Johann P. Sommerville, ‘Absolutism and Royalism’

How does Johann P. Sommerville define Absolutism?

“the prince is accountable to God alone for his actions within his realm…and that he (and those acting on his command) ought never to be resisted actively by his subjects”

In the late 1600s was there a continental trend in absolutism?

absolutely

What absolutist event occurred in France in 1673?

In 1673 the parlement of Paris was formally deprived of the right to remonstrate against royal edicts before registering them

When was the parlement of Paris was formally deprived of the right to remonstrate against royal edicts before registering them?

1673

What happened in 1660 in the Netherlands?

In 1660 the Danish Estates met for the last time

When did the Danish Estates met for the last time?

In 1660

What happened in Sweden in 1680?

The Swedish Riksdag engineered a constitutional revolution which effectively introduced absolutism

When did the Swedish Riksdag engineer a constitutional revolution which effectively introduced absolutism?

1680

How did Sommerville argue England evaded absolutism?

“Even in England its triumph sometimes looked likely, and was averted only by the execution of one king and the deposition of another”

Was absolutism synonymous with being a supporter of the king?

absolutely not - a good many of Charles’ supporters (including Falkland and Edward Bagshaw) rejected absolutist thinking

Who were examples of Charles I’s supporters who rejected absolutist thinking?

Falkland and Edward Bagshaw

What did Sommerville say about parliamentarians and absolutism?

“In the Civil War many parliamentarians claimed that there was, or at least ought to be, an absolute sovereign in every state”

What was the Bodinian Theory of Absolute Sovereignty?

‘Sovereignty is the absolute and perpetual power of a commonwealth’- necessary for security of the state

When did Jean Bodin write his ‘Six Books of the Commonwealth’?

1576

What did Jean Bodin write in 1576?

‘Six Books of the Commonwealth’

What does Bodin argue about the King and law?

Argues that a ‘king cannot be subject to the laws’ because the sovereign is the source of the law

What did Englishman Robert Bolton claim in 1621?

If you ‘take Soveraignty from the face of the earth…Men would become cut-throats and Canibals one unto another’

Who claimed in 1621 that if you ‘take Soveraignty from the face of the earth…Men would become cut-throats and Canibals one unto another’?

Robert Bolton

What did Bodin say about a single soveriegn?

It is a necessity 

• ​​Bodin defined sovereignty as indivisible

• sovereignty cannot be divided between different agencies but rather must reside in one single place

• Thus, a king who held his power from the pope was no true sovereign

Echoing Bodin’s idea of the necessity of single sovereignty, what did Moise Amyraut, a Huguenot divine say about the English Civil War?

The English Civil War resulted from the fact that sovereignty had been divided between the king and parliament

Who argued that the English Civil War resulted from the fact that sovereignty had been divided between the king and parliament?

Moise Amyraut, a Huguenot divine

What was the Divine Right of Kings an example of?

“The idea that sovereigns are subject only to God was central to absolutist thought”

What was Robert Brady’s idea?

When William of Normandy had conquered England, and that the conquest had given him a valid title to the crown in 1066

Notion that conquest in war, gives the victor absolute sovereignty over the vanquished

When did Robert Brady argue that conquest in war, gives the victor absolute sovereignty over the vanquished?

1681

Why did Robert Brady argue conquest in war, gives the victor absolute sovereignty over the vanquished?

Conquest left the King absolute as victory in battle was a sign of God’s favour

What did William Ball declare in 1645?

Declared that ‘it is an Axiom Politicall, where there is no protection there is no subjection’

Who declared in 1645 that ‘it is an Axiom Politicall, where there is no protection there is no subjection’?

William Ball

What did William Ball mean by the notion that ‘it is an Axiom Politicall, where there is no protection there is no subjection’?

He claimed that if king or parliament failed to protect the people's rights, they might defend them by force

When did William Ball declare ‘it is an Axiom Politicall, where there is no protection there is no subjection’?

1645

How did the Civil War shift the politics of absolutism?

Before the Civil War, lawyers and clerics in the king’s service often vindicated His Majesty's right to, take his subjects’ goods without their consent in what he deemed to be a case of necessity- From 1640 onwards, however, Charles' propagandists emphasised royal respect for rights of property, and the necessity of consent

How else did the Civil War change the politics of absolutism?

In later 17th-century England royalists grew increasingly reluctant to assert the king's right to tax without consent

How did England’s tax laws compare to France’s after the Civil War?

In France, by contrast, the notion that taxation ordinarily requires consent was swiftly eroded, Louis XIV himself held that kings have ‘the full and free disposition of all the goods possessed by ecclesiastics as well as laymen’, to use according to the needs of their state