WITCHES BREW:A devilish mix of political corruption and sex slavery
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He also borrows from his contemporaries—especially historians, travelers, and diplomats — like Commines, Machiavelli, Copernicus, and Jean Cardan. Bodin believed that climate and other geographical factors influence, although they do not necessarily determine, the temperament of any given people. Accordingly, the form of state and legislation needs to be adapted to the temperament of the people, and the territory that it occupies. The earliest version is in Chapter Five of the Methodus.
Although this passage contains the general principles of the theory, Bodin does not relate them to contemporary politics. According to Bodin, no one who has written about states has ever considered the question of how to adapt the form of a state to the territory where it is situated near the sea or the mountains, etc. Bodin holds that, amid the uncertainty and chaos of human history, natural influences provide us with a sure criterion for historical generalization.
These stable and unchanging natural influences have a dominant role in molding the personality, physique, and historical character of peoples Brown , Racial peculiarities, the influence of the planets and Pythagorean numbers were all part of Renaissance Platonism.
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Bodin combined these ideas with geographic determinism that closely followed the theories of Hippocrates and Strabo. Ptolemy divided the world into arctic, temperate, and tropic zones. In adopting the Ptolemaic zones Bodin divided earth into areas of thirty degrees from the equator northward. Different peoples have their capabilities and weaknesses. Southern people are contemplative and religious by nature; they are wise but lack in energy.
Northern people, on the other hand, are active and large in stature, but lack in sagaciousness. The people of the South are intellectually gifted and thus resemble old men while the Northern people, because of their physical qualities, remind us of youth. Those that live in between these two regions—the men of the temperate zone—lack the excesses of the previous two, while being endowed with their better qualities. They may therefore be described as men in middle life—prudent and therefore gifted to become executives and statesmen. They are the Aristotelian mean between two extremes.
The superiority of this third group is stressed by Bodin throughout his writings. Significant differences exist between the French and Latin versions of the text.
Translations into other languages soon followed: Italian , Spanish , German , and English The Monarchomach writers called for tyrannicide and considered it the role of the magistrates and the Estates General to limit the sovereign power of the ruler, and that this power be initially derived from the people. The first is an introduction found in all French editions. The second is a prefatory letter in Latin that appears in the French editions from onwards.
The third preface is an introduction to the Latin editions. These three prefaces were an opportunity for Bodin to defend his work against writers who had attacked it. In the second book, Bodin discusses different types of states democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy and concludes that there cannot exist a mixed state.
In Chapter Five, Bodin examines the conditions under which a tyrant, that is, an illegitimate ruler who does not possess sovereign power, may be rightfully killed. A legitimate monarch, on the other hand, may not be resisted by his subjects — even if he should act in a tyrannical manner. Book Three discusses the different parts of the state: Colleges, corporations and universities are also defined and considered.
The origin, flourishing and decline of states, and the reasons that influence these changes are the subject of Book Four. Book Five begins with an exposition of the Theory of Climate: Bodin then discusses the climatic variations between the North and South, and how these variations affect the human temperament. Chapter Four is a comparison of the three forms of state; Bodin argues that royal, or hereditary, as opposed to elective monarchy is the best form of state. The Salic law, or law of succession to the throne, is discussed: Bodin holds that the rule of women is against divine, natural, and human law.
The Salic law, together with a law forbidding alienation of the public domain, called Agrarian law in the Methodus Bodin , p. Geometric, arithmetic, and harmonic justice are explained, as well as their relation to the different forms of state. A strong Platonic influence may be detected in the final chapter of the work: Every individual has their proper place and purpose in the commonwealth.
Harvard University Press, Doing interpretive phenomenological analysis. Of the participants who could identify the gender s of their voice s , 5. Misogyny or Mental Illness? Nevertheless, many historians have argued that it is well established by sources outside the Malleus that the university's theology faculty condemned the book for unethical procedures and for contradicting Catholic theology on a number of important points:
Maiestie or Soveraigntie is the most high, absolute, and perpetuall power over the citisens and subiects in a Commonweale: A person to whom sovereignty is given for a certain period of time, upon the expiration of which they once again become private citizens, cannot be called sovereign. When sovereign power is given to someone for a certain period of time, the person or persons receiving it are but the trustees and custodians of that power, and the sovereign power can be removed from them by the person or persons that are truly sovereign.
