It all comes back to the 17th century really. At the start, a king who believes in the absolute divine right of kings, who calls parliament as he requires. At the end, a parliament and independent judiciary at the centre of the constitution.
It all comes back to the 17th century really. At the start, a king who believes in the absolute divine right of kings, who calls parliament as he requires. At the end, a parliament and independent judiciary at the centre of the constitution.
One very minor correction:
William of Orange was not “the most protestant king of the Netherlands”.
He was the Stadtholder.
fair point – I was going for a rhetorical flourish, in apposition to most Catholic monarchs. I’ll keep my rhetorical flourishes under control…
Yet another excellent ‘cast which strikes what I (no doubt with my own biases, but who hasn’t got a few of those) feel is a refreshing balance of views and statements about issues that all too often divide people into camps where it’s common to have ahistorical claims and quotes accepted as a given for emotional reasons.
CIP your words on the efforts (or lack thereof) to snuff out certain languages in favor of English – that this was pursued is often just assumed, whereas as you say, accommodation was frequently made and the motivation for what actions WERE taken was largely a matter of desiring uniformity and accessibility in ways which favored the “common man” from all communities, rather than for malicious reasons.
Kudos
I keep meaning to do a full episode on the subject; it’s one of the many where there is a lot of tripe spoken, but also one where there is a lot of understandable fury about past. I much prefer our view today that difference must be protected; and in the Victorian days they did not; but the pressure I believe was socialand economic, rather than a matter of policy. Anyway-I hae bought books but it’s a way down the list!
Also, if you have the stomach for some philosophy stated clearly and interestingly, check out “Philosophize This” – fairly short, concise episodes from pre-Socrates up to the most modern stuff. Guaranteed to be worth the listen, and I reckon it’s hard to imagine better ways to spend the occasional 30 minutes than to consider what some of the smartest and wisest (and dumbest+thickest I suppose) people in history have thought about life’s biggest and deepest questions.
That sounds tremendous. I used to listen to Philosophy with no Gaps, but I was not clever enough so I willo give that a go!