商品詳細

This is a new, complete and unabridged critical edition of Hunton's "Treatise of Monarchy" (1643). Written during the crises of the English Civil War, Hunton's "Treatise" recognized the fundamental shift that was occuring between King and Parliament. On one level the "Treatise" attempted to provide an effective, statesmanlike solution that aimed to end hostilities between the Crown and the State. On another, however, is developed an explicit and novel theory regarding the ultimate locus of sovereign authority. Hunton invoked the concept of the inalienable moral right, a radical principle that could be used to justify revolution and the wider doctrines of political individualism. A "Treatise fo Monarchie" is then both the work of a conservative moderator and also an early harbringer of modernity, exploring the frontiers of a future liberal society. Edited and introduced by Ian Gardner, this new edition, with extensive new editorial matter, makes available a text that captures the temper and dynamics of its age. It should be of interest to academics and students of political thought and history, particularly scholars of the 17th century and the civil war.