 By medieval political philosophy we understand the medieval writings on politics that are recognizably akin to the modern writings we class as political philosophy. Their authors were usually academics who wrote with university-educated readers in mind; they drew upon ideas explored in the schools and they wrote in an academic way. Some wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s Politics and academic “disputed questions” related to topics of political philosophy. However, political philosophy was not part of the university core curriculum (Miethke 2000b). The authors of political writings generally did not write these works in the course of their teaching duties. Generally they wrote in response to some political event. Some wrote for the edification of a king or other ruler, others sought to influence conflicts between the Church and secular rulers, others were concerned with conflicts within the Church about the constitution of the Church and the powers of popes and councils. Often they were committed to one or other side in these conflicts—many clerics supported secular rulers in their conflicts with the Church.