Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577), De Republica anglorum (1565), Part II, chapters 1 and 3

Résumé du document

This text is a fragment from the De Republica Anglorum book, written by Sir Thomas Smith in 1565. The author was one of the first people to convert himself to Protestantism during the Protestant reformation. He also became a Member of Parliament. In the first part, the author presents the powers vested in the Parliament, its composition, role and functions in the realm. In the second part, Smith tells about the Monarch's powers and how his subjects have to behave towards him. All this is supposed to form the main characteristics of the English 'republica'. It is interesting to see how Thomas Smith well describes and explains the absolutism which existed under Elisabeth I's reign, while being influenced by the Renaissance and the Elizabethan world's ideas and values. Even if he makes a difference between the Parliament and the Monarch in this text so as to demonstrate that people have got the same liberties and rights in a Protestant monarchy than in a Roman catholic 'republica', the author, because he may have been particularly influenced by Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), writes a text which suits with this period of absolutism, by eulogizing and justifying the Monarch's supremacy in the realm. Indeed, according to him, a supreme Monarch ensures the power of the English religion and State.

Extraits

[...] Indeed, its values and ideas are more in favour of the individuals than the Catholic religion, which is very Theo centric. The end of the reign of the Queen Elisabeth I in 1603 puts an end to the Tudor House's reign and provokes the beginning of the end of the absolutism. During his reign, James I (1603-1625) reaffirmed absolutism; but the king Charles I (1625-1649) was forced to sign the Petition of Right in 1627 after the Five Knights Case; then, he was beheaded. The 17th century was then characterised by the Parliament political initiative over a corrupt government. [...]

[...] Under Elisabeth I's and the Tudors' reign, and all along the 16th century, the Monarch the Parliament. Smith well describes the absolutism, and presents the Monarch's powers in details. In 1565, the Monarch, who is now called the still has got traditional powers; nevertheless the Monarch has got more and more powers and privileges, since the absolutism period grants him a particular (godlike) status. The absolutism may have reached its climax in the 16th century, since Henry VIII's reign even if it will be soon contested. [...]

[...] Since the Norman monarchs' reign, a privy council was often consulted by the Monarch. It is composed of privy counsels who are “chosen at the Prince's pleasure” their number is also the sovereign's will. The Privy Council itself was created under Henry VIII's reign he is the father of Elisabeth I in 1540. The privy counsels are a way for the Prince to manage the Parliament in both houses; they represent the Monarch's interests in Parliament. It is well known that the Parliament was controlled by authoritarian monarchs under the Tudor's reign. [...]

[...] The Prince's supremacy is obviously the main characteristic of this absolutism period, which started under Henry VIII's reign, and which continued under the reign of Elisabeth as the latter followed in her father's footsteps. At first, the Prince is the supreme head of Justice, there is no separation of powers and all the powers are gathered in the Prince's hands. life and member of the king's subjects” (l.8) belong to him. He has got the right to give life. Moreover, any pleas have to done in the name” of the Monarch who “holds the crown of England” (l.10-11). [...]

[...] This could be considered as the beginning of the Protestant “canon law”. Moreover, in the Parliament, the Monarch makes laws on “succession to the crown” (l.13), by banishing every Catholic men from the throne, and on “pardons and absolutions”; these words refer again to the godlike dimension Smith gives to the Monarch, as the words are religious ones and they belong to the vocabulary. The Monarch can put men to and can ennoble others. By presenting a powerful Parliament, Smith shows how the Monarch is a godlike person and has got all powers. [...]