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Who Had the Right to Rule? England and the Crisis of Authority
Description
Was seventeenth-century England travelling inevitably towards constitutional liberty? Samuel Woodall explores a century in which monarchy, Parliament, religion and conscience repeatedly collided, from James VI and I to the Civil Wars and the Glorious Revolution. Drawing on Quentin Skinner, J. G. A. Pocock, Patrick Collinson, Johann Sommerville, John Morrill, Jonathan Scott, Mark Goldie and Steve Pincus, this solo episode examines how intellectual historians reconstruct arguments in their own historical settings. We consider divine right and the ancient constitution, Charles I and the crisis across the Stuart kingdoms, the Levellers and Putney Debates, Hobbes and Harrington, Restoration politics, Locke, and the contested settlement of 1688-89. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Historians and method 03:45 James VI and I 06:02 Charles I and the Civil Wars 09:20 Cromwell, Hobbes and Harrington 10:33 Restoration and Locke 12:24 James II and the Glorious Revolution 14:29 Conclusion: who has the authority to judge? PRIMARY WORKS DISCUSSED James VI and I, The True Law of Free Monarchies and Basilikon Doron Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan James Harrington, The Commonwealth of Oceana Robert Filmer, Patriarcha John Locke, Two Treatises of Government STAY CONNECTED Essays and reading guides: https://theintellectualhistorian.com/ Free monthly newsletter: https://theintellectualhistorian.com/newsletter/ Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk/podcasts/ History of Ideas Reading Club: https://thehistoryofideasclub.co.uk/ Support the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2238237/support Hosted by Samuel Woodall. Theme: “Queens Arrival” by Red Planet, licensed through TakeTones.