De differentia pHncipis et tiranni, et quid sit
The Prince as Servant of the Law
The prince is defined as a public servant and a living image of divine majesty who governs by the law rather than by personal whim.
The prince. The only—or at least the greatest—difference between a tyrant and a prince is that the prince obeys the law and governs the people according to its will, considering himself its servant. He claims the first place for himself in exercising public duties and bearing burdens by the benefit of the law, and in this he is preferred over others because, while individuals are bound to specific tasks, the prince is burdened with them all. Hence, the power of all subjects is deservedly conferred upon him, so that he may be sufficient in himself to seek out and perform what is for the benefit of each and all, and so that the state of the human commonwealth may be best ordered, while they are members of one another. In this, we follow nature, the best guide for living, which placed all the senses of its microcosm—that is, the lesser world, namely man—in the head, and so subjected all the members to it, so that all things might move rightly while they follow the judgment of a healthy head. The princely summit is therefore exalted and shines with as many and as great privileges as he himself believed were necessary for him. Rightly so, because nothing is more useful to the people than that the prince's necessity be fulfilled; indeed, since his will is not found to be opposed to justice. The prince is, therefore, as many define him, a public power and a certain image of divine majesty on earth. Undoubtedly, something great of divine virtue is declared to be in princes, while men submit their necks to their nods and, for the most part, offer their necks to be struck without fear, and by a divine impulse everyone fears those to whom he himself is a fear.
The Divine Origin of Authority
All earthly power is derived from God, serving either to punish or to test the faithful according to divine providence.
I don't believe this can happen unless it's by the divine will. All authority comes from the Lord God; it has always been with Him, and it existed before time itself. Whatever a prince can do, therefore, comes from God in such a way that the authority does not depart from the Lord, but the prince uses it through a subordinate hand, in all things teaching his own mercy or justice. Whoever resists authority, therefore, resists the ordinance of God, in whose power it lies to grant it and, when He wills, to take it away or diminish it. It isn't the ruler's own doing when he chooses to act harshly toward his subjects; rather, it is the divine dispensation punishing or testing the subjects according to His own good pleasure. Thus, during the persecution by the Huns, when Attila was asked by a religious bishop of a certain city who he was, he replied, 'I am Attila, the scourge of God.' The bishop, revering the divine majesty in him (as it is written), said, 'Welcome, minister of God,' and repeating the words, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,' he opened the doors of the church and admitted the persecutor, through whom he also attained the palm of martyrdom. He didn't dare to exclude the scourge of the Lord, knowing that the beloved son is scourged, and that there is no power in the scourge itself except from the Lord. If, therefore, authority is so venerable to the good, even in the affliction of the elect, who wouldn't revere it, since it was established by the Lord for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of the good, and serves the laws with the most prompt devotion?
The Majesty of Legal Submission
True princely authority is confirmed when the ruler voluntarily subjects his own will to the constraints of justice and law.
It's a worthy sentiment, as the Emperor says, for a prince to declare that he is bound by the laws, given the majesty of his rule. For the authority of the prince depends on the authority of the law; and in truth, it is a greater thing to subject one's rule to the laws than to hold power, so that a prince may not think anything is permitted to him that is at odds with the fairness of justice.
Read the original Latin
princeps. Est ergo tiranni et principis haec dilSerentia sola uel maxima, quod hic legi obtemperat et eius arbitrio populum regit cuiils se credit ministrum, et in rei publicae muneribus exercendis et oneribus subeundis legis beneficio sibi primum uendicat locum, in eoque praefertur ceteris, quod, cum singuli teneantur ad singula, principi onera imminent uniuersa. Vnde merito in eum omnium subditorum potestas confertur, ut in utilitate singulorum et omnium exquirenda et facienda sibi ipse sufficiat, et humanae rei publicae status optime disponatur, dum sunt alter alterius membra. In quo quidem optimam uiuendi ducem naturam sequimur, quae microcosmi sui, id est, mundi minoris, hominis scilicet, sensus uniuersos in capite collocauit, et ei sic uniuersa membra subiecit, ut omnia recte moueantur, dum sani capitis sequuntur arbitrium. Tot ergo et tantis priuilegiis apex principalis extollitur et splendescit, quot et quanta sibi ipse necessaria credidit. Recte quidem, quia populo nichil utilius est quam ut principis necessitas expleatur; quippe cum nec uoluntas eius iustitiae inueniatur aduersa. Est ergo, ut eum plerique diffiniunt, princeps potestas publica et in terris quaedam diuinae maiestatis imago. Proculdubio magnum quid diuinae uirtutis declaratur inesse principibus, dum homines nutibus eorum colla submittunt et securi plerumque feriendas praebent ceruices, a et impulsu diuino quisque timet quibus ipse timori est.
Quod fieri posse non arbitror, nisi nutu faciente diuino. Omnis etenim potestas a Domino Deo est, et cum illo fuit semper, et est ante euum. Quod igitur princeps potest, ita a Deo est, ut potestas a Domino non recedat, sed ea utitur per subpositam manum, in omnibus doctrinam faciens clementiae aut iustitiae suae. Qui ergo resistit potestati, Dei ordinationi resistit, penes quem est auctoritas conferendi eam et, cum uult, auferendi uel minuendi eam. Neque enim potentis est, cum uult seuire in subditos, sed diuinae dispensationis pro beneplacito suo punire uel exercere subiectos. Vnde et in persecutione Hunorum Athila interrogatus a religioso cuiusdam ciuitatis episcopo quis esset, cum respondisset: Ego sum Athila flagellum Dei; ueneratus in eo (ut scribitur) diuinam maiestatem episcopus: Bene, inquit, uenerit minister Dei; et illud: Benedictus qui uenit in nomine Domini, ingeminans reseratis ecclesiae foribus persecutorem admisit, per quem et assecutus est martirii palmam. Flagellum enim Domini excludere non audebat, sciens quia dilectus filius flagellatur, et nec ipsius flagelli esse nisi a Domino potestatem. Si itaque adeo uenerabilis est bonis potestas etiam in plaga electorum, quis eam non ueneretur, quae a Domino instituta est ad uindictam malefactorum, laudem uero bonorum, et legibus deuotione promptissima famulatur?
Digna siquidem uox est, ut ait Imperator, maiestate regnantis se legibus alligatum principem profiteri. Quia de iuris auctoc ritate principis pendet auctoritas; et reuera maius imperio est, summittere legibus principatum; ut nichil sibi princeps licere opinetur, quod a iustitiae aequitate discordet.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study