Many historians describe the 17th century as the era of absolutism, particularly in France. During this period, European parliaments lost significant influence, especially in matters of taxation. In France, the Estates General ceased to meet after 1615, weakening the principle that taxation required consent. By 1673, the Parliament of Paris lost the right to oppose royal edicts. Similar trends unfolded across Europe, including in Prussia, the Dutch Republic, and Sweden.
By the end of the century, absolutism took hold across much of Europe—even in England, where people narrowly averted its full establishment by executing one king and deposing another.
In temporal matters, people saw absolute princes as subject to no earthly authority but God, who directly granted them their power.Grotius was not the only contemporary jurist to engage with absolutist ideas. In late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century France, these notions gained influence among jurists, though some still traced the origins of royal power to a grant by the people.
Clerics also supported absolutism by reinforcing royal authority through religious rituals. One of the most famous rituals was the ‘royal touch,’ during which people believed monarchs could cure scrofulous patients (commonly called the ‘King’s Evil’) by touching them.During the 17th century, especially in England, this ritual became a powerful symbol of divine right.
King Charles II, in particular, embraced this practice, reportedly performing the royal touch on over twelve people per day. While James I expressed doubts about his healing powers, others took the ritual seriously. The belief that kings possessed supernatural abilities reinforced their image as fundamentally different from ordinary people.
Jean Bodin and the Concept of Sovereignty
Jean Bodin (1530–1596) was an important figure in the intellectual history of early modern Europe. His major work, Six Books of the Commonwealth (Les Six Livres de la République, 1576), published during the height of the French Wars of Religion, played a crucial role in articulating the concept of sovereignty, which remains central to political philosophy today.
Bodin’s work reflected and shaped the processes of state formation. His influence extended beyond France; by the time he visited England in 1581, many people already knew his ideas, which influenced thinkers such as Robert Filmer and Thomas Hobbes.
Key turning points in the history of political philosophy often come from asking new questions. During the Middle Ages, political thinkers mainly identified rulers and defined their powers, but they seldom examined what the state itself was or how it formed.
Bodin changed that. By moving beyond the endless medieval debates over the relationship between temporal and spiritual powers—the Church versus secular rulers—he shifted the focus to the structure of the commonwealth (la république), laying the foundation for modern state theory.
For Bodin, the existence of a sovereign is what constitutes a state. He defines the state through the concept of a “rightly ordered government” and views citizenship not primarily in terms of rights, but in terms of subjection to sovereign authority. The identity of the state depends entirely on the identity of its sovereign.
Key Ideas from Six Books of the Commonwealth
Bodin’s work was a reaction to the religious and political conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots, which threatened the unity and survival of the French monarchy. In opposition to the Huguenots’ claims for constitutional limits on royal power—a debate that liberal thinkers like John Locke would later engage with—Bodin articulated a theory of absolute sovereignty.
Bodin defines sovereignty as absolute and perpetual power, not limited by others and not even by the sovereign himself:
“The main point of sovereign majesty and absolute power consists of giving the law to subjects in general without their consent.”
(Six Books, Book I, p. 3)
For Bodin, there can be no legitimate resistance against the sovereign. Violations of natural law are matters for which the king is accountable only to God.
Bodin rejects the idea that temporary trustees of power possess true sovereignty:
“Let us suppose that the people choose one or several citizens to whom they give absolute power to manage the state and to govern freely, without having to submit to vetoes or appeals of any sort, and that this measure is reenacted every year. Shall we not say they have sovereignty?
For he is absolutely sovereign who recognizes nothing, after God, that is greater than himself.
I say, however, they do not have sovereignty, since they are nothing but trustees of a power that was confided to them for a definite period of time.”
(Six Books, p. 4)
Bodin compares the granting of sovereignty to an absolute, unconditional gift:
“It is a true gift, because it carries no further conditions, being accomplished all at once, whereas gifts that carry obligations and conditions are not authentic gifts.”
(Six Books, p. 8)
The sovereign does not have to follow laws enacted by predecessors, nor those he creates himself.
“The sovereign prince is thus exempt from the laws of his predecessors; much less is he bound by laws and ordinances that he has made himself.
For although one can receive law from someone else, it is impossible by nature to give oneself a law, just as it is impossible to command oneself to do something that depends on one’s own will.”
(Six Books, p. 12)
Bodin presents this as a rational necessity: no one can logically be both subject and sovereign at the same time.
Bodin’s Break from Medieval Political Structures
In medieval Europe, political authority was fragmented. Individuals were subject to overlapping powers: local lords, kings, emperors, and the Pope. The emperor was often a distant figure with little visible effect on daily life.
Bodin introduced a new structure, drawing a clear, direct line between the subject and an absolute sovereign. This shift reflected and reinforced the rise of centralized national states.
Conclusion: Jean Bodin’s Lasting Significance
Bodin’s significance lies not only in his defense of royal authority during times of political and religious crisis but also in his foundational role in modern political philosophy. His conceptual framework, especially his theory of sovereignty, reshaped how people understand political authority and the state—a legacy that continues to influence political thought today.
Bibliography:
1.Bodin, Jean. Six Books of the Commonwealth. Abridged and translated by M. J. Tooley. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, [year]. Printed in Great Britain at the Alden Press, Oxford. Bound by the Kemp Hall Bindery, Oxford.
2.Burns, J. H., ed. 2008. The Cambridge History of Political Thought, 1450–1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.Kingdon, Robert M. 1991. “Calvinism and Resistance Theory, 1550–1580.” In The Cambridge History of Political Thought, 1450–1700, edited by J. H. Burns with the assistance of Mark Goldie, [page numbers]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Title: Charles II Touching for the King’s Evil
Year: 1684
Artist: Robert White
Description: An engraving depicting King Charles II performing the royal touch ritual to cure scrofula, symbolizing the monarch’s divine authority.
Source: Wellcome Library, London. Available on Wikimedia Commons
Usage Rights: Public domain, free for use
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