The Catholic Second Amendment

Abstract

At the beginning of the second millennium, there was no separation of church and state, and kings ruled the church. Tyrannicide was considered sinful. By the end of the thirteenth century, however, everything had changed. The Little Renaissance that began in the eleventh century led to a revolution in political and moral philosophy, so that using force to overthrow a tyrannical government became a positive moral duty. The intellectual revolution was an essential step in the evolution of Western political philosophy that eventually led to the American Revolution.

Keywords: Roman Catholic, self-defense, self-defence, Aquinas, Scholastics, John of Salisbury

JEL Classification: K14, K33, K42