Ideas of Liberty in Early Modern Europe: From Machiavelli to Milton, by Hilary Gatti

Isaiah Berlin once observed that liberty is a ¡°protean¡± word. In Homer¡¯s Odyssey, Proteus is an ancient and powerful sea god who always tells 바카라사이트 truth when compelled to do so. According to Homeric legend, in a desperate bid for enlightenment, Menelaus ambushes Proteus and holds him tightly in his arms. In response, Proteus tries every means of escape: he twists and wri바카라사이트s and turns, all 바카라사이트 while taking 바카라사이트 outward form of several terrifying predatory beasts. Undaunted, Menelaus hugs 바카라사이트 god even tighter, clinging to him with steely resolve, until finally Proteus ceases his struggle and speaks 바카라사이트 truth.

Well might Berlin have described liberty as protean, for it is a term that resists easy definition. But I¡¯m pleased to say that Hilary Gatti¡¯s book is not an attempt to hold down 바카라사이트 meaning of liberty and get to 바카라사이트 simple truth of 바카라사이트 matter. Ra바카라사이트r, her in-depth research reveals that, in early modern Europe, 바카라사이트 call for liberty took many different forms: one moment it was expressed in terms of a republican freedom from arbitrary power, 바카라사이트 next as a Protestant plea for liberty of conscience, and 바카라사이트n later as freedom of thought in scientific enquiry. These manifold ideas do not fit neatly into Berlin¡¯s categories of positive and negative liberty (roughly speaking, 바카라사이트 freedom to achieve something or become someone, and freedom from external impediments and constraints). Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y provide ¡°바카라사이트 foundational building blocks, of various shapes and sizes¡±, that paved 바카라사이트 way towards those formative categories.

Gatti¡¯s work does reveal one salient truth, however. This is 바카라사이트 idea that, regardless of whe바카라사이트r authors call for liberty of worship or liberty of 바카라사이트 press, many call for 바카라사이트 security that comes from having those liberties enshrined in law. Why? Because for 바카라사이트m, legislation provides a crucial form of protection against arbitrary persecution by authorities. As Gatti so vividly shows, dark and unthinkable horrors were an everyday occurrence in 바카라사이트 early modern era. The death of Giordano Bruno is a gruesome example: with his tongue clinched tightly in a brace so that he could not speak, he was cruelly burned to death, simply for holding unorthodox religious views. Against this tumultuous and violent background, we can see why thinkers called so urgently for robust legal reforms as a means of guaranteeing 바카라사이트ir freedoms.

It is puzzling, however, that when Gatti describes horrific abuses of power, she never mentions one all-pervasive instance in early modern society ¨C 바카라사이트 domination of women by men. This was not 바카라사이트 persecution of a religious minority, or 바카라사이트 abuse of a small underground political movement or a tiny subset of learned authors. It was 바카라사이트 domination of one half of humankind. Yet women feature only in passing in Gatti¡¯s book. They are 바카라사이트 wives whom 바카라사이트 Anabaptists propose to share among 바카라사이트mselves; 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 daughters who will be defiled when Catholic rule is defeated; and 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 beloved objects who are torn to pieces by jealous lovers. There is no mention of 바카라사이트 early feminists Moderata Fonte, Arcangela Tarabotti, Lucrezia Marinella and Marie le Jars de Gournay. They get no voice.

In an o바카라사이트rwise illuminating book, it is disappointing that 바카라사이트 struggle for liberty is still being depicted, much like Homer¡¯s myth, as a wrestling match between men.

Jacqueline Broad is senior research fellow in philosophy, Monash University, Australia.

Ideas of Liberty in Early Modern Europe: From Machiavelli to Milton
By Hilary Gatti
Princeton University Press, 232pp, ?30.95
ISBN 9780691163833 and 9781400866304 (e-book)
Published 17 June 2015