The Role of Religion in Early Modern Europe (c. 1400 to 1700) religion remained an essential "lens" through which members of this period they saw their lives and the world around them. The influence of religious perspectives has always been important during this time period. This can be seen through Cabeza de Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, Michel de Montaigne's The Cannibals, and the political works of philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The works of these authors can only be understood and placed in the right context if one understands the religious lens through which they wrote. Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan provides ample evidence of the enormous importance of religious structures in early modern Europe, as well as the importance of religions as a lens through which people judge their lives and experiences. Hobbes begins the argument of his political system by describing the nature of man without an organized political society. "From this it is manifest that during the time when men live without a common power to hold them all in subjection, they find themselves in that condition which is called Warre [war]; and such a war, as is that of every man, against every man." The phrase “Without a common power to hold them all in subjection” foreshadows Hobbes's advocacy for an absolute sovereign. Furthermore, another common power could be God, from whom the Ruler draws his power. The use of the word awe is interesting as it is often used to describe the feelings man has towards God. Therefore, Hobbes' ideas about a ruler were influenced by religious forces. Hobbes then provides descriptions of the various roles in the power structure of his proposed political system. "This done, the Multitude thus united in one Person, is called Common... middle of paper... a political society functions. He states: "Every man being, as has been demonstrated, naturally free, and nothing can subject him to any earthly power, if not his consent;" Locke affirms the influence of the individual by stating that every man is naturally free but uses the expression "submission to any earthly power". to describe that freedom. Although it is not explicit in this case , he is subtly implying that men are not free from divine subjection. Elsewhere in his work he states that natural law is God's law, while Locke's system of government is not mirror the architecture of religious power systems. , ultimately reinforces the idea that religious structures were immensely important in early modern Europe by framing his argument through a religious lens and implying that political society relies on God as the supreme power.