Ideas which medieval political thinkers owe to Aristotle (or which could be claimed to be

reinforced by Aristotle) might be summarised as the following list:

1. It is natural for human beings to form cities. “Political” [i.e., city] life is natural to human kind.
2. The city or state exists not just for security and trade, but to foster the “good life”, the life according to virtue (Politics III.9, 1280a32–b35).
3. Women should, in general, be ruled by men (Politics I.5, 1254 b13). The inferiority of women was already the general opinion, but Aristotle reinforced it, not only by what he said in the Politics but also by his biological theories.
4. The good forms seek “the common good”, i.e., the good of both ruler and ruled. The best is kingship, the worst tyranny. “The common good” became a basic conception in medieval political philosophy.
5. The “ideal polity” was not a topic of pre-Aristotelian medieval thought, but it became a common theme.