Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons
Social Order and Political Language in a Swiss Mountain Canton, 1470–1620
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:27th Jan '95
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- Paperback£44.99(9780521893794)
This insightful study examines the Freestate of the Three Leagues, revealing its unique contributions to early modern democracy and community governance.
The book Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons explores a unique political entity known as the Freestate of the Three Leagues, located in the Swiss Alps. This rural confederation of peasant villages emerged during the sixteenth century, a time when its inhabitants enjoyed significant local autonomy and a sense of popular sovereignty. The author delves into the dynamics of this community, highlighting their insistence on political equality and the accountability of leaders to the citizens. Through a careful examination of pamphlets and political documents, the book sheds light on the evolution of this early democratic state.
In Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons, the author articulates how the political language of the time included radical notions of 'democracy' and governance by the 'common man.' This exploration not only chronicles the Freestate's institutional structure but also situates it within the broader context of contemporary European political developments. Despite its distinctiveness, the Freestate engaged with the prevailing political currents of the era, offering fresh insights into the concepts of democracy and governance that were emerging in Europe.
Ultimately, this 1995 study serves as a valuable resource for understanding a political culture that stands apart from both absolutism and the later liberal ideas that dominated European thought. By examining the Freestate of the Three Leagues, Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons contributes to the discourse on early modern democracy and community involvement in governance.
"...an important book about a region which has been much neglected among English-speaking scholars. Randolph Head draws on a welath of German secondary works and rich, local, archival resources that provide new insights into the communal politics of this alpine republic." Canadian Journal of History
"Head narrates this story of Grison democracy in vivid and lucid prose. He shows a mature command of scholarship....a good social and institutional history of the Grisons." Central European History
"...a detailed and fascinating examination of the origins and flourishing of communalism....All in all, this book is a fine piece of work." American Historical Review
"...an important contribution to the debate on the role and effects of communalism on both the old European social and political order and the development of modern parliamentarianism and republicanism." Holger Th. Gräf, Sixteenth Century Journal
"This work is a masterpiece. It is an engaging and informative study that should be considered indispensable to historians of early modern European political culture. It should also be considered an important companion study to the works of such historians as Thomas Brady and Peter Bickle....[A]n extremely learned and convincing work of history." Jeffrey E. Ford, Sixteenth Century Journal
"This work serves both as an excellent introduction to an important and atypical early modern state and as a nuanced interpretation of 'communal' political practices and culture in counterpoint to established historiographical models...excellent study of Alpine democratic values" The Historian
...this book provides an important example of political thinking based neither in the city nor the nation-state, but in a rural setting in which peasants negotiate social relations, not through rebellion, but within the framework of regular political institutions." Rebecca Boone, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"This excellent study of Alpine democratic values highlights the distance between early modern communalism and modern democratic models grounded in individual natural rights." Peter G. Wallace, The Historian
"This excellent study of Alpine democratic values highlights the distance between early modern communalism and modern democratic models grounded in individual natural rights." Peter G. Wallace, The Historian
"Head's approach is a convincing one. His study treats the political culture at three different levels: that of the constitutional institutions, that of popular actions, and that of the political language." Andreas WÜrgler, Jrnl of Modern History
ISBN: 9780521470865
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 21mm
Weight: 620g
308 pages