Marsilius of Padua (
Italian Marsilio or
Marsiglio da Padova; born Marsilio dei Mainardini or Marsilio Mainardini, c. 1275 – c. 1342) was an
Italian scholar, trained in medicine who practiced a variety of professions. He was also an important 14th century political figure. His political treatise
Defensor pacis, a promotion of virtually unlimited monarchical power, especially in regard to the Church, is seen by some authorities as the most revolutionary political treatise written in the later
Middle Ages. It is one of the first examples of a reasoned defense of
caesaropapism in Western Europe.