The medieval and the modern

Bettina Koch has written an important book that challenges the traditional typologies of medieval versus modern political thought. She provides extended comparisons of Marsilius of Padua, Johannes Althusius, and Thomas Hobbes on a number of key topics and shows that their differences point to a common, central concern for medieval Christendom: the relationship of temporal and spiritual powers, the so-called Gelasian two swords. In arguing for continuity between medieval and modern thought (where Marsilius is ostensibly medieval, Hobbes is modern, and Althusius is often seen as a hybrid), she follows the path laid out by scholars including Brian Tierney, James H. Burns, J. G. A. Pocock, Antony Black, and Cary Nederman. However, she draws on an eclectic range of thinkers, including Eric Voegelin, Michael Oakeshott, Norbert Elias, Hans Blumenberg, and Jacob Taubes to articulate both the continuity and discontinuity between medieval and modern thought. The result, as indicated by her title, is that the categories of “medieval” and “modern” cannot be completely useful except as a sort of shorthand, because medieval elements can be found in modern thought and vice versa. There is continuity but also discontinuity, and her book provides a subtle analysis of how both work.