Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons: Social Order and Political Language in a Swiss Mountain Canton, 1470-1620 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History) [Hardcover]

Randolph C. Head (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521470862 | ISBN-13: 978-0521470865 | Publication Date: January 27, 1995 | Edition: First Edition

The Freestate of the Three Leagues in the Grisons, a rural confederation of peasant villages in the Swiss Alps, was one of the most unusual political entities found in early modern Europe. Its inhabitants enjoyed popular sovereignty and remarkable local autonomy, and many of them insisted on political equality among citizens, and on political leaders' responsibilities to their communities. The author uses pamphlets and political documents to trace the Freestate's evolution, focusing on its institutional structure and on the political language used by its in habitants.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an important book about a region which has been much neglected among English-speaking scholars. Randolph Head draws on a welath of German secondary works and rich, local, archival resources that provide new insights into the communal politics of this alpine republic." Canadian Journal of History

"Head narrates this story of Grison democracy in vivid and lucid prose. He shows a mature command of scholarship....a good social and institutional history of the Grisons." Central European History

"...a detailed and fascinating examination of the origins and flourishing of communalism....All in all, this book is a fine piece of work." American Historical Review

"...an important contribution to the debate on the role and effects of communalism on both the old European social and political order and the development of modern parliamentarianism and republicanism." Holger Th. Gräf, Sixteenth Century Journal

"This work is a masterpiece. It is an engaging and informative study that should be considered indispensable to historians of early modern European political culture. It should also be considered an important companion study to the works of such historians as Thomas Brady and Peter Bickle....[A]n extremely learned and convincing work of history." Jeffrey E. Ford, Sixteenth Century Journal

"This work serves both as an excellent introduction to an important and atypical early modern state and as a nuanced interpretation of 'communal' political practices and culture in counterpoint to established historiographical models...excellent study of Alpine democratic values" The Historian

...this book provides an important example of political thinking based neither in the city nor the nation-state, but in a rural setting in which peasants negotiate social relations, not through rebellion, but within the framework of regular political institutions." Rebecca Boone, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"This excellent study of Alpine democratic values highlights the distance between early modern communalism and modern democratic models grounded in individual natural rights." Peter G. Wallace, The Historian

"This excellent study of Alpine democratic values highlights the distance between early modern communalism and modern democratic models grounded in individual natural rights." Peter G. Wallace, The Historian

"Head's approach is a convincing one. His study treats the political culture at three different levels: that of the constitutional institutions, that of popular actions, and that of the political language." Andreas WÜrgler, Jrnl of Modern History

Book Description

The Freestate of the Three Leagues in the Grisons, a rural confederation of peasant villages in the Swiss alps, was one of the most unusual political entities found in early modern Europe. Its inhabitants enjoyed popular sovereignty and remarkable local autonomy, and many of them insisted on political equality among citizens, and on political leaders' responsibilities to their communities. The author uses pamphlets and political documents to trace the Freestate's evolution, focusing on its institutional structure and on the political language used by its in habitants.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition edition (January 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521470862
• ISBN-13: 978-0521470865
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,329,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Careful scholarship on an area deserving more attention, January 13, 2004

By 

Daniel Christensen "early modern historian" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons: Social Order and Political Language in a Swiss Mountain Canton, 1470-1620 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History) (Paperback)

Head has written a solid work on historical scholarship. The area under study is called the Grisons, the Grey Leagues, and Graubunden, and is part of early modern Switzerland. Head takes on a number of historiographical battles that raged at the time of the writing, and some still do. One is the argument that communalism, the notion that common people could and here did work together to create a liberating and progressive political system, to be idealized along with ancient Athens as heroic models for today. Head shows how communalism was an idea that was preached and discussed, but that elites and factions combatted its core tenets, hindering its ability to function. He also looks at a famous uprising that some see in it communalism, but he shows how the Faehnlilupf movement never succeeded in its ambitious mission.
As for the factionalism in the region, which Head shows without a doubt existed and affected any idyllic wishes for pure democracy, it is shown to be an outcome of the major political forces in Europe using this part of Switzerland in turf wars for geopolitical advantage. The great powers competed for control of the area, leading to factionalism among its elites. And so this is another blow to those who want to find democracy or proto-Parliamentarism in 16th century Switzerland.
That said, however, the Grisons still presents a rich area of study, because of its tradition of independence from outsider control, and because it boldly evoked the language of communalism and freedom for all citizens, and as such should be paid attention to, especially by students of political language and of democratic movements in the past. And it is in the region's use of political language and its creation of a unique political culture that is the strength of Randolph Head's book.
It is to be highly recommended.