Johannes Althusius

He is best known for his 1603 work "Politica Methodice Digesta, Atque Exemplis Sacris et Profanis Illustrata"[a] which revised editions were published in 1610 and 1614.

Under the patronage of a local count, he attended the Gymnasium Philippinum in Marburg from 1577 and began his studies in 1581, concentrating in law and philosophy.

[citation needed] In 1599 he was appointed president of the Nassau College in its temporary location in Siegen, returning with it to Herborn in 1602.

For the next several years Althusius was involved in several colleges in the area, variously serving as their president and lecturing on law and philosophy.

His Politica was attacked by Henning Arnisaeus and Hugo Grotius during the 17th century for its defense of local autonomies against the rise of territorial absolutism and proponents of the modern united nation state.

In 1964 Frederick Smith Carney published an abridged English translation of Politica, exposing Althusius to a wider readership.

Against the backdrop of the Reformation and the rise of absolutist monarchies, Althusius identified the German Holy Roman Empire as a commonwealth were the majority could decide matters for all.

[14] In reference to Aristotle, Althusius examined the confederate institutions of the Holy Roman Empire and established a theory of federalism where power is shared among autonomous smaller and larger political communities.

[16] Althusius relied on the neo-Platonian idea of a universal brotherhood, thus he combined the Greco-Roman ideal of an association that was governed by reciprocal relationships with the Catholic Christian principled of subsidiarity.

According to Althusus, natural law gave citizens the right to resist tyrannical government and sovereignty rested with the community, not the ruler.