The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates is a 1649 book by the English poet and polemicist John Milton, in which he defends the right of people to execute a guilty sovereign, whether tyrannical or not. The work appeared five times: in 1649, perhaps written during the trial of Charles I of England, with a second edition following in 1650 ("with improvements"), and twice in collections (Works, 1697, and Complete Collection, 1698). A final edition, revised, retitled, and presenting somewhat altered views, appeared in 1689.Shawcross 1993 p. 105 "Milton’s case was not that Charles I was guilty as charged, but that Parliament had the right to prosecute him."Corns 1998 p. 72
In the text, Milton conjectures about the formation of commonwealths. He comes up with a kind of constitutionalism, but not an outright anti-monarchical argument. He gives a theory of how people come into commonwealths and come to elect kings. He explains what the role of a king should be, and conversely what a tyrant is, and why it is necessary to limit a ruler's power through laws and oaths. Milton's controversial denial of the divine right of kings prevented widespread acceptance of The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.
Full title The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: proving that it is lawful, and hath been held so through the ages, for any, who has the Power, to call to account a Tyrant, or wicked King, and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death; if the ordinary MAGISTRATE have neglected, or deny’d to do it. And that they, who of late so much blame Deposing, are the Men that did it themselves.Frison 2005 p. 171
Background and context In February 1649, less than two weeks after the Parliament of England executed Charles I, Milton published The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates to justify the action and to defend the government against the Presbyterians who initially voted for the regicide and later condemned it, and whose practices he believed were a "growing threat to freedom."Dzelzainis 2003 p. 296Woolrych 1997 p. 644 Milton aimed to expose false reasoning from the opposition, citing scripture throughout the Tenure of Kings and Magistrates to counter biblical reference that would cast holy and public disapproval on Parliament's actions.Patrick 1967 p. 365 "Milton’s case was not that Charles I was guilty as charged, but that Parliament had the right to prosecute him."Corns 1998 p. 72 Milton later remarked that the piece was "written to reconcile men's minds, rather than to determine anything about Charles".qtd in Shawcross 1993 p. 104
The work also rebuts theories posited by Robert Filmer and Thomas Hobbes. Specifically, Milton took issue with the notions that a separation of powers leads to anarchy and that the king's power was naturally absolute.Frison 2005 p. 172
The work appeared five times: in 1649, perhaps written during the King's trial, with a second edition following in 1650 ("with improvements"), and twice in collections (Works, 1697, and Complete Collection, 1698). A final edition, revised, retitled, and presenting somewhat altered views, appeared in 1689Shawcross 1993 p. 105 during a controversy over the succession of William III of England. This edition, titled Pro Populo Adversus Tyrannos: Or the Sovereign Right and Power of the People over Tyrants, may have been edited by James Tyrell, a historian, but continued to be advertised, in 1691, as being Milton's work.Shawcross 1993 p. 117
Tract Milton begins The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates by paraphrasing the words of Sallust to describe the nature of tyranny:Dzelzainis 2003 p. 306
Milton continues by discussing the nature of law, and the rule of law, and the private sphere:
Milton calls on the people to support Parliament's actions and wisdom:
Themes Jonathan Scott believed that The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates was one of the "key republican texts" during the 17th century.Scott 1992 p. 37 However, Milton gave up parts of his Republican views to support Parliament, especially when he called for the people to support the government. "[It is] more properly termed a regicide tract, justifying the killing of King Charles I, rather than a republican tract, justifying the establishment of a new kind of government."Corns 1998 p. 67
The argument in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates is complicated, and Milton attempts to reexplain his views in Eikonoklastes.Dzelzainis 2003 p. 307 With both pieces Milton attempted to disrupt the popular image of Charles I as innocent (Eikonoklastes means "image breaker").
The work is unique compared to other works during its time because Milton emphasises the deeds of individuals as the only way for there to be justice. The work also emphasises the freedom of the individual, and only through such freedom is an individual able to develop properly. Citing classical and biblical references, this emphasis refutes the divine right of kings, as well as Hobbes's idea of absolute power held by a monarch. Milton argues that no man is better than another, having all been created in God's image, free and equal, and that all have a right to dispose of themselves. Further, he argues that their freedom and equality entitles them to inflict the same treatment upon the king they would receive at the hands of the law, that magistrates are empowered by the people:Frison 2005 p. 176Frison 2005 p. 178
It being thus manifest that the power of Kings and Magistrates is nothing else, but what is only derivative, transferr’d and committed to them in trust from the People, to the Common good of them all, in whom the power yet remains fundamentally, and cannot be tak’n from them, without a violation of thir natural birthright.qtd in Frison 2005 p. 177
Milton emphasises the concept of trust, instilled in the king by the people, and the dynasty's violation of that trust.Frison 2005 p. 177 He describes the crimes perpetrated by the executed King, asserting that kings are accountable to more than just God.Frison 2005 p. 179
Also, Milton emphasises the importance of an education focusing on the ability to discriminate between ideas and establishing self-discipline.Shawcross 1993 p. 104
Reception The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates immediately influenced the political works and theories of many others, including Bulstrode Whitelocke, John Canne, John Lilburne, John Twyn, and various anonymous works. The amount of attention that the work received prompted John Shawcross to declare that the work, itself, allowed Milton to be viewed as a "great writer". Later on, the work was able to influence others without them knowing; a piece by Algernon Sidney, which copies words directly from The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, influenced various tracts and many responders to Sidney did not know that the lines were originally from Milton.Shawcross 1993 p. 106
Milton's controversial denial of the divine right of kings prevented widespread acceptance of The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.
The song Curse my Name by the German metal band Blind Guardian is an interpretation of Milton's tract.
Notes
References Corns, Thomas N. John Milton: the Prose Works. Twayne: New York, 1998. 67–75. Print. Dzelzainis, Martin. "Republicanism" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. Frison, Danièle. "Rights and Liberties in John Milton’s The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates". Christophe Tournu & Neil Forsyth, eds. Milton, Rights and Liberties. Bern: Peter Lang, 2005. 171–181. Print. Milton, John. Complete Prose Works of John Milton. Vol III Ed. Don Wolfe. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962. Patrick, J. Max. The Prose of John Milton. New York: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1967. Scott, Jonathan. "The English Republican Imagination" in Revolution and Restoration: England in the 1650s. ed. John Morrill. London: Collins & Brown, 1992. Shawcross, John. John Milton: The Self and the World. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1993. Woolrych, Austin. The Oxford Companion to British History. Ed. John Cannon. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 644. Print.
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