Behemoth, full title Behemoth: the history of the causes of the civil wars of England, and of the counsels and artifices by which they were carried on from the year 1640 to the year 1660, also known as The Long Parliament, is a book written by Thomas Hobbes discussing the English Civil War. Published posthumously in 1681, it was written in 1668, but remained unpublished at the request of Charles II of England.
Background Behemoth was written in 1668 as a follow-up to a previous and scandalous political work, Leviathan (1651). Leviathan is a representation of an ideal political world, and Behemoth has been considered to be a contrasting treatise on what happens when the very worst abuses of government come to pass.A. P. Martinich. Hobbes: A Biography. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 323. Hobbes applied his understanding of the science of human nature to explain why the English Civil War came to pass. He was able to do this because he "did not make an impassable gulf between his rational understanding on the one hand and the particular events which he witnessed, remembered, or heard about on the other".Richard Peters. Hobbes. (London: Penguin Books, 1967), 60. The book is written in the form of a dialogue between two men. The first speaker, called only "A", is an eyewitness and possible insider to the events of the English Civil War. The second speaker, referred to as "B", is a student aiming to understand the breakdown in the government of England at that time.
Hobbes was refused permission by King Charles II to publish Behemoth. While the king recognised the correctness of the account of events and issues, he was concerned that the book would not be well received.Noel Malcolm, ed. Thomas Hobbes: The Correspondence. Vol. 2 1660–1679. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 771. Charles withheld his permission to publish, in the hope that Hobbes would avoid further scandal, and perhaps see his reputation as a thinker restored.
The manuscript for Behemoth was pirated and printed in unauthorised editions in Europe during the 1670s and in a letter to his friend John Aubrey, Hobbes stated his disappointment with this turn of events.Malcolm, 772 An official edition was released, three years after Hobbes' death in 1679, by his literary agent William Crooke. According to Aloysius Martinich, "after its initial success the book was relatively unread and unstudied until there was a resurgence of interest in it in the last quarter of the twentieth century".Martinich, 324.
Behemoth is not entirely factual, accurate or literal in retelling of the events of the English Civil War but still has value for students of the history of thought or revolution. As Royce MacGillivray puts it:
Hobbes instead is drawing on his memories of the events and on two other possible sources, both written by James Heath around 1663.MacGillivray, 182. These are A Brief Chronicle of all the Chief Actions and the expanded A Brief Chronicle of the Late Intestine Warr. It is possible they were simply used as prompts for Hobbes, already 80 years old when he wrote Behemoth. According to MacGillivray very little material from these sources found its way directly into the text.
The summation below is just that, a summation, and is only the most basic part of each section. No effort is made to correct any inconsistencies introduced into the discussion between the master and the student so that the information may be presented as it was written by Thomas Hobbes.
Preface: The Bookseller to the reader The 1682 edition of the book begins with a note from William Crooke in answer to why he was publishing this edition. Hobbes had made Crooke the caretaker of his literary estate in July 1679. Crooke knew of the editions of Behemoth published in Europe and he reasoned that these editions did not show the work in the best possible light due to the many textual errors and omissions. It would therefore be best to publish an authorized edition to correct these errors and show the work as Hobbes wanted it to be read. Crooke had as his source a manuscript copy of the text given to him by Thomas Hobbes around 1670.Thomas Hobbes. Behemoth: The History of the Causes of the Civil Wars of England, and of the Counsels and Artifices by Which They Were Carried on from the Year 1640 to the Year 1660. (New York: Burt Franklin, 1963), 2.
Part One: Behemoth, or the Epitome of the Civil Wars of England This is the longest section of the book and roughly covers the period 1640–1642.
The dialogue opens with the student asking the master how it was that a monarch as strong as Charles I of England should ever have had to face a rebellion. The master relates that a growing opposition to the crown was promoted by seven factions, each of them for their own ends and not in concert, who stoked the fires of rebellion. These factions were: Papists, Presbyterians, Independents including other sects of religious faith, those who were corrupted by their reading of the Latin and Greek classics, centres of commerce and trade such as London, those with no means of support who saw the war as a way to profit, and the lack of understanding as to the important role played by the monarchy in society.
The motivations of each of these groups and how they contributed to the Civil War is discussed by the master and the student throughout the first part of the book. This section has been considered anti-clerical in its leanings as none of the actions of the religious groups involved are shown in any sort of positive light.
The Papists wanted to condemn any ruler who did not offer compliance to the will of Rome. As Charles I was officially a Protestant, this was not popular. There were not many Papists in England at this time but they still had a voice that could be heard by their own adherents.
