Antoine Marini (known in Latin as Anthonius Marini de Gratianopoli) was a 15th-century

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and political thinker who, among other things, contemplated the establishing of a European Court of Justice and a pan-European parliament. He was born in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Marini's occupations included alchemy and mechanical engineering. From 1459 onward, Marini served as an adviser to King George Podiebrad of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, and in this office was mainly concerned with curtailing the political power of the Papacy and the growth of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

after in conquered

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1453. In 1461 he published a treatise calling for the establishment of a federal union of all Christian states in Europe for the purpose of deciding on political matters out of considerations for the common interests of Europe, while establishing counterweight to Papal authority, and blocking the advance of the Turkish Empire.Heikki Mikkeli, ''Europe as an Idea and an Identity'' (London, 1998) p. 35

Works

* ''De unione Christianorum contra Turcas'' (The union of Christians against the Turks, 1461)

For further reading

* A. H. Wratislaw (ed.), ''Diary of an Embassy from King George of Bohemia to King Louis XI of France in the Year of Grace 1464'' (London, 1871)

External links

George of Poděbrady: A European visionary in 15th century Bohemia?

A dissertation on Marini's political philosophy (in Czech)

References

{{Reflist 15th-century French Catholic theologians People from Grenoble