]] monarchy against [[Huguenot]]s, and any external interference.<ref>Holt, p. 102.</ref><ref>Elliott, pp. 341-2.</ref> These general ideas became political orthodoxy, in the reign of [[Henry IV of France]], tending to the beginnings of [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutism]]. Bodin had numerous followers as political theorist, including [[Pierre Grégoire (jurist)|Pierre Grégoire]], in whom with [[François Grimaudet]] legislative authority starts to become closer to the [[divine right of kings]], and [[William Barclay (jurist)|William Barclay]].<ref>Richard Tuck (1993), ''Philosophy and Government (1572–1651)'', p. 28; [https://books.google.com/books?id=oOTtZO3TVSIC&pg=PA28 Google Books].</ref><ref>Douglas M. Johnston, ''The Historical Foundations of World Order: the tower and the arena'' (2008), p. 413; [https://books.google.com/books?id=99H_tpN_iVkC&pg=PA413 Google Books].</ref> [[Pierre Charron]] in ''La Sagesse'' of 1601 uses the idea of state from Bodin but with fewer limitations on royal power;<ref>[[J. H. Elliott]], ''Richelieu and Olivares'' (1991), p. 44</ref> Charron in this work argued for a secular [[neo-stoicism]], putting together ideas of [[Montaigne]] and Lipsius with those of Bodin.<ref>McCrea, p. 27.</ref> Charles Loyseau in the years 1608–10 published absolutist works with the emphasis on orderliness in society, going much beyond Bodin's writing of thirty years earlier, a trend that continued into the 17th century.<ref>Mack P. Holt, ''The French Wars of Religion'', 1562-1629 (1995), pp. 215-6.</ref>

As a demonologist, his work was taken to be authoritative and based on experience as witch-hunting practitioner. As historian, he was prominently cited by [[Nicolas Lenglet Du Fresnoy]] in his 1713 ''Methode pour etudier l'Histoire''.<ref>[[Herbert Butterfield]], ''Man and his Past'' (1969), p. 3.</ref> [[Montesquieu]] read Bodin closely; the modern sociology hinted at in Bodin, arising from the relationship between the state apparatus on the one hand, and society on the other, is developed in Montesquieu.<ref>W. G. Runciman (1963), ''Social Science and Political Theory'', p. 26.</ref>

===In Germany===
Jean Bodin's rejection of the Four Monarchies model was unpopular, given the German investment in the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] as fourth monarch,<ref>Breisach, p. 181.</ref> the attitude of [[Johannes Sleidanus]]. The need to accommodate the existing structure of the Empire with Bodin as theorist of sovereignty led to a controversy running over nearly half a century; starting with [[Henning Arnisaeus]], it continued unresolved to 1626 and the time of [[Christopher Besoldus]]. He drew a line under it, by adopting the concept of [[composite polyarchy]], which held sway subsequently.<ref>J. H. Franklin, ''Sovereignty and the Mixed Constitution: Bodin and his critics'', Chapter 10 in Burns.</ref> Leibniz rejected Bodin's view of sovereignty, stating that it might amount only to territorial control, and the consequence drawn by writers in Bodin's tradition that [[federalism]] was chimeric.<ref>Patrick Riley, ''The Political Writings of Leibniz'' (1981), p. 27 and p. 117 note.</ref>

===In England===
Generally, the English took great interest in the French Wars of Religion; their literature came into commonplace use in English political debate,<ref>Wernham, p. 505.</ref> and [[Amyas Paulet]] made immediate efforts to find the ''Six livres'' for [[Edward Dyer]].<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=8346|title=Dyer, Sir Edward|first=Steven W.|last=May}}</ref> Shortly Bodin's works were known in England: to [[Philip Sidney]], [[Walter Ralegh]], and to [[Gabriel Harvey]] who reported they were fashionable in Oxford. His ideas on inflation were familiar by 1581.<ref>Elliott, p. 63.</ref> Somerville makes the point that not all those who discussed sovereignty in England at this period necessarily took their views from Bodin: the ideas were in the air at the time, and some such as [[Hadrian à Saravia]] and [[Christopher Lever]] had their own reasoning to similar conclusions.<ref>J. P. Somerville, ''Politics and Ideology in England 1603–1640'' (1986), p. 38.</ref> [[Richard Hooker]] had access to the works, but doesn't reference them.<ref>Secor, ''Richard Hooker'', p. 246 and p. 274.</ref> [[John Donne]] cited Bodin in his ''Biathanatos''.<ref>Johann Somerville in Colclough (editor), ''John Donne's Professional Life'', p. 88.</ref>