Presbyterian ministers did not like a king whose queen was a known and practising Catholic. This translated itself into speeches calling for the exile of the queen and other Papists. As Catholicism was already severely proscribed against in the late 17th century these calls for expulsion are not unexpected or difficult to understand.
The Independents and the other sects of the Protestant reformation were advocates of liberty and freedom in certain instances especially in the matter of religious choice. Provided an individual did not want to follow the Roman church their religious views would be tolerated by most of the Protestant groups.
The issue of an absolute monarchy was a crucial cause of the Civil War according to Hobbes. Many members of the House of Parliament who wanted a monarchy did not want it to be an absolute one. Instead they desired that it act in consultation with the house before taking action. Charles I did not see the powers of the crown as being answerable to any but God. Parliament then acted to withhold required funds from the King in his quest to defeat the rebellious Scots. The Scots, Hobbes tells us, were in arms over the practice of episcopacy. This weakened the power of the crown but Charles I drew on the nobility to supply the needed funds for the war. When this source ran out Charles turned to Parliament to raise the Ship Money, a percentage of customs revenue given to the King for the upkeep of the navy, so that he could use these funds to continue the war against the Scots. Parliament declared that illegal and took the crown to court over the issue.
The universities are brought into the discussion at this point. They existed as places where one could learn the classics and supposedly sharpen their minds by doing so. Instead they did not have the wit to read the classics critically and took them at their face value. This translated into certain scholars advocating an idealised form of republic to their students. However they did not teach the many virtues of the monarch to their students who came to see the crown as irresponsible.
Hobbes reminds his student that obedience is all that is required to live a good and peaceful life. This obedience should extend to the crown as it does to God and one's parents but this is not what was preached by the Protestant clergy. Instead they advised disobedience of royal edicts such as the raising privately of funds for the king's use. When this directive for disobedience was coupled with the teachings of ancient rebellions as a way to remove so called despotic domains it left a fertile ground for revolution in England.
Part Two: Both Sides Prepare for War The second section picks up the conversation on the following day and discusses how those who sought rebellion now began to make preparations for it to come to pass.
The people of England had become accustomed to hear from those whom they trusted, namely the bishops and the members of Parliament, how corrupted the crown had become. Now the discussion turned to a supposed plot by the King and Queen to return the realm to the church of Rome. The king responded by banishing some who had written pamphlets and sermons suggesting this return to Catholicism. Parliament had three of them released and they were received triumphantly in London upon their return.
In an effort to further weaken the King, Parliament sought to have removed those members who were supporters of the monarchy. To this end the house impeached the Lord of Strafford for treason to Parliament and had him beheaded. Next Parliament arrested and executed the Archbishop of Canterbury for his preaching of the introduction of arbitrary government ruled in consultation of the bishops. This was opposed by many in Parliament, but mainly by the Scots.
After this discussion Hobbes' master provides a history of the house of commons and its role in the governance of the realm. He reminds his student that the Parliament had always been an institution of counsel and not control over the monarchy. The present Parliament oversteps the ancient bounds imposed on it by its appointed role as representative of the people before the king.
The rising in Ireland of an army of Papist sympathies who busied themselves harassing and slaughtering Protestants becomes an issue before the Parliament. A truce is made with the king to arrange a militia to combat this uprising in Ireland. Charles I dismissed the charges of high treason but would not identify his informant in the commons. The solicitor general is accused of being an informer on the house and he flees to France to avoid the wrath of the Parliament.
Parliament next took control of the militia from the crown and insisted that no adherents of the Roman church be allowed to command the army being sent to Ireland. Parliament raised funds for this expedition by selling shares of land in the Irish province of Ulster. A small share, three pence on every acre, was reserved for the crown with the balance of the funds being set aside for Parliament. The king did not assent to this. Relations between the two sides once again broke down and the king issued a declaration that Parliament needed to be obedient to the established laws of the kingdom.
Both sides began to gather material and men for possible war. The Parliament sent a message to the king, a humble petition, with 19 propositions to prevent conflict. The nineteen points are:
Ministers serving on the King's Privy Council must be approved by the House of Commons and Lords. Matters that concern the public must be debated only by Parliament. A number of high offices, those dealing with finances and laws of the kingdom, must be chosen with the consent of both houses of Parliament. The King's children's education and raising should be committed to those approved of by Parliament. Parliament shall approve of the marriage of the King's children to any person, from home or abroad. All laws against Papists must be strictly enforced. The vote of Papists in the Lords shall be taken away, and the children of Papists must receive a Protestant education.