Vindiciae contra tyrannos

Vindiciae contra tyrannos (meaning: "Defences [of liberty] against tyrants"[1]) was an influential Huguenot tract published in Basel in 1579.

[2][3] In 1931, Gerardina Tjaberta van Ysselsteyn conjectured that the tract was a collaboration between Languet and de Mornay.

The first two questions are treated briskly and concern whether a people are bound to obey or are able to resist their king when he breaks the divine law.

The work merges the theological view of covenant with the legal understanding of contract to show why resistance can be justified in the eyes of the law.

This shows considerable restraint in the wake of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and in comparison to other Reformed thinkers such as Christopher Goodman and John Knox.