History and ideology : Milton, the levellers, and the council of state in 1649
Martin Dzelzainis seeks to clarify the views of Milton and the Levellers in relation to the “Norman Yoke,” the belief that the Conquest had installed an alien legal system that continued to restrict the natural rights of free subjects. Although Milton was in 1649 asked by the Council of State to respond to two incendiary Leveller pamphlets, he never seems to have done so in print (although other polemicists did). Many modern commentators have sought to interpret this silence as evidence of Milton’s views. Dzelzainis argues that Milton, recently appointed as secretary for foreign tongues, could not easily have refused the request. He shows that the Levellers’ own anti-Norman posture was at the time being modified; thus Milton’s anti-Norman rhetoric after 1649 is no indication of support for the Levellers. Furthermore, such rhetoric was applicable to those who opposed the Rump, including Presbyte77. See Milton, Political Writings, ed. Martin Dzelzainis (Cambridge, 1991), xxi–xxv. 78. See James Tyrrell, The General History of England, 3 vols. (London, 1700–1704), 1:110–11, 115–16, 150; 116 (second pagination); for more on Whig responses, see Nicholas von Maltzahn, Milton’s “History of Britain”: Republican Historiography in the English Revolution (Oxford, 1991), 176–78. 79. Tyrrell, General History, 1:vi (second preface). This content downloaded from 207.46.13.128 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 06:14:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
TEÓRICOS POLÍTICOS E PROPOSTAS CONSTITUCIONAIS NA INGLATERRA (1645-1669)
O artigo enfoca diferentes escritos políticos publicados na Inglaterra ao longo da segunda metade do século XVII, nos quais formas variadas de legislação, instituições e modos de governar foram desenvolvidas para superar a inédita crise de soberania ocasionada pelas guerras civis. Argumenta-se que essas formas possam ser designadas de “propostas constitucionais” não apenas por se apresentarem como alternativas à falência da Antiga Constituição, mas também por se caracterizarem como o ato de fundação de uma nova sociedade política. Ao examinar os diferentes significados de constituição no período selecionado, em especial no Acordo do Povo, elaborado pelos levellers, o Leviatã, de Thomas Hobbes, Oceana, de James Harrington, e As constituições fundamentais da Carolina, de John Locke, o artigo desafia a caracterização demasiadamente rígida entre constitucionalismo antigo e moderno.
Jean Bodin and the Rise of Absolutist Theory
Preface 1. The persistence of medieval constitutionalism 2. Bodin's early theory of sovereignty 3. The shift to absolutism 4. The case for absolutism 5. Limitations on absolute authority 6. The question of resistance 7. Concluding observations Appendices Bibliography Index.