Hobbes, Bramhall and the Politics of Liberty and Necessity: A Quarrel of the Civil Wars and Interregnum(Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)

This book was the first full account of one of the most famous quarrels of the seventeenth century, that between the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and the Anglican archbishop of Armagh, John Bramhall (1594–1663). This analytical narrative interprets that quarrel within its own immediate and complicated historical circumstances, the Civil Wars (1638–49) and Interregnum (1649–60). The personal clash of Hobbes and Bramhall is connected to the broader conflict, disorder, violence, dislocation and exile that characterised those periods. This monograph offered not only the first comprehensive narrative of their hostilities over two decades, but also an illuminating analysis of aspects of their private and public quarrel that have been neglected in previous accounts, with special attention devoted to their dispute over political and religious authority. This will be of interest to scholars of early modern British history, religious history and the history of ideas.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. Bishop Bramhall, the 'Great Arminian', 'Irish Canterbury' and 'Most Unsound Man in Ireland', 1633–41; 2. Bishop Bramhall, the Earl of Newcastle, Thomas Hobbes and the first English Civil War; 3. Hobbes's flight to France, De Cive and the beginning of the quarrel with Bramhall, summer 1645; 4. An epistolary skirmish, 1645–6: Bramhall, 'Discourse', Hobbes, 'Treatise' and Bramhall, 'Vindication'; 5. Bramhall and the Royalist schemes of 1646–50; 6. Hobbes and Leviathan among the exiles, 1646–51; 7. The public quarrel: Hobbes, Of Liberty and Necessity, 1654, Bramhall, Defence of True Liberty, 1655 and Hobbes, Questions concerning Necessity, Liberty and Chance, 1656; 8. Castigations of Hobbes's Animadversions and The Catching of Leviathan, 1657–8: Hobbes as Leviathan of Leviathans; 9. The restoration and death of Bramhall and Hobbes's last word, 1668; Conclusion.

About the Author :
Nicholas D. Jackson is a Research Fellow at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.

Review :
Review of the hardback: 'Nicholas Jackson's book is a thoroughly researched and well-written study of the notorious and heated dispute between Hobbes and one of his most prominent Anglican adversaries, John Bramhall, bishop of Derry, on theological problems pertaining to free will, predestination, liberty and free choice, but also on political matters such as the rights and duties of the civil magistrate or the role of the Anglican episcopacy within the constitutional framework of the English body politic. Although Hobbes's and Bramhall's long-lasting quarrel has been repeatedly discussed in a number of scholarly articles, it has never been dealt with in such painstaking detail. Jackson paints a very colourful picture of the two antagonists and emphasises that they were as oddly matched physically as intellectually.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History Review of the hardback: 'Jackson provides a rich historical background to the quarrel, noting other issues that concerned each man during this period. … [He] concludes with an excellent discussion …' Church History 'Nicholas Jackson's account of the debate over free will between Hobbes and Bramhall, originating in the 1640s before spilling into print in the 1650s, is yet another welcome contribution to the study of Hobbes, while also bringing the bishop out from the philosopher's shadow and releasing their encounter from the confines of philosophy and theology. Cambridge University Press continues to confirm the value of adding the consideration of context to the consideration of texts, in its Early Modern British History series as much as those series overseen by Quentin Skinner.' Geoff Kemp, The European Legacy