Against the backdrop of sovereignty and absolutism. The theology of God’s power and its bearing on the western legal tradition, 1100–1600 [Book review]

Abstract

The keenly contested debates over the passage from the Middle Ages to modernity have steadily revealed how this transition was itself characterised by tensions and complexities. Narratives and interpretations are bound to be partial and incomplete, yet the more compelling among them serve the important purpose of adding significant pieces to a complex mosaic. Massimiliano Traversino di Cristo’s book on the evolution from medieval theological disputes over God’s omnipotence to the underpinnings of modern political and legal thought can comfortably be described as one such captivating account. [Excerpt]