Samuel Pufendorf’s The Present State of Germany was first published in 1667 (under the pseudonym Severinus de Monzambano) and immediately became one of the most notorious works in Europe for the next half century. Its trenchant critique of previous theories of the Holy Roman Empire elicited both attacks and defenses, and it also anticipated many elements in Pufendorf’s subsequent writings on natural law, history, and religion.

Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) taught natural law and was court historian in both Germany and Sweden.

Michael J. Seidler is Professor of Philosophy at Western Kentucky University.