western Europe in the fourteenth century was as diverse as the states of which it was composed. It followed the rhythm of a history dictated by its capricious geography, imposed by frequently divergent traditions and which men, whose reflexes gradually freed themselves from feudal constraints, wrote down. But beyond this diversity, in the fourteenth century there was also unity; the medieval west was deeply rooted in a common religion and a common culture. Christendom and Latinity made a unified zone, even if papacy and empire still disputed a supremacy which the slow but sure assertion of states shattered into pieces. They all shared the same adventure, all reacting as Christian princes in the construction of their political systems. In this century, when feudalism died, absolute monarchy everywhere took its first steps. But still very cautiously, propagandists, philosophers and jurists occupying a position of prime importance in the life of these young states, as if to devise their architecture and focus their birth. They thought out, each in their own way, a theory of politics (see section 1, below) which princes, councillors and administrators slowly assimilated to construct a true art of government (section 2, below).