The late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Age of Enlightenment produced a wealth of great thinkers whose ideas have endured through time. Beginning with William of Ockham, this volume is filled with the works of philosophers and theologians from around the world. Detailed biographies of Niccolo Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Rene Descartes, John Locke, and others give readers an appreciation of these influential figures and the ways they searched for meaning, purpose, and order in the world. The volume ends with Montesquieu, a French philosopher whose contributions to political theory continue to shape modern democracies.