James I's "True Law of Free Monarchies..."

Thesis: While King James agrees that a good king will normally follow the law, James also asserts that a king has no obligation to any of the law.

I. Parliament

a. Laws are only made under king’s proposal and advice

b. Any law imposed by parliament is only with the permission of King

c. King is over-lord of the whole land, master over every person, with power over life and death of everyone

d. King may interpret or mitigate any law he sees doubtsome or rigorous

II. King is only bound by his good will

a. A good king may frame his actions to be according to the law, but he has no obligation to the law

Palmer #20, Question 4

Palmer #20, Question 4

Will Stewart

“What were the consequences of the restoration for Scotland? For Ireland?”

Thesis: Though the Restoration served to create a more unified Britain, it resulted in great repression of the Irish.

1. Restoration background

a. With invitation from prominent Englishman, William III invaded England and became king along with his wife Mary.

b. Parliament passed Bill of Rights restricting power of king and rights of Catholics

c. William wanted to check French power, had to nullify threat posed by Ireland and Scotland as potential bases of French Catholic activity.

2. Scotland

a. Possible restoration point for James II

b. England and Scotland had to be joined for overall safety of new government

c. Scots didn’t want to join, but England tempted them with economic advantages

i. Scots got rights in English East India Company, English colonies, English system of mercantilism, and Navigation Acts

d. 1707- United Kingdom of Great Britain created

3. Ireland

a. Predominantly Catholic, but majority of land and power held by Anglicans

b. Remained relatively backwards- towns small, agriculturally based economy, very scarce development of middle class

c. New penal code enforced in Ireland

i. Catholic clergy banished, Catholics couldn’t vote or sit in Parliament, Catholics couldn’t teach or be educated in overseas Catholic schools, Catholic’s couldn’t receive education, Catholics couldn’t purchase land, lease it for more than 31 years, inherit it from a Protestant, or own a horse worth more than 5 pounds.

ii. Essentially only power left to the Irish was the export of agricultural produce.

d. Effects of penal code:

i. Weakened Ireland as potential threat to England

ii. Favored English manufacturers by removing competition

iii. Reinforced position of Anglicans in Ireland

The English Declaration of Rights

Parliament defends their rights to govern and gains sovereignty by lessening the power of the king and heightening that of parliament, and defends the rights of the people by reforming the abuses in the Stuart dynasty.

• Laws cannot be executed or abolished without consent of parliament
• Commissioning of other courts and commissions (star chamber) is illegal
• Royal prerogatives outlawed
• Subjects must be allowed to petition the king
• Standing armies are illegal
• Protestants must be allowed to carry arms
• Parliamentary elections must be free
• Parliamentary decisions cannot be questioned
• Excessive bail and cruel or unusual punishment cannot be allowed
• Jurors must be screened, and jurors in important cases must own land
• Fines and forfeitures before conviction
• Parliaments must be held frequently

Palmer #19, Question 4

Palmer #19, Question 4

Will Stewart

“Describe the government of England under the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. What was the regime of the major generals? Why was this regime considered necessary?

Thesis: Though Cromwell favored constitutional and parliamentary government, the Protectorate essentially became a dictatorship by the end of his rule.

· Cromwell took over England, executed King Charles I, and declared all of the British Isles a republic named the Commonwealth.

· Cromwell was good in English foreign policy

o Lessened Dutch maritime supremacy

o Navigation Acts

o Subjugation of Ireland

o Won Jamaica in war with Spain

· Never gained much domestic support

o Not Puritan enough to win over radicals, but too Puritan to win over moderate Protestants

· Major Generals

o Cromwell put England under military rule

o Considered necessary because he abolished all other methods of representative, local government

o Major generals each ruled a certain district

o Put down all bad behavior- repressed vagabonds, closed ale houses, prohibited cockfighting

Perry v. 2, James I, “The English Declaration of Rights”

“The Declaration of Rights,” which declared illegal James II’s arbitrary acts, compelled William and Mary and future monarchs to recognize the right of the people’s representatives, to dispose of the royal office, and to set limits on its powers.

