The Political Thought Of The Dutch Revolt 1555 1590

This book is a comprehensive study of the history of the political thought of the Dutch Revolt (1555-90). It explores the development of the political ideas which motivated and legitimized the Dutch resistance against the government of Philip II in the Low Countries, and which became the ideological foundations of the Dutch Republic as it emerged as one of the main powers of Europe. It shows how notions of liberty, constitutionalism, representation and popular sovereignty were of central importance to the political thought and revolutionary events of the Dutch Revolt, giving rise to a distinct political theory of resistance, to fundamental debates on the 'best state' of the new Dutch commonwealth and to passionate disputes on the relationship between church and state which prompted some of the most eloquent early modern pleas for religious toleration.

This is a major new English-language edition of five central texts in the history of the political thought of the Dutch Revolt. Published between 1570-1590 these texts exemplify the development of the political ideas that motivated and legitimated resistance to Philip II. The introduction locates these ideas in their political and intellectual context and argues that they were inspired by the indigenous legacy of Dutch constitutionalism and civic consciousness.

This is a guide to the vast amount of literature on the history of political thought which has appeared in English since 1945. The editors provide an annotation of the content of many entries and, where appropriate, indicate their significance, controversial nature and readability.

The Dutch revolt against Spanish rule in the sixteenth century was a formative event in European history. The Origins and Development of the Dutch Revolt brings together in one volume the latest scholarship from leading experts in the field, to illuminate why the Dutch revolted, the way events unfolded and how they gained independence. In exploring the desire of the Dutch to control their own affairs, it also questions whether Dutch identity came about by accident. The book makes the most recent research available in English for the first time, focusing on: * the role of the aristocracy * religion * the towns and provinces * the Spanish perspective * finance and ideology.

De politieke denkbeelden van de rebellen in de Opstand (voorheen de Tachtigjarige Oorlog) zijn al langer onderwerp van wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Dit boek richt zich echter op het grotendeels onbesproken verhaal van het Habsburgse regime en zijn lokale aanhangers. Hoe dachten zij over het conflict en hoe reageerden zij op de beschuldigingen van de opstandelingen? De auteur heeft een verscheidenheid aan mondelinge, schriftelijke en theatrale media onderzocht om te ontdekken hoe het regime gebruikmaakte van de verschillende communicatiekanalen. Daarnaast is de reactie van gewone mensen op het conflict en op de tegenstrijdige berichtgeving in de publieke sfeer onderzocht.

Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise is simultaneously a work of philosophy and a piece of practical politics. It defends religious pluralism, a republican form of political organisation, and the freedom to philosophise, with a determination that is extremely rare in seventeenth-century thought. But it is also a fierce and polemical intervention in a series of Dutch disputes over issues about which Spinoza and his opponents cared very deeply. Susan James makes the arguments of the Treatise accessible, and their motivations plain, by setting them in their historical and philosophical context. She identifies the interlocking theological, hermeneutic, historical, philosophical, and political positions to which Spinoza was responding, shows who he aimed to discredit, and reveals what he intended to achieve. The immediate goal of the Treatise is, she establishes, a local one. Spinoza is trying to persuade his fellow citizens that it is vital to uphold and foster conditions in which they can cultivate their capacity to live rationally, free from the political manifestations and corrosive psychological effects of superstitious fear. At the same time, however, his radical argument is designed for a broader audience. Appealing to the universal philosophical principles that he develops in greater detail in his Ethics, and drawing on the resources of imagination to make them forceful and compelling, Spinoza speaks to the inhabitants of all societies, including our own. Only in certain political circumstances is it possible to philosophise, and learn to live wisely and well.

A new history of the Dutch Revolt that shows how the act of rebellion forged a political identity through ritual, symbol, and public action.

This book is the first comprehensive study of the radical political thought of the brothers Johan and Pieter de la Court, two eminent theorists from the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic who played a pivotal role in the rise of commercial republicanism.