A Study On John Of Salisbury’s Political Thought

The 12th century was a time of transformation. The period was known as "The Renaissance", during which the Classics、Roman Law、Scholasticism、Higher Education and Architecture made great developments.John of Salisbury (1115/1120-1180) was a famous intellectual in England, who witnessed many important historical events in 12th century Europe. He had a good education in France, where he studied Liberal Arts and Theology. Thus he was highly knowledgeable about the classics, belonging to the Chartres school and representing one phrase of sustainable development of western academic and humanism. In 1148, John completed his studies and joined the Papal Court, after which he entered Canterbury Court, associated closely with the Royal Court. He assisted the work of Archbishop Theobald, going to Rome frequently in the early stage, and as a secretary in the later stage, keeping in touch with every parish through letters. During this time, John acquired a deep legal knowledge through studying and practicing, which laid his foundation of writing. Thomas Becket, who was John’s close friend, damaged the interests of the church when he was the Lord Chancellor. John was dissatisfied with this. When Becket did his best to defend the liberty of the church when he became archbishop, he came into conflict with Henry Ⅱ. John played a crucial role in this conflict, during which he sent letters frequently to Exeter and Canterbury, delivering information about the archbishop and striving for the support of the monks. After the murder of Becket, John tried his best to make Becket canonize. Then as bishop of Chartres, he went on broadcasting the miracles of Becket.The works of John were abundant, including Entheticus, Policraticus, Metalogicon, Hist or ia Pontificalis, Vita Anselmi, Vita et Passio Sancti Thome and about 325 letters. Under the historical perspective of the 12th century Renaissance, John’s political thought could be studied through his works and life. John’s view of human nature was based on the theory of original sin. The bodies and souls of humans were destroyed by ignorance, greed and desire. In order to remedy the problems of human nature, people needed the help and grace of God and moral philosophy-under natural law, people were guided by free will and reason to pursue the highest good, virtue in moderation, happiness, and to live their lives like philosophers. John expected that the courtiers could follow the footsteps of philosophers, but the Royal Court in the 12th century was not like that. He criticized the court for hunting, gambling, music, theater and magic, which they practiced in an immoderate way, and satirized the courtiers’greed and flattery. Then based on the classics, John demonstrated his ideal commonwealth——the body politic. He compared different sectors of society with different parts of the body, and every sector had different social division and responsibility:the church was the soul; the ruler was the head; the senate was compared with the heart; the financial officers and keepers were compared with the stomach and intestine; eyes, ears and tongue were claimed by the judges and the governors of provinces; officials and soldiers corresponded to the hands; and the husbandmen corresponded to the feet. John’s view of the relationship between church and state could be studied through his description of the soul and head. Under the influence of the Bible, the theories of St. Bernard and canonist, John gave his theory of two swords——the power and authority of the ruler were obtained from God through the church, though John did not explain clearly in which fields spiritual power exceeded temporal power. He also observed the decline of the church’s power, and the church could compromise with temporal power in a real situation. So his view of the relationship between church and state was moderate, advocating independence, interdependence and mutual cooperation. John’s ideal state was a state on earth, with the guidance of spiritual power and rational laws. However the presence of tyrants in either ecclesiastical or temporal offices would change the relationship between the two. Consequently, John constructed his controversial doctrine of tyrannicide. Public tyrants did not obey the laws, undermined justice, and threatened the interests of the public and the liberty of the church, so they could be slain. His theory of tyrannicide contained several contradictions, such as his defense of tyrannicide which he later negated by suggesting that people could not slay a tyrant. Moreover, another problem is that the text presents a lack of clear advice on who, when and how to slay a tyrant. There were private tyrants and tyrants of priests apart from public tyrants. Private tyrants could be restrained by the public laws, though John did not give a clear solution to the tyrants of the priests. His thoughts on tyrannicide reflected his dissatisfaction with the English King Stephen and North Italian King Roger Ⅱ. When John became involved in the Becket controversy, he insisted on defending the liberty of the church and helping Becket as well.John’s works especially Policraticus influenced many scholars. The stage consisted of the period between the completion of Policraticus and the middle of the 13th century, which was characterized by very limited diffusion of his works. The circle of John’s friends and fellow clerics of Becket, dominated this stage. From the middle of the 13th century, John’s works were accepted as an’authoritative source’ in various fields, and became popular and influential in the 14th and 15th century, then sustained into the 16th century. At this stage, there was more actual diffusion of manuscripts, references and secondary sources. The transmitters included priests, university teachers and jurists, etc. John’s use of classics, theories of body politic and tyrannicide had influence on medieval scholars’ thoughts and writings. John’s profound knowledge of the classics, his thoughts about philosophy guiding action, emphasizing freedom, reason and secular life, made him one of the most famous humanists in the 12th century.