 The Politica, divided into six books, was concerned with the construction of civil life and the state in an ethical context. The first book was devoted to an analysis of two necessary conditions: virtue (virtus), which requires piety and goodness; and prudence (prudentia) which is dependent on use and historical memory. The second book deals with the virtues of the prince as well as the purpose of government and its various forms. Civil concord, a central issue for Lipsius, requires everyone to submit to the will of the prince, who himself must have both virtue and prudence in order to achieve this concord. In the third book Lipsius, in line with medieval and humanist mirrors of princes, focused on the distinctive virtue of the prince: political prudence (prudentia civilis), for which he depends both on himself and the advice of others (officials, councilors, military commanders). A prudent prince must be surrounded by prudent advisors. In the fourth and by far the longest book, the prince’s own prudence (both civil and military), which must be carefully developed in the light of experience, is discussed. Two types of civil prudence — the first concerned with divine matters and the second with human affairs — are set out in the rest of Book IV. Lipsius’s controversial chapters on the difficult relationship of the state to the church and on religious toleration — in his view, peace and unity could only be achieved if just one religion was allowed in any particular political community — provoked sharp attacks both from Protestants, especially Dirk Volckertsz. Coornhert, and from the Roman Inquisition, which in 1590 placed the Politica on the Index of Prohibited Books. According to Lipsius, the prince should not intervene in the internal affairs of the church, much less meddle with doctrinal issues: he had no “rights in sacred matters” (ius in sacra; Politica, IV.2). It was, however, his right and, indeed, duty to secure the unity of the church, since religious discord inevitably led to civil disruption and war. Those religious dissidents who were responsible for the strife that was tearing Europe apart deserved no mercy: “Burn, cut — for the whole body [of the state] is of greater value than some of its limbs” (Lipsius took this provocative medical metaphor from Cicero). On the other hand, dissidents who practiced their faith quietly and peacefully were to be treated with toleration. In Books V and VI of the Politica, which dealt with military prudence, Lipsius explored issues concerning defense, the just war (bellum iustum), discipline and civil conflicts.