L'Etat Du Monde: Giovanni Botero Entre Raison D'Etat Et Geopolitique

G. Botero enlarged the field of political thought in the sixteenth century by developing questions that would later be central to the social sciences: territory, population, circulation of wealth, and the geography of power. As a member of the Roman Curia, Botero's intention was the establishment of an alternative Catholic political and juridical doctrine, proposing efficient governmental tools while maintaining states in strict dependence of ecclesiastical authority. In the wake of Machiavelli, Botero's work redefined the notion of power, drawing the State's strength from urban, demographic, economic and geographic dynamics, and offering a political and religious portrait of the Church in an age of Catholic globalization. R. Descendre's monograph demonstrates that early modern political thought helped give birth to the social sciences. French text.