Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of the Peace

But one might well raise a doubt about what we have said. For if (as shown earlier) jurisdiction over all those who must be constrained in this present life by coercive judgement, and the imposition and exaction of penalties in goods or in person, belongs to the prince alone by the authority of the human legislator, then the coercive judgement of heretics or those who are otherwise infidel or schismatic, as well as the imposition, exaction and allocation of penalties in goods and in person, will belong to this prince. But this seemingly presents itself as a difficulty. For since it apparently belongs to the same authority to recognise, to judge and to correct a misdeed, and it belongs to a priest (i.e. a priest or bishop) to discern the crime of heresy, and no one else: it will certainly seem, then, that the coercive judgement or restraint of this crime and others like it belongs to a priest or bishop alone. Moreover, the judgement and exaction of penalty upon a delinquent apparently belongs to him against whom, or against whose law, the delinquent has sinned. But this is a priest or bishop: for he is the minister and judge of divine law, against which any heretic, schismatic or other infidel inherently sins, whether the sinner be a collective body or an individual person. It remains, therefore, that this judgement will belong to the priest and not to the prince. And this seems to be the explicit opinion of Saint Ambrose in his first Letter to the Emperor Valentinian; but because he is apparently of this opinion throughout almost the entire sequence of that letter, we have omitted to quote it for the sake of brevity.

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For our part, let us say in accordance with what we decided earlier that anyone who sins against divine law should be judged, corrected and constrained according to that law.