Brutus: Vindiciae, contra tyrannos: Or, Concerning the Legitimate Power of a Prince over the People, and of the People over a Pr

Description

The Vindiciae, contra tyrannos was the most infamous of the monarchomach treatises produced during the French wars of religion, and continued to be revered (or execrated) as a key part of the radical canon for well over a century after its publication. It is one of the first attempts to advance a systematic justification, with interlocking secular and religious arguments, of resistance against legitimately constituted political authority. This edition presents the first complete and accurate English translation of the work, a comprehensive apparatus, and an introduction which provides the first detailed analysis of the argument and also reconsiders the much-disputed question of authorship. It will be of interest to a wide range of scholars working on the history of political thought and early modern Europe.

"This is the first complete translation since the seventeenth century of the most radical of the monarchomachist treatises of the French Wars of Religion...a literal translation, aided by a wealth of critical apparatus, including a short glossary of primarily Roman law terms and phrases, two indexes, and careful citation of the sources...The lengthy introduction, which treats both the argument and the 'celebrated literary conundrum' of the authorship, is a thorough analysis, which adds much to those classic treatments...This is a valuable contribution to the literature of resistance theory and to our understanding of the development of the social contract." James Eastgate Brink, Sixteenth Century Journal