Jean Bodin

Born in Angers around 1530 and dying in Laon in 1596, Jean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher who lived through a time of deep religious and political conflict. He studied law, taught at Toulouse, and later served in public life, including as a member of the Parlement of Paris.

Bodin is best known for Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576), a work that gave lasting force to the idea of sovereignty: the notion that a state needs a clear, supreme authority in order to remain stable. Writing during the French Wars of Religion, he tried to understand how government could hold together a society torn by division.

His interests went far beyond political theory. He also wrote on history, economics, natural philosophy, and religion, which helps explain why he still attracts readers from many fields. Even centuries later, he remains an important guide to the ways early modern Europe began to think about the state, law, and power.