Ptolemy of Lucca

Abstract

Ptolemy of Lucca (1236–1327) was a Dominican friar and ultimately bishop of Torcello, Italy. He primarily wrote historical work, but is better known for his political philosophy. His greatest influence has been through his portion of the De Regimine Principum, which circulated under the name of his companion Thomas Aquinas, even though Ptolemy wrote almost three of its four books. Ptolemy’s portion of this work contributed to philosophical accounts of limited monarchy in Britain through Sir John Fortescue (c. 1394–1479), and to Italian republicanism through Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) (Blythe 2009b: 227–241; Osborne 2000). Nineteenth-century scholars, such as Karl Krüger and Dietrich König, developed an interest in Ptolemy himself (Blythe 2009a: 26–27). As a result, two works that include political philosophy have since been published, namely the De operibus sex dierum (Ptolemy 1880), which is an account of creation, and the Determinatio compendiosa de iurisdictione imperii (Ptolemy 1909), which is about the lordship (dominium) of the emperor, especially in relation to that of the pope. The recent critical edition of his Historia ecclesiastica nova (Ptolemy 2009) also sheds light on some of the historical background to his political thought.