Philosophers
43-744: Works Patriarcha, or The Natural Power of Kings is a book by the English philosopher Robert Filmer . It was likely begun in the 1620s and completed before the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 but it was only published in 1680 after the Restoration . The book defends the divine right of kings on the basis that all modern states' authority derived from the Biblical patriarchs (whom Filmer saw as Adam 's heirs), history and logic. Concurrently, he criticized rival theories claiming
86-557: A Limited and Mixed Monarchy (1648) was an attack on a treatise on monarchy by Philip Hunton , who had maintained that the king's prerogative was not superior to the authority of the Houses of Parliament. Filmer's Observations concerning the Original of Government upon Mr Hobbes's Leviathan, Mr Milton against Salmasius, and H. Grotius' De jure belli ac pacis appeared in 1652. In line with its title, it attacks several political classics,
129-694: A degree and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 24 January 1605. He was called to the bar in 1613, but there is no evidence he practised law. He bought the porter's lodge at Westminster Abbey for use as his town house. On 8 August 1618, he married Anne Heton in St Leonard's Church in London, with their first child baptised in February 1620. On 24 January 1619, King James I knighted Filmer at Newmarket . Filmer's father died in November 1629 and Filmer, as
172-401: A governing assembly) derive their authority, which is therefore absolute, and founded on divine right. The father of a family governs by no other law than by his own will, not by the laws and wills of his sons or servants. There is no nation that allows children any action or remedy for being unjustly governed; and yet, for all this, every father is bound by the law of nature to do his best for
215-529: A suggestion of stylishness. Cavalier remained in use as a description for members of the party that supported the monarchy up until the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–1681 when the term was superseded by "Tory" which was another term initially with pejorative connotations. Likewise, during the Exclusion Bill crisis, the term Roundhead was replaced with " Whig ", a term introduced by the opponents of
258-552: A tee. Of another Cavalier, George Goring, Lord Goring , a general in the Royalist army, the principal advisor to Charles II , Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon , said: [He] would, without hesitation, have broken any trust, or done any act of treachery to have satisfied an ordinary passion or appetite; and in truth wanted nothing but industry (for he had wit, and courage, and understanding and ambition, uncontrolled by any fear of God or man) to have been as eminent and successful in
301-433: Is enured to subjection, is trained up into a habit of subjection. But, the habit once formed, nothing is easier than to transfer it from one object to another. Without the previous establishment of domestic government, blood only, and probably a long course of it, could have formed political government. Bentham went on to claim that Filmer had failed to prove divine right theory but he had proved "the physical impossibility of
344-592: Is found in Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings , published posthumously in 1680, but probably begun in the 1620s and almost certainly completed before the Civil War began in 1642. According to Christopher Hill , "The whole argument of ... Patriarcha , and of his works published earlier in the 1640s and 1650s, is based on Old Testament history from Genesis onwards". His position was enunciated by
387-614: Is impossible that a man should give a law to himself – a law must be imposed by another upon the person bound by it. As for the English constitution , he asserted in his Freeholders Grand Inquest touching our Sovereign Lord the King and his Parliament (1648) that the Lords give counsel only to the king, that the Commons are to perform and consent only to the ordinances of Parliament, and that
430-498: Is impossible to show that any particular ruler is one of Adam's heirs. Patriarcha remains Filmer's best known work. R. S. Downie considers Filmer's attacks on contract and consent as explanations of political obligation to be plausible, and finds it unfortunate that Filmer's belief in Adam's kingship has obscured them. Robert Filmer Sir Robert Filmer (c. 1588 – 26 May 1653) was an English political theorist who defended
473-401: Is to be left to the religious achievement of those who know how to manage the affairs of state, and wisely to balance the particular profit with the counterpoise of the public, according to the infinite variety of times, places, persons. A proof unanswerable for the superiority of princes above laws is this, that there were kings long before there were any laws. The difficulty inherent in judging
