Jacques-Benigne Bossuet was a true supporter of “Divine Right,” or that monarchs derive their right to rule from God and are accountable only to God (The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language). In the excerpts from his “Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture,” Bossuet attempts to defend divine right and relate it directly into to the Bible. The main points Bossuet uses to defend divine right are “First, royal authority is scared; secondly, it is paternal; thirdly, it is absolute; fourthly, it is subject to reason…”(Bossuet,137) However the excerpt that the course reader provides only explains the f

Ireton, who was unhappy with the kings rule decided to start a revolution of sort. The time was 17th century England and King Charles I has been doing whatever he pleases with out consulting Parliament, illustrating the one possible downfall of Monarchy. There was no decision as to what kind of government should be put in place after the King was defeated in the First Civil War. There were many different opinions. Some hoped for a “Constitutional monarchy”(Introduction,145), which would severely restrict the powers of the king with Parliament sharing sovereignty with him as stated by the course reader. Another view was to do away with monarchy completely, and allow Parliament to rule completely. Finally the more radical view of getting rid of social status and political order to make everyone equal. Ireton and his supporters took a more middle of the road approach. Ireton wanted Parliament to run the show, but to keep them in check the members of Parliament would be elected once every two years. This was done because Ireton was unhappy with the king having to answer to no one. Ireton eventually was able punish Charles I and signed his death warrant. The eligibility to vote was contingent on your social class; the upper and mid-upper classes were permitted to vote. This was done because Ireton did not believe that all men could make the right decisions about their government. However he did grant the people freedom of speech, religion and ability to choose whether or not to fight for their country. Also that the law apply to everyone and must be equal and not destructive to the people as summarized from An Agreement of the People written by Ireton. In general Ireton’s goals were to give the people more freedom, make the people happy. Also, he wanted to give them more control in their government but did not believe the lower class could make decision about their government. This is almost a “Fledgling Democracy,” however the closest thing to present day democracy is the system of Pericles.

irst two points or Divine Right. To understand the true importance of this writing it is necessary to examine England’s history, which during this time is quite religious. Bossuet uses this to his advantage by attempting to make

Some topics in this essay:
Scripture” Bossuet, Pericles Pericles, Instead Machiavelli, War” Spielvogel, Ireton Parliament, Prince Spielvogel, Civil War, Overall Bossuet, God’s Ireton, Century England, human nature, “the prince, spielvogel 234, 17th century england, power people, people freedom, ruler whatever, control people, believed people, stated spielvogel, spielvogel 55,