Bodin's view of parallelism of French and English monarchies was accepted by Ralegh.<ref name="Cooper, p. 100">Cooper, p. 100.</ref> [[Roger Twysden]] dissented: in his view, the English monarchy had never fitted Bodin's definition of sovereignty.<ref>Cooper, p. 109.</ref> [[Richard Beacon]] in ''Solon His Follie'' (1594), directed towards English colonisation in Ireland, used text derived from the ''Six livres'', as well as much theory from Machiavelli; he also argued, against Bodin, that France was a [[mixed monarchy]].<ref>Sydney Anglo, ''A Machiavellian Solution to the Irish Problem: Richard Beacon's Solon His Follie (1594)'', pp. 154–5 and note, in Edward Chaney and Peter Mack (editors), ''England and the Continental Renaissance'' (1990).</ref> Bodin influenced the controversial definitions of [[John Cowell (jurist)|John Cowell]], in his 1607 book ''The Interpreter'', that caused a furore in Parliament during 1610.<ref>[[G. R. Elton]], ''Studies in Tudor and Stuart Politics and Government I'' (1974), p. 268.</ref> [[Edward Coke]] took from Bodin on sovereignty; and like him opposed the concept of mixed monarchy.<ref name="Cooper, p. 98-102">Cooper, p. 98-102.</ref>

While Bodin's ideas on authority fitted with the theory of [[divine right of kings]], his main concern was not with the choice of the sovereign. But that meant they could cut both ways, being cited by parliamentarians as well as royalists. [[Henry Parker (writer)|Henry Parker]] in 1642 asserted the sovereignty of Parliament by Bodinian reasoning.<ref>Derek Hirst, ''England in Conflict 1603-1660'' (1999), p. 24.</ref> [[James Whitelocke]] used Bodin's thought in discussing the [[King-in-Parliament]].<ref name="Cooper, p. 98-102"/> The royalist [[Robert Filmer]] borrowed largely from Bodin for the argument of his ''[[Patriarcha]]''. [[John Locke]] in arguing decades later against Filmer in ''[[Two Treatises of Government]]'' didn't go behind his work to attack Bodin; but his ally [[James Tyrrell]] did, as did [[Algernon Sidney]].<ref>[[John Locke]], editor [[Peter Laslett]], ''Two Treatises of Government'' (1990), p. 181 note.</ref> Another royalist user of Bodin was [[Michael Hudson (chaplain)|Michael Hudson]]. [[John Milton]] used Bodin's theory in defending his anti-democratic plan for a Grand Council, after [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s death.<ref>Lewalski, p. 393.</ref>

[[Sir John Eliot]] summarized work of Arnisaeus as critic of Bodin,<ref name="Cooper, p. 100"/> and wrote in the [[Tower of London]] following Bodin that a lawful king, as opposed to a [[tyrant]], "will not do what he may do", in his ''De iure majestatis''.<ref>[[John Morrill (historian)|John Morrill]], ''The Nature of the English Revolution'', pp/ 288-9.</ref> [[Robert Bruce Cotton]] quoted Bodin on the value of money;<ref>Joyce Oldham Appleby, ''Economic Thought and Ideology in Seventeenth-Century England'' (1978) p. 49.</ref> [[Robert Burton (scholar)|Robert Burton]] on politics in the ''[[Anatomy of Melancholy]]''.<ref>Trevor-Roper, p. 247.</ref>

Richard Knolles in the introduction to his 1606 translation commended the book as written by a man experienced in public affairs.<ref>Kenneth Charlton, ''Education in Renaissance England'' (1965) pp. 250-1.</ref> [[William Loe]] complained, in preaching to Parliament in 1621, that Bodin with Lipsius and Machiavelli was too much studied, to the neglect of Scripture.<ref>McCrea, p. 31.</ref> [[Richard Baxter]] on the other hand regarded the reading of Bodin, [[Hugo Grotius]] and [[Francisco Suárez]] as a suitable training in politics, for lawyers.<ref>William Lamont, ''Richard Baxter and the Millennium'' (1979), p. 114.</ref>

Bodin's views on witchcraft were taken up in England by the witch-hunter [[Brian Darcy]] in the early 1580s, who argued for burning rather than hanging as a method of execution, and followed some of Bodin's suggestions in interrogating [[Ursula Kemp]].<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=68939|title=Darcy, Brian|first=Marion|last=Gibson}}</ref><ref>Barbara Rosen, ''Witchcraft in England, 1558-1618'' (1969), p. 121–2 note; [https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ij_8vgoKPgC&pg=PA121 Google Books].</ref> They were also radically opposed by [[Reginald Scott]] in his sceptical work  ''[[Discoverie of Witchcraft]]'' (1584).<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=24905|title=Scott, Reginald|first=David|last=Wootton}}</ref> Later [[Francis Hutchinson]] was his detractor, criticising his methodology.

