Patriarcha: Divine Right Monarchy, Patriarchal Authority, and Sovereignty in Seventeenth-Century England

Patriarcha is Robert Filmer's most influential defense of monarchical absolutism, arguing that political authority descends from the paternal dominion granted by God to Adam and inherited by kings. Written in a compact, polemical style, the treatise blends scriptural exegesis, legal argument, and political theory to reject popular sovereignty, natural liberty, and contractual accounts of government. Though composed amid seventeenth-century constitutional conflict, it gained renewed force when published in 1680 during the Exclusion Crisis, becoming a touchstone for debates over divine right monarchy. Sir Robert Filmer, a Kentish gentleman and committed royalist, wrote from within a world destabilized by civil war, regicide, and challenges to hereditary rule. His social position, Anglican loyalties, and suspicion of parliamentary resistance shaped his insistence that order depends upon undivided patriarchal authority. Patriarcha reflects not merely nostalgia for hierarchy, but a systematic attempt to ground political obedience in theology, family structure, and ancient law. This book is essential for readers interested in the origins of modern political philosophy. It is especially valuable alongside Locke's First Treatise, which was written to refute it. Patriarcha remains a provocative document of absolutist thought and a crucial key to understanding early modern arguments about sovereignty, legitimacy, and liberty.