The Henrician age

Bibliographic Data

ID23155087
AuthorsJohn Guy (Andrews University, corresponding author)
Year1994
Pages13-46
Publication date1994-02-03
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueVarieties of British Political Thought, 1500-1800 (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/cbo9780511665875.002
OpenAlexW937889358
ISBN9780511665875
LanguageEN
Citations received12

Renaissance political thought, insofar as it existed as a sub-discipline, was the branch of moral philosophy which taught men how to govern. Moral philosophy was adjunct to law and theology, and was closely related to logical philosophy, itself divided into dialectic and rhetoric. The Ciceronian debate on ‘office and duty’ was central, but so was the link between politics and rhetoric. Sir Thomas Elyot claimed that young noblemen, by the use of rhetoric, might rival Cicero and Quintilian through their ability to speak wisely whenever and wherever required, whether acting as courtiers, counsellors or administrators. George Cavendish, Wolsey's gentleman-usher and earliest biographer, said of his master, ‘He had a special gift of natural eloquence with a filed tongue to pronounce the same, that he was able with the same to persuade and allure all men to his purpose’.

Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Medieval Literature and History · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity