Ketcham, Ralph Louis. James Madison: A Biography,1st pbk. ed.
New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Madison, J. The Mind of the Founder,M. Meyers, ed. and intro.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1981.
Miller, William Lee. The Business of May Next: James Madison
and the Founding.Charlottesville: University Press of Vir-
ginia, 1992.
Morris, Richard Brandon. Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton,
Madison, Jay, and the Constitution,1st ed. New York: Holt,
Rinehart, and Winston, 1985.
Sheldon, Garrett Ward. The Political Philosophy of James Madi-
son.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Magna Carta
A major document in British CONSTITUTIONALhistory,
limiting the absolute power of the king and guarantee-
ing certain basic RIGHTS. Written by English nobility
(barons) in 1215 and signed by King John at Run-
nymede, the Magna Carta came in response to royal
oppression and excessive taxation. It asserted the
authority of the English aristocracy, feudal common-
law custom, the independence of the church, and the
privileges of free towns (such as London). It implied
rights of subjects, such as trial by jury and habeas cor-
pus (not being jailed without charges). Many later-citi-
zens’ rights and liberties were later attributed to the
Magna Carta, especially by PURITANSand parliamentari-
ans in the 1600s. This famous legal document prima-
rily checked the authority of the MONARCHY and
distributed power to the nobility and clergy, but it set a
precedent for later expansions of INDIVIDUALrights, as
in the British and U.S. Bill of Rights.
The Magna Carta becomes a symbol of English LIB-
ERTYfrom excessive government taxation, regulation,
and arbitrary POWER. It provides the first Western legal
document limiting the absolute AUTHORITYof the STATE.
The MODERN LIBERALISMof John LOCKE, Thomas JEFFER-
SON, and John RAWLSgrows out of this historic docu-
ment.
Further Readings
Adams, G. B. Constitutional History of England.New York: H.
Holt, 1936.
Holt, James Clarke, ed. Magna Carta and the Idea of Liberty.
Wiley, 1972.
Jones, J.A.P. King John and Magna Carta.London: Longman,
1971.
Stenton, Doris Mary Parsons, Lady. After Runnymede; Magna
Carta in the Middle Ages.Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia, 1965.
Thompson, Faith. Magna Carta: Its Role in the Making of the
English Constitution.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1972.
Maistre, Joseph Marie de (1753–1821)
French conservative philosopher
Joseph de Maistre was a philosopher and writer who
was appalled at the VIOLENCEof the French Revolution.
He defended the traditional order and the role of the
CATHOLICChurch in society. Exiled in 1792, Maistre
spent most of his life as a diplomat and official for the
Kingdom of Sardinia. His most influential work was
the momentous two-volume Du Pape(Of the pope) in
which he asserted the power of the papacy and
endeavored to justify the doctrine of papal infallibility.
Joseph de Maistre was born into a noble French
family in Savoy. He studied under Jesuits in a convent
and developed an intense religiosity and dislike of the
RATIONALISM of the 18th-century ENLIGHTENMENT.He
served in a variety of local posts, including service as a
magistrate and assistant advocate general. In 1787, de
Maistre became a member of the provincial senate of
Savoy. After Napoleon invaded Savoy at the head of a
revolutionary army in 1792, de Maistre went into exile
for the remainder of his life. He fled to Switzerland
and then entered the service of the king of Sardinia
where he served in a variety of posts. After four years
representing Sardinia at Lausanne, in 1799, de Maistre
became keeper of the great seal of the kingdom. He
was subsequently appointed plenipotentiary to the
czar at St. Petersburg, a post he held for 14 years. He
then returned to Sardinia and served as minister of
state and keeper of the seal until his death in 1821.
All of de Maistre’s works were in French. Although
he wrote some minor essays and speeches, his first
major piece was written during his time in Switzer-
land. De Maistre wrote in support of the American war
of independence, but he fervently opposed the French
Revolution. His writings reflected the contention that
France had a unique mission in the world as a civiliz-
ing force and instrument of God. He asserted that the
revolution was foreordained because the ARISTOCRACY
had supported the rationalism of the Enlightenment
and had turned its back on religion. Therefore, the
bloodbath of the Reign of Terror was justified as pun-
ishment for their lack of religiosity.
In 1819, de Maistre published his most substantial
work Du Papein two volumes but four parts. In the
first section, the author argues that within the church,
the pope is sovereign and that papal SOVEREIGNTYis
infallible. De Maistre devotes the remainder of his
opus to the relationship between the pope and the
world’s nations. He believed that the papacy provided
the only supranational force that could protect individ-196 Magna Carta