Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653) and the Patriotic Monarch

'Cesare Cuttica is Lecturer in British History in the Department of Anglo-American Studies (DEPA), Université Paris 8-Vincennes and he is a member of the Sussex Centre for Intellectual History, University of Sussex

This book studies the patriarchalist theories of Sir Robert Filmer (1588-1653) in the context of early modern English and European political cultures. Making use of unexplored primary material and adopting an innovative contextual approach, Cuttica provides a long-overdue account of an often referred-to but largely misunderstood thinker. By focusing on Filmer's most important writing, Patriarcha (written in the 1620s-30s but published in 1680), this monograph rethinks some crucial issues in the reading of political history in the seventeenth century. Most importantly, it invites new reflections on the theory of patriarchalism and gives novel insights into the place of patriotism in the development of English political discourse and identity.Departing from the scholarly mainstream, Cuttica casts light on the following decisive questions: who was the "real biographical" Filmer? What do we know about the much commented upon but scarcely studied Patriarcha? What reasons urged Sir Robert to compose his writings? What targets did he choose to attack and why? What made Filmer similar or different from other monarchist thinkers in the Caroline reign? Why did Patriarcha find a vast audience in the 1680s? What is the political and argumentative value of patriarchalism? Did Filmer exclusively discuss political issues or did he formulate concepts on other relevant subjects debated within the republic of letters?Thanks to its originality in both approach and content, this volume will be of interest to historians of early modern England; scholars of political thought; political scientists; gender theorists; graduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral researchers in intellectual history and the aforementioned disciplines.

IntroductionPart I1. Filmer: his life and cultural interests2. From Kent with anger: Patriarcha versus Thomas Scott's country patriotism3. Filmer's patriarchalism versus Jesuit political ideas4. Filmer's patriarchalism in context: 'popularity', King James VI and I, Parliament and monarchists5. Writing in the early Caroline regime and the issue of Patriarcha's non-publication6. Filmer in the 1640s and 1650s: political troubles and intellectual activismPart II7. Publishing in the Exclusion Crisis (1679-81): Patriarcha between fatherhood and fatherland8. Much ado about nothing? Edmund Bohun's rehabilitation of Patriarcha, the issue of allegiance and Adamite anti-republicanism9. Patriarchalism versus patriotism in practice: Patriarcha from the Rye House Plot (1683) to the Glorious Revolution (1688-89)ConclusionAppendixBibliographyIndex