The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356-1560

Auteur

James B. Collins is Professor of History at Georgetown University. His seven books include The State in Early Modern France (Cambridge University Press, 1995; 2nd ed. 2008) and La monarchie républicaine ( 2016), based on his lectures at the Collège de France. His work has been translated into French, Spanish, Polish, and Chinese.

Texte du rabat

How does authority become power? How does power justify itself to achieve its ends? Offering a new perspective on the nature of political society in the French monarchy across more than two centuries, this book establishes the relationship between seemingly theoretical constructs, and the reality of everyday politics.

Contenu

Preface; Introduction: Political theory read in the light of politics; 1. La chose publique de nostre royaume; 2. Political vocabulary in action; 3. Murder, justice, and la chose publique in an age of madness; 4. The commonwealth under siege: Louis XI; 5. La chose publique and urban government; 6. The Orléanist offensive: 'Puissance absolue' and republicanism; Conclusion.