===In Italy===
[[File:Albergati Discorsi politici.jpg|thumb|Bodin mentioned on the title page of [[Fabio Albergati]]'s ''Discorsi politici'', in 1602. Albergati wrote against Bodin from 1595, comparing his political theories unfavourably with those of [[Aristotle]].<ref>Bouwsma, p. 300 and p. 330.</ref>]]
In Italy Bodin was seen as a secular historian like Machiavelli. At the time of the [[Venetian Interdict]], Venetians agreed with the legislative definition of sovereignty. In particular [[Paolo Sarpi]] argued that Venice's limited size in territorial terms was not the relevant point for the actions it could undertake on its own authority.<ref>Bouwsma, p. 438.</ref>

Later [[Giambattista Vico]] was to take Bodin's cultural history approach noticeably further.<ref>[[Isaiah Berlin]], Against the Current p. 104.</ref>

====The Papacy====
Works of Bodin were soon placed on the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' for various reasons, including discussion of Fortune (against [[free will]]), and [[reason of state]]. The ''Methodus'' went on the Index in 1590;<ref>Bouwsma, p. 305.</ref> [[Robert Bellarmine]] as censor found it of some merit in its learning, but the author to be a heretic or atheist, critical of the papacy and much too sympathetic to [[Charles Du Moulin]] in particular.<ref>Peter Godman, ''The Saint as Censor: Robert Bellarmine between inquisition and index'' (2000), pp. 123–4; [https://books.google.com/books?id=7t74llzmoi4C&pg=PA123 Google Books].</ref> Other works followed in 1593.<ref>Bouwsma, p. 330.</ref> All his work was placed on the Index in 1628; the prohibition on the ''Theatrum'' continued into the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Jean Bodin}}</ref> Venetian theologians were described as followers of Machiavelli and Bodin by Giovanni Amato.<ref>Bouwsma, p. 445.</ref>

Bellarmine's ''Tractatus de potestate summi pontificis in temporalibus'' reiterated, against Bodin's sovereignty theory, an indirect form of the traditional [[papal deposing power]] to release subjects from the duty of obedience to tyrants.<ref>Roland Mousnier, ''The Assassination of Henry IV'', (English translation 1973), p. 253.</ref> [[Jakob Keller]], in an apologetical work on behalf of limited justifications for [[tyrannicide]], treated Bodin as a serious opponent on the argument that subjects can only resist a tyrant passively, with views on the Empire that were offensive.<ref>Harro Höpfl, ''Jesuit Political Thought: the Society of Jesus and the state, c. 1540-1630'' (2004), p. 332; [https://books.google.com/books?id=HvRzWf1cWDMC&pg=PA332 Google Books].</ref>

===In Spain===
In 1583, Bodin was placed on the Quiroga Index.<ref>[[Henry Kamen]], Inquisition and Society in Spain, p. 85.</ref> Against tyrannicide, Bodin's thought was out of step of conventional thinking in Spain at the time.<ref>Cooper, p. 101.</ref>  It was recognized, in an unpublished dialogue imagined between Bodin and a jurist of [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], that the government of Spain was harder than that of France, the other major European power, because of the more complex structure of the kingdom.<ref>J. H. Elliott, ''Richelieu and Olivares'' (1991), p. 118.</ref>