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#1732772395405516-474: Is usually attributed to Robert Filmer by Peter Laslett , but contemporary historian Anthony Wood attributed it to Robert Holborne . Cavalier The term Cavalier ( / ˌ k æ v ə ˈ l ɪər / ) was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II during the English Civil War , the Interregnum , and
559-575: The De jure belli ac pacis of Grotius , the Defensio pro Populo Anglicano of John Milton , and the Leviathan of Thomas Hobbes . The pamphlet entitled The Power of Kings, and in particular, of the King of England (written 1648) was first published in 1680. Filmer's theory is founded upon the statement that the government of a family by the father is the true origin and model of all government. In
602-515: The Restoration (1642 – c. 1679 ). It was later adopted by the Royalists themselves. Although it referred originally to political and social attitudes and behaviour, of which clothing was a very small part, it has subsequently become strongly identified with the fashionable clothing of the court at the time. Prince Rupert , commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered to be an archetypal Cavalier. Cavalier derives from
645-664: The Royalists , although this was apparently a false charge. Perhaps for that reason, Filmer was imprisoned for some years in Leeds Castle and his estates were sequestered. Filmer died on or about 26 May 1653. His funeral took place in East Sutton on 30 May, where he was buried in the church, surrounded by descendants of his to the tenth generation. He was survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter, one son and one daughter having predeceased him. His son, also Robert,
688-650: The divine right of kings . His best known work, Patriarcha , published posthumously in 1680, was the target of numerous Whig attempts at rebuttal, including Algernon Sidney 's Discourses Concerning Government , James Tyrrell 's Patriarcha Non Monarcha and John Locke 's Two Treatises of Government . Filmer also wrote critiques of Thomas Hobbes , John Milton , Hugo Grotius and Aristotle . Defunct The eldest child of Sir Edward Filmer and Elizabeth Filmer (née Argall) of East Sutton in Kent, he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge , in 1604. He did not take
731-643: The King; some whereof, under the name of Cavaliers, without having respect to the Laws of the Land, or any fear either of God or Man, were ready to commit all manner of Outrage and Violence. 1642 Petition Lords & Com. 17 June in Rushw. Coll. III. (1721) I. 631 That your Majesty..would please to dismiss your extraordinary Guards, and the Cavaliers and others of that Quality, who seem to have little Interest or Affection to
774-719: The Royalist field officers were typically in their early thirties, married with rural estates which had to be managed. Although they did not share the same outlook on how to worship God as the English Independents of the New Model Army , God was often central to their lives. This type of Cavalier was personified by Jacob Astley, 1st Baron Astley of Reading , whose prayer at the start of the Battle of Edgehill has become famous "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget Thee, do not forget me". At
817-428: The Royalist side – capricious men who cared more for vanity than the nation at large. The chaplain to King Charles I, Edward Simmons described a Cavalier as "a Child of Honour, a Gentleman well borne and bred, that loves his king for conscience sake, of a clearer countenance, and bolder look than other men, because of a more loyal Heart". There were many men in the Royalist armies who fit this description since most of
860-525: The archetypal recorder of the Cavalier image, all took the Parliamentary side in the Civil War. Probably the most famous image identified as of a "cavalier", Frans Hals ' Laughing Cavalier , shows a gentleman from the strongly Calvinist Dutch town of Haarlem , and is dated 1624. These derogatory terms (for at the time they were so intended) also showed what the typical Parliamentarian thought of
903-626: The basis of a state should be the consent of the governed or social contract . The book describes an arrangement of patriarchy at every level of human society, and argues that this is natural. The state is like a family in which kings are like fathers with subjects who are like children. John Locke and others attacked what they saw as the absurdity of Filmer's views. The first of Locke's Two Treatises of Government consists mainly of criticism of Filmer. Locke found Filmer's account of political authority unworkable, arguing that it could not be used to justify any actual political authority, since it
