The Saxon Republic and Ancient Constitution in the Standing Army Controversy, 1697–1699
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8959534 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ashley Walsh (0000-0002-6480-1523, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 663-684 |
| Publication date | 2018-10-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x18000316 |
| OpenAlex | W2896634927 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 46 |
The pamphlet controversy caused by the proposal of William III to maintain a peacetime standing army following the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) tends to be understood as a confrontation of classicists and moderns in which the king's supporters argued that modern commerce had changed the nature of warfare and his opponents drew on classical republicanism to defend the county militia. But this characterization neglects the centrality of the Saxon republic and ancient constitution in the debate. English opponents of the standing army, including Walter Moyle, John Trenchard, and John Toland, went further than adapting the republicanism of James Harrington, who had rejected ancient constitutionalism during the Interregnum, to the restored monarchy. Their thought was more Saxon than classical and, in the case of Reverend Samuel Johnson, it was entirely so. However, the Scot, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, adapted neo-Harringtonian arguments to argue that modern politics could no longer be understood by their Gothic precedents. Above all, the king's supporters needed either to engage ancient constitutionalists on their own terms, as did one anonymous pamphleteer, or, as in the cases of John, Lord Somers, and Daniel Defoe, reject the relevance of ancient constitutionalism and Saxon republicanism completely
Ancient history · Constitution · Constitutionalism · Democracy · Interregnum · Monarchy · Political science · Politics · The Republic · Theology · Treaty · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classics · European Political History Analysis · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America
The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought
Shaftesbury and the Culture of Politeness
Liberty before Liberalism
The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman
Wealth and Virtue
The Gothic Bequest
Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times
The Monarchical Republic of Early Modern England
The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law
The Sinews of Power
Sir Matthew Hale 1609-1676
Commentaries on the Laws of England
The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law
The Role of King William III of England in the Standing Army Controversy — 1697-1699
Early Whig Ideology, Ancient Constitutionalism, and the Reverend Samuel Johnson
The Roots of Liberty
The History of Parliament
Republics Ancient and Modern
Parliament, Policy and Politics in the Reign of William III
Common Law and Enlightenment in England, 1689-1750
The Political Works of James Harrington
The Norman Conquest and the Common Law
Citizens in Arms
Some Arguments Used by English Pamphleteers, 1697-1700, Concerning a Standing Army
Citizens in Arms
The Political Works of James Harrington
Revolution Principles
The Machiavellian Moment
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2024 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |