The Radical Face of the Ancient Constitution: St Edward's 'Laws' in Early Modern Political Thought

by Janelle Greenberg

Overview

This book deals with critical aspects of English historical, constitutional and political thought from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In particular, the book is a study of the ways in which history could be deployed for all kinds of political purposes. The entire story of the historical construct of the "radical ancient constitution" is told, focusing on the ways in which rebels turned to important medieval sources including the so-called "Laws" of Edward the Confessor, in an effort to legitimize resistance, deposition and regicide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521791311
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/26/2001
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; 1. Hagiography and historiography: the long shadow of Edward the Confessor; 2. 'Those most equitable laws of St. Edward': from the cult of the Confessor to the cult of the Confessor's laws; 3. 'Divers and sundry ancient histories and chronicles': the articulation of the ancient constitution in the Tudor period; 4. 'By lex terrae is meant the laws of St Edward the Confessor': the footprints of the Saxons in the early seventeenth century; 5. 'You shall be king as while you rule well': the radical ancient constitution in the civil wars and the interregnum; 6. 'The noble transcript of the original contract, the Confessor's laws': the radical Ancient Constitution in the late Stuart period; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Scholarly thoroughness and imaginative research..." Albion

"An informative and provocative book, one of value to advanced students of early modern England." Choice

"Historiography is rarely as engrossing as Janelle Greenberg makes it...Greenberg distills the early modern theories and historiographical debates into a compelling analysis. She moves through the centuries with ease, and her muscular prose complements the elegance of her argument." American Historical Review

"...a major contribution...This book is deeply researched and elegantly written, with a marvelously thorough bibliography...Any scholar working on law or government in the Stuart century will profit from this book." - Law and History Review, Alan D. Boyer

"Professor Greenberg's work is an important corrective on how one views and understands the constitutional debates of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries based on the medieval sources available to them. Her wide reading of primary and secondary sources shows that the concept of the ancient constitution was an important element in constitutional thought and her work will become an important source for this period."
Joel Fishman, Duquesne University, Legal History and Rare Book Newsletter

From the Publisher