ABSTRACT
In analyzing the several elements which have entered into the composition of the Methodus, authors have already discussed portions of its subject matter. The dedicatory epistle, as it has been remarked, deals largely with the necessity of the union between legal and historical studies. One of the boldest consequences of Jean Bodin's naturalistic view of history is his opposition to the old world-scheme of the Four Monarchies and his setting up of a new historical periodization, based on geographical and climatic factors and on the movement of civilization from South to North. Bodin enlarges on this theme in his chapter, where he uses it to prove that all claims of "pure descent" and "unmixed blood" are quite unfounded. It is treated most fully in the course of the discussion of national psychology. In his discussion of "national psychology" and its various correspondences, Bodin sought to establish a relation between the several human types and the planets.
