Studies of Political Thought: From Gerson to Grotius, 1414-1625

by John Neville Figgis

John Neville Figgis (1866-1919) here constructs a concise history of early political thought. Gerson to Grotius emphasizes the way in which modern political ideas developed from struggles within the late-medieval church to bring about more decentralized forms of government. Written in a clear style, and with the student in mind, this is still a valuable and useful account of early political thought.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Politics

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

John Neville Figgis (2 October 1866 – 13 April 1919) was an English historian, political philosopher, and Anglican priest and monk of the Community of the Resurrection.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

You might guess from its title that John Neville Figgis’ book Political Thought from Gerson to Grotius: 1414 to 1625, is the work of an academic, and you would be right. These are notes from seven lectures he gave in 1900 for the Birbeck Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Until the beginning of this year I had never heard of either Gerson or Grotius, and I learned of Gerson only when I started reading about this period in other books. Grotius, I heard of only when I began this one. How issues of church and state developed during these years is the theme of this book. Put very simply, perhaps too simply, at the beginning of this period the only state was the church and at the end nation states had become established and were independent of the church. The development of representative government was only just beginning, and the recognition of human rights came still later.
This is a well-researched book to say the least, with copious footnotes, many in Latin. The prose style is forbidding, with paragraph-long sentences. It is not an easy read, and yet I had to continue reading, sensing that even today many of these issues still resonate with us.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Figgis demonstrates a firm grasp of political history and its thinkers. His fundamental theses, that 1) the history of political thought was borne out of religious controversy and 2) that liberty was furnished not by those setting out to do so, but by religious sects fighting for survival (pluralism), were well demonstrated. There are gems here and there, but this book, a mere 190 pages, was a fight to get through. The prose and structure try theif hardest to quell a reader’s appetite. There is a reason this work is largely unknown.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

A VERY INTERESTING BOOK.