Pretext for the Assembly

James II abdicated the government at left his thrown

In 1989, The prince of Orange took it upon himself to write letters to the spiritual and temporal lords of the kingdom who were protestant and other letters to several districts and organizations asking them to choose representatives to be sent to parliament to meet at Westminster

These representatives were to be chosen and sent to the council so that the religions, laws, and liberties of the people in the districts they represent would be fairly represented

This assembly’s purpose was to write a declaration of rights with the interest of their electors at the forefront of their minds

The Assembly’s Declarations

The king has no power to make or abolish laws without parliament’s consent

The king has no power to create new courts or act as a judge

The king no longer has the power to tax or appropriate funds without parliaments consent

Petitioning of the king by citizens made illegal

Keeping a standing army in England during peace time without Parliament’s consent made illegal but made the possession of firearms by protestants for protection legal

Election of members of Parliament made free

The proceedings in parliament not allowed to be questioned or challenged in any other

court

Excessive bail, fines, and punishment made illegal

Jurors made to be circulated and jurors which pass on men in trial for treason ought to be freeholders

All promises to pay fines before conviction are void

Parliament should meet frequently in order to keep up with all the grievances, amendments and laws

Nicholas Malebranche, On Witchcraft

Nicholas Malebranche, An Excerpt from Search After Truth

Perry Sourcebook, Vol. 1 [pp. 355-357]

The Cartesian rationalist Nicholas Malebranche believed widespread fears of witchcraft to be a misguided, but understandable outlet of frustration for those exploited by society. Nevertheless, he, too, believed that witches were a real problem for society

A rationalist perspective
Malebranche was a student of Descartes, and he carried the same belief in a rational world
Thus, he looks at the social factors of France in a distinctly objective manner, quite literally projecting them onto his idea of a Cartesian coordinate system

Malebranche's analysis: the causes of witch paranoia
1. Local beliefs: many local cultures still retained a "pagan" understanding of the world, which often included witchcraft.
2. A negative view of life: Malebranche describes witchcraft as an "invisible power which thinks only about harming [those affected]." For the rural poor who so often accused people of witchcraft, life (and its cruel outcomes) was often determined by these outside forces. Thus, witches became an easy scapegoat.
3. Oral tradition: "Superstitions are not easily destroyed," Malebranche writes. Because these beliefs were passed down from generation to generation, they were deeply entrenched in the consciences of

Implications
Malebranche explores a more objective branch of social science, but still himself believes that witches exist.
In this sense, this phase of early Modern Europe has not fully embraced a rationalist perspective--it still lies somewhere in-between

Palmer #16, Question 4

Palmer #16, Question 4

Will Stewart

“Summarize and evaluate the Peace of Westphalia with respect to a) the religious settlement, b) territorial changes, c) constitutional issues within the Holy Roman Empire. Of what significance was the Peace of Westphalia for modern international relations?”

I. Background

a. Peace talks of Thirty Years War

b. Talks began in 1644, towns of Munster and Osnabruck

c. Attended by each individual German state

d. Hundreds of diplomats attended- from the HRE, Spain, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Venice, other Italian cities, the Pope

e. HRE reached settlement in 1648

II. Religious settlement

a. Put an official end to Counter Reformation in Germany

b. Renewed terms of Peace of Augsburg

i. Allowed each German state to determine religion

ii. Added Calvinism as option along with Lutheranism and Catholicism

c. Church territories secularized after 1552 were given entirely to Protestants

III. Territorial changes

a. Dutch and Swiss no longer belong to HRE

b. United Provinces and Swiss cantons (Helvetic Body)

c. French took control of small territories- Lorraine bishoprics

d. Sweden received new territories in Northern Germany

IV. Constitutional issues

a. Over 300 German states became virtually sovereign

i. Each had international relations and made treaties independently

b. HRE could not make new laws, could not raise taxes, could not recruit soldiers, could not declare war or ratify peace terms without consent of Imperial estates

i. Virtually impossible, never could happen

c. HRE ceases to be a real political entity

V. Significance in modern international relations

a. Made it clear that Europe was divided into independent sovereign states

b. People stopped pretending that Europe was significantly unified, religiously or politically