Juan de Mariana, the neo-Scholastic political philosopher, was born at Talavera de la Reina, Spain, and died at Toledo. Entering the Society of Jesus at eighteen, he completed the Jesuit course of studies in philosophy and theology and taught theology in Rome from 1561 to 1569 and at Paris from 1569 to 1574. He then retired to Toledo to work on his "History" and other writings in practical philosophy. Mariana's Historiae de Rebus Hispaniae (Toledo, 1952; also published in elegant Spanish by the author, Toledo, 1601) was one of the first general histories of Spain. Also influential were his treatises De Rege et Regis Institutione (Toledo, 1599, translated by G. A. Moore as The King and the Education of the King, Washington, DC, 1948) and De Mutatione Monetae (On Changing the Value of Money), one of the Tractatus Septem (Cologne, 1609).

Accused of attacking the sovereign power of Spain in his...