Franco-Gallia

Hotman, François, 1524-1590Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 310K words
Chapters: 31

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Franco-Gallia by François HotmanAuthor: Hotman, François, 1524-1590,Language: English, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Mar 1, 2006

Editor's review

Franco-Gallia is a work of political thought by the French jurist François Hotman (1524–1590). Its English translation is released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain e-book under the category of French history. The book is often cited in the history of Western political thought: its core lies in a historical argument about the relationship between French royal power and the Estates, making it a primary text for understanding early modern constitutional ideas and resistance theory. Its threshold for readers is not low: the argument rests on a large body of historical material, the prose carries the style of sixteenth-century polemic, and the public-domain e-book lacks notes and an introduction, so readers need some background in European history and the history of political thought to follow it smoothly. It is therefore better suited as supplementary material for specialized study than as general light reading; reading it alongside relevant works in intellectual history is recommended for a more solid gain.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students and researchers studying the history of early modern political thought
Readers in law and politics interested in the origins of constitutional ideas and resistance theory
Deep readers with a foundation in European history who are willing to work through primary texts

Not a good fit for

General readers without a background in European history who seek light reading
Readers expecting a modern scholarly introduction and detailed notes
Beginners who only want an outline of French general history

Reading tips

Read a relevant introduction to intellectual history first, then move on to the main text to lower the threshold of understanding.
Take notes chapter by chapter to trace the author's line of historical argument.
Read alongside contemporary political treatises to compare their modes of argument.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in English or French?

This e-book is an English translation with an English main text; the original was written in Latin by the sixteenth-century French jurist François Hotman.

Can I understand it without a historical background?

It is quite difficult. The book builds its argument on a large body of historical material, and the public-domain e-book has no notes or introduction, so readers lacking a foundation in European history and the history of political thought can easily get lost in the material.

Is it suitable as an introductory text in political science?

Not very. It is a primary text, better used as material for focused study after one has some framework of intellectual history, rather than as an introductory general reader.

Comments

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About the author

Hotman, François, 1524-1590 Author · French · 1524–1590

François Hotman (1524–1590) was a French jurist and Huguenot political thinker, best known for his work Franco-Gallia. Writing amid the French Wars of Religion and the controversies over royal authority in sixteenth-century France, he focused on law, history, and political institutions. In Franco-Gallia he traced early Frankish political traditions in order to discuss the relationship between royal power and representative institutions. Public sources offer limited detail about his life; what can be confirmed is that Franco-Gallia used historical argument to intervene in contemporary debates over the legitimacy of rule and the right of resistance, making it an important text of Huguenot political thought and a work of some influence in early modern European intellectual history. One work by him is held in this collection.