Jean Bodin - international_law @ ウィキ

Jean Bodin

Jean Bodin (1530–1596) was born in Angers, France, and became a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty (see Divine Right of Kings).(Wikipedia)

Bodin lived during the Reformation, writing against the background of religious and civil conflict—particularly that, in his native France, between the (Calvinist) Huguenots and the state-supported Catholic Church. He remained a Catholic throughout his life but was critical of papal authority and was sometimes accused of crypto-Calvinism. Towards the end of his life he wrote a dialogue between different religions, including representatives of Judaism, Islam and natural theology, in which all agreed to coexist in concord.(Wikipedia)

Jean Bodin is the first person who define the modern concept of sovereignty in his publication "On Sovereignty" in 1576.
He claimed unificaiton and assumption of power of dispersed feudal regional lords at the medieval Europe.
At the same time, he compared King of France with absolute power of state which never be compelled by any kind of power in state and outside of state including Pope and Emperor of the Holy Rome.

Bodin defined sovereignty power as "Absolute an permanent power of nation". However, sovereingty power did not necesarrily mean the spreme and absolute power at that time. The concept of sovereingn state was invented to establish united modern centralizational state power and exclude feudal influences after the collapse of medieval society. The concept of sovereign is historical and critial concept to give theoretical basis to lead and support absolute monarchy.

Source From Wikipedia
Jean Bodin (Wikipedia)

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ジャン・ボダン

ジャン・ボダン（Jean Bodin、1530年 - 1596年）は、フランスの経済学者、法学者。ボーダンとも表記される。弁護士。

人物
経済学においては、貨幣数量説を唱え、重商主義の先駆者的存在となる。中世以来、二元的な価値体系に分離して捉えられてきた商品と貨幣を一元的な価値体系の下に位置づけた点で、中世から近代への転換点であったとも評される。

フランス国内を二分した宗教戦争であるユグノー戦争（1562-98年）の時期に著した『国家論』（1576年）では近代的な主権論を説き、中央集権国家を理論づけた。また宗教には寛容であるべきと考えた。

一方で最も狂信的に魔女狩りを推奨した事でも知られ、自らも裁判官（異端審問）として多くの無実の人間を宗教裁判によって殺した。 1580年刊行の著書、『悪魔憑き（デモノマニア）』は長く魔女狩りのバイブルとして用いられ、宗教の美名の下、無実の人間を殺害することを助長した。

1596年ペストで死亡。

Reference
Wikipedia