The Defensorium unitatis christianae (1450) and the ethical-rational royal absolutism

Abstract

Firstly, this article aims to highlight the links between Alfonso de Cartagena’s Defensorium unitatis christianae and Pablo de Santa María’s Scrutinium Scripturarum, with a view, on the one hand, to shedding light on the Thomist tradition that underpins both treatises, and, on the other, to stressing the exegetical nature of these works, framed within Catholic dogma (fides). Secondly, drawing on other works by Cartagena, this paper reflects on the deontological dimension of fides and its relationship with the law, and provides evidence confirming the intertwining of these two dimensions in Cartagena’s thought. In this way, the basic parameters of this Theological Law are outlined, and the category of ethical-rational royal absolutism, within the framework of Scholastic Humanism, is proposed as its designation.