A Modern in Disguise? Leo Strauss on Marsilius of Padua

This article analyzes Leo Strauss’s interpretation of the political thinker Marsilius of Padua advanced in the only piece that he wrote on the Italian author. At first glance, Strauss appears to characterize Marsilius as possessing an anticlerical temperament. Yet, upon deeper analysis, Strauss’s account of Marsilius presents him as a more controversial figure. First, Strauss’s analysis suggests that Marsilius’s anticlericalism actually disguises an antitheological attitude, bringing him closer to Machiavelli. Second, Strauss claims that Marsilius has an unusual notion of contemplation and “lowers his sights” prior to Machiavelli. Reading between the lines, one can see that for Strauss, Marsilius ends up being the last classical philosopher while also setting the stage for Machiavelli’s modernity in a disguised manner.