Hobbes’ Leviathan and his theory of authorization are very prominent in the history of political ideas, whereas King James’ tract The True Law of Free Monarchies has been, on the whole, neglected. In this lecture I will compare both tracts and their concepts of contractualism, asking, furthermore, why both concepts cannot prevail within the debate on the legitimacy of monarchy in seventeenth-century Stuart England. And I would like to explain why the decisive difference between James’ and Hobbes’ contract theory is directly related to the respective political contexts in which they were written.
Andreas Pečar studied History and German Literature in Freiburg and in Cologne, before completing his PhD in Cologne in 2002 and his Habilitation in Rostock in 2009. Since 2010 he has been Professor for Early Modern History at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He has published books on the imperial court in Vienna, political biblicism in Scotland and England under the Stuart Monarchy (the latter is also available in English translation), the Enlightenment in Europe, King Frederick II of Prussia as an author, and the relationship between the University of Halle and the Prussian Court in the first half of the eighteenth century.
This lecture will take place as a hybrid event at the GHIL and online via Zoom. Attendance is free, but please register via the website: https://www.ghil.ac.uk/events/lectures