This interdisciplinary doctoral thesis examines John Barclay's (1582-1621) New Latin romance "Argenis" (1621), a political roman-àagrave;-clef set against the background of the French religious wars. It is at once a pamphlet against the monarchomachists, a treatise on the "ideal ruler", and a manifesto of political absolutism. The interpretation studies the romance in the context of the political thinking of its author and looks closely at those medieval and early modern works on politics and statesmanship that marked Barclay's thinking. This study is also the first to draw on Vatican sources pertaining to Barclay.