On the Translation of a Fragment of Cardin Le Bret's Treatise “On Sovereignty of the King”

Abstract

The publication is dedicated to the translation from French into Russian of a fragment of the political treatise “On Sovereignty” by the French lawyer and state councilor Cardin Le Bret (1558–1655). The first two chapters of the first book are presented. The first chapter is devoted to the issue of royal power, the second chapter — to the definition of sovereignty. The translation is provided with comments. The introductory article provides a short biographical note on the life of Sieur Le Bret. In the article, there are shown his political ties with representatives of the highest political circles of the French Kingdom in the mid-17th century, such as Cardinal de Richelieu and Chancellor Seguier. Le Bret's political ideas were associated with the previous political tradition of justifying strong royal power through the concept of sovereignty. The introductory article provides a short analysis of the terminology of the treatise using the translated fragment as an example. The idea of royal power is closely related to the idea of a role of the sovereign in the administration of Commonwealth. At the same time, it is shown that the definition given by Le Bret is based not only on the theological concept of power, but also on the law on insult to Majesty (“lèze-Majesté”). Le Bret's treatise is important for understanding both the transformations of the idea of royal power and the logic of the further evolution of absolutism. Until now there were no translations of the treatise On Sovereignty into Russian, even in fragments.