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#1732772395405946-418: The beginning God gave authority to Adam , who had complete control over his descendants, even over life and death itself. From Adam this authority was inherited by Noah . This assumes that from Shem , Ham and Japheth the patriarchs inherited the absolute power which they exercised over their families and servants, and that it is from these patriarchs that all kings and governors (whether a single monarch or
989-796: The cavaleros about London". Shallow returns in The Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1597), where he is called "Cavaleiro Justice" (knightly judge) and "bully rook", a term meaning "blustering cheat". "Cavalier" is chiefly associated with the Royalist supporters of King Charles I in his struggle with Parliament in the English Civil War. It first appears as a term of reproach and contempt, applied to Charles' followers in June 1642: 1642 (June 10) Propositions of Parlt . in Clarendon v. (1702) I. 504 Several sorts of malignant Men, who were about
1032-447: The dress of at least the most extreme Roundhead supporters of Parliament , with their preference for shorter hair and plainer dress, although neither side conformed to the stereotypical images entirely. Most Parliamentarian generals wore their hair at much the same length as their Royalist counterparts, though Cromwell was something of an exception. The best patrons in the nobility of Charles I's court painter Sir Anthony van Dyck ,
1075-709: The end of the First Civil War , Astley gave his word that he would not take up arms again against Parliament and having given his word he felt duty bound to refuse to help the Royalist cause in the Second Civil War ; however, the word was coined by the Roundheads as a pejorative propaganda image of a licentious, hard drinking and frivolous man, who rarely, if ever, thought of God. It is this image which has survived and many Royalists, for example Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester , fitted this description to
1118-445: The fact that both Locke ... and Sidney ... were not so much [making] independent and positive contributions to political thought as elaborate refutations of his Patriarcha , written soon after its first publication. Indeed, but for him it is doubtful whether either book would have been written." During the reign of Queen Anne Filmer's works enjoyed a revival. In 1705 the non-juror Charles Leslie devoted twelve successive issues of
1161-401: The father, sovereign, the mother and the young, subjects. According to Locke's scheme, men knew nothing at all of governments till they met together to make one. Locke has speculated so deeply, and reasoned so ingeniously, as to have forgot that he was not of age when he came into the world.... Under the authority of the father, and his assistant and prime-minister the mother, every human creature
1204-466: The first part of the Two Treatises of Government . The first Treatise goes into all his arguments seriatim , and especially points out that even if the first principles of his argument are to be taken for granted, the rights of the eldest born have been so often cast aside that modern kings can claim no such inheritance of authority, as Filmer asserts. Filmer's patriarchal monarchism was also
1247-404: The highest attempt of wickedness as any man in the age he lived in or before. Of all his qualifications dissimulation was his masterpiece; in which he so much excelled, that men were not ordinarily ashamed, or out of countenance, with being deceived but twice by him. This sense has developed into the modern English use of "cavalier" to describe a recklessly nonchalant attitude, although still with
1290-400: The king alone is the maker of laws, which derive their power purely from his will. Filmer considered it monstrous that the people should judge or depose their king, for they would then become judges in their own cause. Filmer was a severe critic of democracy. In his opinion, democracy of ancient Athens was in fact a "justice-trading system". Athenians, he claimed, never knew real justice, only
1333-473: The next year his properties in Westminster and Kent were being heavily taxed to fund the Parliamentary cause. Filmer was investigated by the county committee on suspicion of supporting the King, though no firm evidence was uncovered. Filmer asked the investigators to note "how far he hath binn from medling on either side in deeds or so much as words." One of his tenants claimed that Filmer had hidden arms for
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1376-669: The oldest child, took over his father's manor house and estate. He became a Justice of the Peace and an officer of the county militia in the 1630s. Filmer's eldest son Sir Edward was active in opposing the Long Parliament and Filmer stood surety for £5000 for the release of his friend Sir Roger Twysden , who had been imprisoned for his part in the Kentish petition. The Parliamentary army looted his manor house in September 1642. By