Jean Bodin's view of witchcraft was hardly known in Spain until the 18th century.<ref>Ankarloo and Henningsen (editors), ''Early Modern European Witchcraft'', p. 34.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Jeanne Harvilliers]]
* [[Antoine de Montchrestien]]
* [[Trois-Eschelles]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
* Blair, Ann. (1997). ''The Theater of Nature: Jean Bodin and Renaissance Science.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press.
*[[William Bouwsma|Bouwsma, William]]. (1984). ''Venice and the Defense of Republican Liberty: Renaissance Values in the Age of the Counter-Reformation'', Berkeley: University of California Press.
* Burns, J. H. (editor). (1991). ''The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450–1700'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Cooper, J. P., editors [[G. E. Aylmer]] and [[J. S. Morrill]]. (1983). ''Land, Men and Beliefs: Studies in Early-Modern History'', London: Hambledon Press.
* Marie-Dominique Couzinet. (1996), ''Histoire et Méthode à la Renaissance, une lecture de la "Methodus" de Jean Bodin'', Paris, Vrin.
* Davies, R. Trevor. (1954). ''The Golden Century of Spain: 1501-1621'', London: Macmillan.
*[[J. H. Elliott|Elliott, J. H.]] (2000). ''Europe Divided: 1559-1598'', Oxford: Blackwell.
* Franklin, Julian H. (1963). ''Jean Bodin and the 16th Century Revolution in the Methodology of Law and History'', New York: Columbia University Press.
* Franklin, Julian H. (1973). ''Jean Bodin and the Rise of Absolutist Theory'', Cambridge: University Press.
* Glacken, Clarence. (1967). ''Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century'', Berkeley: University of California Press.
* [[Margaret Hodgen|Hodgen, Margaret]]. (1971). ''Early Anthropology in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'', Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
* Holt, Mack P. (2002). ''Renaissance and Reformation France'', New York: Oxford University Press.
*[[Jonathan Israel|Israel, Jonathan]]. (2001). ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750'', New York: Oxford University Press.
* Jacobsen, Mogens Chrom. (2000). ''Jean Bodin et le dilemme de la philosophie politique moderne'', Aarhus: Museum Tusculamnum Press.
* Kelley, Donald R. (1981). ''The Beginning of Ideology: Consciousness and Society in the French Reformation'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* King, Preston T. (1974). ''The Ideology of Order: a Comparative Analysis of Jean Bodin and Thomas Hobbes'', London: Allen & Unwin.
* Kuntz, Marion Leathers, ed. (2008, original pub. 1975). ''Colloquium of the Seven about Secrets of the Sublime'' by Jean Bodin, Penn State Press,  {{ISBN|0-271-03435-1}}
* Lange, Ursula (1970) ''Untersuchungen zu Bodins Demonomanie.'' Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.
*[[Barbara Lewalski|Lewalski, Barbara]]. (2003). ''The Life of John Milton: A Critical Biography'', Oxford: Blackwell.
*Lloyd, Howell A., ed. (2013). ''The Reception of Bodin.'' Leiden: Brill.
* Mazzotta, Giuseppe. (1999). ''The New Map of the World: The Poetic Philosophy of Giambattista Vico'', Princeton: Princeton University Press.
* McCrea, Adriana. (1997). ''Constant Minds: Political Virtue and the Lipsian Paradigm in England, 1584-1650'', Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
* [[Diane Purkiss|Purkiss, Diane]]. (1996). ''The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations'', New York: Routledge.
* Rose, P. L. (1987). "Bodin's Universe and Its Paradoxes: Some Problems in the Intellectual Biography of Jean Bodin," pp.&nbsp;266–288 in E. I. Kouri and Tom Scott (eds.) (1987), ''Politics and Society in Reformation Europe'', London: Macmillan.
* [[Hugh Trevor-Roper|Trevor-Roper, Hugh]]. (1961). ''Renaissance Essays'', Chicago: Chicago University Press.
* Varacalli, Thomas F.X. "Coronaeus and Relationship between Philosophy and Doctrine in Jean Bodin's Colloquium" Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 20, no. 3 (Summer 2017): 122–146.
* Wernham, R. B. (ed.), (1971). ''New Cambridge Modern History vol. III'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

==External links==
{{Portal|Philosophy}}
<!-- {{Wikisource|fr:Auteur:Jean Bodin|Jean Bodin}} -->
{{Commons category|Jean Bodin}}
*[[William Everdell|Everdell, William R.]], "[http://dhm.pdp6.org/archives/wre-republics.html From State to Free-State The Meaning of the Word Republic from Jean Bodin to John Adams]"
* {{cite IEP |url-id=bodin |title=Jean Bodin}} 
* [http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/bodinproject The Bodin Project]
*[http://www.constitution.org/bodin/bodin_.htm ''Six Books of the Commonwealth''] - abridged English translation of ''Les Six livres de la République''
* {{Gutenberg author |id=7655| name=Jean Bodin}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jean Bodin}}
*[http://www.historicum.net/themen/hexenforschung/lexikon/personen/art/Bodin_Jean/html/artikel/1584/ca/3072cb6848/ Lexikon zur Geschichte der Hexenverfolgung ('''German''')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719183652/http://www.historicum.net/themen/hexenforschung/lexikon/personen/art/Bodin_Jean/html/artikel/1584/ca/3072cb6848/ |date=2011-07-19 }}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07hhvxx Sovereignty] from the BBC series ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'', broadcast 30 June 2016.
* {{BBKL|b/bodin_j}}
* {{DNB-Portal|118512307}}

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