But it behoveth him that is a soveraigne not to be in any sort subiect to the commaund of another … whose office it is to give laws unto his subiects, to abrogat laws unprofitable, and in their stead to establish other: And that is it for which the law saith, That the prince is acquitted from the power of the laws[. From this and similar passages Bodin derives the first prerogative of a sovereign prince of which he gives the following definition: The other prerogatives include declaring war and making peace, hearing appeals in the last instance, instituting and removing the highest officers, imposing taxes on subjects or exempting them, granting pardons and dispensations, determining the name, value, and measure of the coinage, and finally, requiring subjects to swear their loyalty to their sovereign prince.
Sovereignty and its defining marks or attributes are indivisible, and supreme power within the commonwealth must necessarily be concentrated on a single person or group of persons.
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Bodin argues that the first prerogative of a sovereign ruler is to give law to subjects without the consent of any other individual. It is from this definition that he derives the logical impossibility of dividing sovereignty, as well as the impossibility of the existence of a mixed state: In such a case, Bodin argues, no one can be called a subject, since all have power to make law. Additionally, no one would be able to give laws to others, since law-givers would be forced to receive law from those upon whom they wish to impose laws. The state would, therefore, be popular or democratic.
Bodin writes that there is a great difference between law Lat. Law is the command of a sovereign prince, that makes use of his power, while right implies that which is equitable.
Jean Bodin (c. 1529—1596)
A right connotes something with a normative content; law, on the other hand, has no moral content or normative implications. We must presuppose that this word Law , without any other addition, signifieth The right command of him or them, which have soveraigne power above others, without exception of person: Howbeit to speake more properly, A law is the command of a Soveraigne concerning all his subiects in generall: Although the sovereign prince is not bound by civil law—neither by the laws of his predecessors, which have force only as long as their maker is alive, unless ratified by the new ruler, nor by his own laws—he is not free to do as he pleases, for all earthly princes have the obligation to follow the law of God and of nature.
Absolute power is power to override ordinary law, but all earthly princes are subject to divine and natural laws, Bodin writes. Regarding the difference between contracts and laws, Bodin writes that the sovereign prince is subject to the just and reasonable contracts that he has made, and in the observation of which his subjects have an interest, whilst laws obligate all subjects but not the prince.
A contract between a sovereign prince and his subjects is mutually binding and it obligates both parties reciprocally. The prince, therefore, has no advantage over the subject on this matter. The prince must honor is contracts for three reasons: The first one is the Salic law, or the law of succession to the throne. The Salic law guarantees the continuity of the crown, and determines the legitimate successor see Franklin , Chapter 5.
If the domain is alienated, this signifies lesser income to the crown, and possibly increased taxation upon the citizens. Fundamental laws are annexed and united to the crown, and therefore the sovereign ruler cannot infringe them. But should the prince decide to do so, his successor can always annul that which has been done in prejudice of the fundamental laws of the realm. Finally, Bodin derives from both natural law and the Old Testament that the sovereign prince may not take the private property of his subjects without their consent since this would mean violating the law of God and of nature.
The only exception to the rule, the just causes that Bodin refers to in this passage, concern situations where the very existence of the commonwealth is threatened. In such cases, public interest must be preferred over the private, and citizens must give up their private property in order to guarantee the safety and continuing existence of the commonwealth. It is from this principle regarding the inviolability of private property that Bodin derives that new taxes may not be imposed upon citizens without their consent.
Bodin holds that sovereignty cannot be divided — it must necessarily reside in one person or group of persons. Having shown that sovereignty is indivisible, Bodin moves on to refute the widely accepted political myth of the Renaissance that the Polybian model of a mixed state was the optimal form of state. Contrary to the opinions of Polybius, Aristotle, and Cicero, Bodin writes that there are only three types of state or commonwealth: It is with the help of historical and modern examples, most notably of Rome and Venice, that Bodin shows that the states that were generally believed to possess a mixed regime were not really so.
Even though Bodin refuses the idea that there be more than three types of commonwealth, he is willing to accept that there is a variety of governments - that is, different ways to govern the state. The way that the state is governed in no way alters its form nor its structure. Discussion concerning the difference between the form of state and government is found in Book Two. Bodin remarks that despite the importance of the question, no one before him has ever addressed it. All monarchies, aristocracies and popular states are either tyrannical, despotic, or legitimate i.
