In Europe, during the Renaissance, there was an active process of the formation of centralized absolutist monarchies, primarily in Italy, Spain and France, knowledge of public finances was formed at a rapid pace. The work presents a translation and introductory commentary of the most important excerpts from the works of leading authors in the field of public finance of the 15th-16th centuries: Italian Diomedes Carafa "On the Duties of a King and a Good Ruler" (circa 1485), Spaniard Luis Ortiz "Memorial to King Felipe II" (1558) and Frenchman Jean Bodin "Six Books on the Republic" (1583). These works were first translated into Russian and have not been published in Russia before. For master's and graduate students studying social sciences, history and theory of finance, as well as for readers interested in this topic.