Classical Humanism and Republicanism in English Political Thought, 1570-1640

A new perspective on two seminal themes in English political thought before the Civil War.

Markku Peltonen examines humanist and republican themes in English political thinking between the mid-sixteenth century and the Civil War. He challenges the dominant view that humanism fizzled out in the middle of the sixteenth century only to re-emerge during the 1650s in the writings of such classical republicans as James Harrington and John Milton. The English continued to use central notions of the humanist tradition such as the virtuous civic life and vera nobilitas to portray themselves as citizens, characterizing their life as one of participation rather than subjection. They often resorted to openly republican themes - notably that governors be elected rather than hereditary - and the classical idea of the mixed constitution was profoundly influential. Dr Peltonen casts an important new perspective on these humanist and republican themes, and locates their uses in specific historical circumstances.

Introduction: classical humanism and republicanism in England before the Civil War; 1. Classical humanism restated; 2. Classical republicanism in the margins of Elizabethan politics; 3. Civic life and the mixed constitution in Jacobean political thought; 4. Francis Bacon, Thomas Hedley and the true greatness of Britain; 5. Thomas Scott: virtue, liberty and the 'mixed Gouernement'; 6. The continuity of the humanist tradition in early Caroline England; Epilogue; Bibliography.

This book looks anew at two major themes in English political thought before the Civil War. Central ideas of both humanist and republican traditions are analysed within their proper context, and Dr Peltonen reveals the continuity of those traditions in a period when they are usually considered to have been dormant.