Sovereignty and Decentralization – two competing perspectives on the crisis of the French monarchy in the 16th century

• Authors: Maciej Wilmanowicz

Abstracts

PL

Celem artykułu jest analiza dwóch istotnych dzieł dotyczących struktury konstytucyjnej XVI-wiecznej monarchii francuskiej – Sześciu ksiąg o Rzeczpospolitej Jeana Bodina oraz Vindiciae, contra tyrannos anonimowego Brutusa – jako odpowiedzi na kryzys instytucjonalny królestwa, zwłaszcza w perspektywie ściśle ze sobą powiązanych kwestii decentralizacji i słabości królewskiego aparatu administracyjnego. Ukazano, w jaki sposób napięcie między administracją monarszą a lokalnymi ośrodkami władzy zmusiło Bodina i Brutusa do opowiedzenia się po jednej ze stron oraz jak to wpłynęło na kształt ich teorii. Analiza ujęcia przez Bodina i Brutusa skomplikowanych realiów instytucjonalnych monarchii francuskiej w swoich teoriach rzuca światło na ich stosunek do funkcjonowania w państwie lokalnych ośrodków władzy, ich teoretycznego unieszkodliwiania bądź celowego wykorzystywania, jak również wskazuje, jak bardzo faktyczna decentralizacja państwa wpływała na kształt teorii obu autorów.

EN

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two significant treatises concerning the constitutional structure of the 16th century French monarchy, namely Jean Bodin’s Les Six livres de la République and Vindiciae, contra tyrannos written under the pseudonym of Brutus. The texts were answers to an ongoing institutional crisis of the monarchy, especially in light of the strictly connected issues of decentralization and the weakness of the royal administrative apparatus. The paper portrays how the tension between the royal administration and the complicated structure of the local networks of power not only rendered it impossible for both Bodin and Brutus not to take a stance on the matter but also how it influenced the shape of their theories. An analysis of how Brutus and Bodin tried to incorporate the complex institutional realities of the French kingdom into their own theories sheds some light on the authors’ attitude towards the functioning of the local centres of power, their theoretical disabling or using them on purpose; it also points to how much the actual decentralization of the state influenced the shape of the theories of both authors.

Keywords

PL

Jean Bodin; Brutus; suwerenność; tyrania; prawo do oporu

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Czasopismo Prawno-Historyczne
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 145-169

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Maciej Wilmanowicz

• Uniwersytet Warszawski

• https://orcid.org/0000000336416940

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/cph.2021.1.7

Biblioteka Nauki

1596739