PIERRE BOAISTUAU - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

A capable monarch should also be a good law-giver. Echoing Plato’s Republic which
endorsed the combination of a good prince and good laws, Boaistuau used many
examples from antiquity (such as the Egyptians, the Persians, the Athenians, the
Carthaginians, and the Romans) to emphasize the significance of a law-giving
monarch. 657 In addition, the ruler had to respect the law, serving as an example and
not as an oppressor. He was bound to conform to his rules and regulations, since he
was responsible for maintaining the justice which was essential for the peace and
well-being of his realm. Chancellor Duprat in the 1517 Assembly noted that ‘the
police and good administration of the public weal consists in ensuring the tranquility,
peace and wealth of the subjects’. 658 The administration of justice was a very
important feature as, according to royal theorists, it separated the king from the tyrant
who violated the law according to his will: ‘le Tyran suyvant l’impetuosité de son
vouloir, infringe et violle la loy’. 659 Justice retained the moral character of kingdoms,
and prevented them from evolving into ‘cavernes de larrons’, as Boaistuau
characteristically noted. 660 The story of the Persian King Cambyses and King
Salomon’s exhortation to judges were also cited as examples for the safeguarding of
order. 661 A just king should also be characterised by clemency, in order not to be
feared but rather esteemed and respected by his subjects. Charity was another quality
highlighted by Boaistuau, who cited many examples of charitable rulers from the
classical and the early modern period, such as Alexander the Great, Roman Emperors
Antonius and Claudius, and Pope Sixtus IV. In fact, he advised rulers to make regular
657
Plato (ed. G. R. F. Ferrari), The Republic (Cambridge, 2000).
658
Cited in Potter, D., A History of France, 1460-1560: The Emergence of a Nation State (Basingstoke,
1995), p. 35.
659
Boaistuau, P., L’Histoire de Chelidonius Tigurinus, p. 30v.
660
Ibid, p. 98v. Boaistuau here cited Augustine’s City of God, where is also stated that mercy exults
over justice. See Augustine, The City of God, Book XXI, Chapter 27.
661
The story of Cambyses can be found in Herodotus (ed. J. Marincola), The Histories (London, 2004),
Book Three.
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