1419-489: The preservation of his family. But much more is a king always tied by the same law of nature to keep this general ground, that the safety of the kingdom be his chief law; he must remember that the profit of every man in particular, and of all together in general, is not always one and the same; and that the public is to be preferred before the private; and that the force of laws must not be so great as natural equity itself, which cannot fully be comprised in any laws whatsoever, but
1462-594: The publick Good, their Language and Behaviour speaking nothing but Division and War. Charles, in the Answer to the Petition 13 June 1642, speaks of Cavaliers as a "word by what mistake soever it seemes much in disfavour". It was soon reappropriated as a title of honour by the king's party, who in return applied Roundhead to their opponents. At the Restoration, the court party preserved the name, which survived until
1505-449: The rise of the term Tory . Cavalier was not understood at the time as primarily a term describing a style of dress, but a whole political and social attitude. However, in modern times the word has become more particularly associated with the court fashions of the period , which included long flowing hair in ringlets, brightly coloured clothing with elaborate trimmings (i.e., lace collars and cuffs), and plumed hats . This contrasted with
1548-683: The same Latin root as the Italian word cavaliere , the French word chevalier , and the Spanish word caballero , the Vulgar Latin word caballarius , meaning 'horseman'. Shakespeare used the word cavaleros to describe an overbearing swashbuckler or swaggering gallant in Henry IV, Part 2 (c. 1596–1599), in which Robert Shallow says, "I'll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all
1591-706: The system of absolute equality and independence, by showing that subjection and not independence is the natural state of man". His first son Sir Edward was Gentleman of the Privy Chamber . He died in 1668 and the East Sutton estate passed to his brother Robert who was created a baronet in 1674 in honour of their father's loyalty to the Crown. See Filmer baronets . Filmer's third son, Samuel, married Mary Horsmanden and lived in Virginia Colony before dying childless soon after. The authorship of The Freeholders
1634-409: The target of Algernon Sidney in his Discourses Concerning Government and of James Tyrrell in his Patriarcha non-monarcha . John Kenyon , in his study of British political debate from 1689 to 1720, claimed that "any unbiased study of the position shows in fact that it was Filmer, not Hobbes, Locke or Sidney, who was the most influential thinker of the age.... Filmer's influence can be measured by
1677-401: The validity of claims to power by men who claim to be acting upon the "secret" will of God was disregarded by Filmer, who held that it altered in no way the nature of such power, based on the natural right of a supreme father to hold sway. The king is perfectly free from all human control. He cannot be bound by the acts of his predecessors, for which he is not responsible; nor by his own, for it
1720-420: The weekly Rehearsal to explaining Filmer's doctrines and published them in a volume. In an unpublished manuscript, Jeremy Bentham wrote: Filmer's origin of government is exemplified everywhere: Locke's scheme of government has not ever, to the knowledge of any body, been exemplified any where. In every family there is government, in every family there is subjection, and subjection of the most absolute kind:
1763-590: The will of the mob. Ancient Rome was, according to Filmer, ruled fairly only after the Empire was established. Filmer's theory obtained wide recognition owing to a timely posthumous publication. Nine years after the publication of Patriarcha , at the time of the Revolution which banished the Stuarts from the throne, John Locke singled out Filmer among the advocates of Divine Right and attacked him expressly in
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1806-520: The works which he published in his lifetime. Of the Blasphemie against the Holy Ghost , from 1646 or 1647, argued against Calvinists , starting from John Calvin 's doctrine on blasphemy . The Freeholders Grand Inquest (1648) concerned English constitutional history. Filmer's early published works did not receive much attention, while Patriarcha circulated only in manuscript. Anarchy of
1849-633: Was created the first of the Filmer baronets in 1674. His other son, Beversham Filmer, became the owner of Luddenham Court, near Faversham , who then passed it on through his family. Filmer was already middle-aged when the controversy between the King and the House of Commons roused him to literary activity. His writings provide examples of the doctrines held by the extreme section of the Divine Right party. The fullest expression of Filmer's thoughts
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