2025/10/28 by Waldemar Hanasz · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #War, Ethics, and Justification #Renaissance and Early Modern Studies #Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
paper · doi:10.1080/01629778.2025.2581229
openalex publication_date 2025/10/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This article explores De bello iusto et iniusto, (On just and unjust war), a quintessential example of just war theory written in the early fifteenth century by Polish canon lawyer Stanisław of Skarbimierz (ca. 1360–1431). His work develops several paradigmatic arguments declaring that Christians and ‘infidels’ are human beings with similar goals, legitimate claims to live independently, own property, and self-govern. These arguments led to the conclusion that infidels can be legitimate allies of Christians in political and military endeavors. Stanisław’s work was apparently addressed to both learned scholars and more regular readers, especially to those who waged military campaigns against the Teutonic Order.