These are not different species of commonwealth, Bodin observes, but diverse ways of governing the state. Tyrannical monarchy is one in which the sovereign ruler violates the laws of God, oppresses his subjects and treats their private property as his own. Tyrannical monarchy must not be confused with despotic monarchy, Bodin writes.
Introduction
Finally, royal or legitimate monarchy is one in which the subjects obey the laws of the sovereign prince, and the prince in his turn obeys the laws of God and of nature; natural liberty and the right to private property are secured to all citizens. Bodin is recognized today as one of the earliest advocates of the abolition of slavery. For him, slavery was a universal phenomenon in the sense that slaves exist in all parts of the world, and slavery was widely accepted by the droit des gens.
Bodin writes that there are difficulties concerning slavery that have never been resolved. He wishes to answer the following question: But if we are to consider the question according to commonly received opinions, thus allowing ourselves to be less concerned with philosophical arguments, we will soon understand that slavery is unnatural and contrary to human dignity. First of all, he considers slavery in most cases to be unnatural, as the following passage attests: Thirdly, slavery is against human dignity, because of the countless indescribable humiliations that slaves have been forced to suffer.
Bodin relies on a historical narrative to prove that slavery is incompatible with a stable commonwealth Herrel , Thus, in the following passage, he states:. Wherefore seeing it is proved by the examples of so many worlds of years, so many inconveniences of rebellions, servile warres, conspiracies eversions and changes to have happened unto Commonweals by slaves; so many murthers, cruelties, and detestable villanies to have bene committed upon the persons of slaves by their lords and masters: The Response is an analysis of the reasons for the significant and continuous price rises that afflicted sixteenth century Europe.
It is in this work that Bodin is said to have given one of the earliest formulations of the Quantity Theory of Money.
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In its most elementary form, the Quantity Theory of Money is the affirmation that money supply directly affects price levels. High inflation was rampant in sixteenth century Europe. It began in Spain, and soon spread to its neighboring states. This was mainly due to the increase in the quantity of precious metals, namely silver and gold, that were brought by boat to Europe from the Spanish colonies in the New World.
In , the Chambre des Comptes de Paris decided to investigate the reasons for inflation, and the results of the investigation were published in in a study entitled The Paradoxes of the Seigneur de Malestroit on the Matter of Money. Malestroit held that the price rises are simply changes in the unit of account that have been occasioned by debasement, and that prices of precious metals have remained constant for three hundred years. Bodin, however, cast doubt on the fact whether velvet was even known in France at such an early period.
Secondly, Bodin was able to demonstrate that debasement alone did not explain the reasons for such major and significant price rises; while debasement was one of the factors that had occasioned such inflation, it was far from being the principal cause. Bodin lists five major factors as contributory causes for such widespread inflation: Of these five causes, Bodin considered the abundance of precious metals to be the most important. Seven possible sources of income are listed.
Bodin considers the public domain to be the most honest and the most reliable source of income for the commonwealth. He writes that throughout history sovereign princes and their citizens have taken it as a universal rule that the public domain should be holy, inviolable and inalienable. Bodin considers the inalienability of the public domain, together with the Salic law, to be one of the fundamental laws Lat.
Like many of his contemporaries, Bodin held that the levying of new taxes without consent was a violation of the property rights of the individual, and, as such, contrary to the law of God and nature. He was particularly firm in opposing new taxation without proper consent and sought confirmation for his opinion in French and European history. One of the main differences between a legitimate ruler and an illegitimate one concerns the question of how each treats the private property of their subjects.
Property rights are protected by the law of God and of nature, and therefore, violation of the private property of citizens is a violation of the law of God and of nature. A tyrant makes his subjects into his slaves, and treats their private property as if it were his own. The 16th and 17th centuries witnessed fierce internal conflict and power struggles at the heart of Christianity.
The country most seriously ravaged by the combat between the Catholics and the Huguenots was France. Furthermore, a world of hugely diverse religious beliefs had been recently unveiled beyond the walls of Christendom, and the question of knowing which religion was the true religion vera religio , or that which God wanted humanity to follow, needed to be addressed.
It is believed to have been written sometime during the s, although it was circulated in manuscript for nearly three centuries before it was published in its entirety in Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: I'd like to read this book on Kindle Don't have a Kindle? Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. There's a problem loading this menu right now.
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