Fulke Greville: Kingship and Sovereignty

Abstract

THE OBJECT of this article is to examine Fulke Greville's conception of the nature and powers of kingship, and to discuss the particular combination of influences which lay behind his political thought. Although the obscurity of his style and the doubtful dating of much of his work are lions in the way of research, Greville has good friends among scholars. Professor Bullough and others have made available editions of many of Greville's major writings, and Croll's pioneer study has been augmented by two penetrating interpretations.' The emphasis of these studies falls especially on Greville's mid-position between God and the world' most cogently expressed in the closing Choruses of Mustapha. Greville, however, has interest for scholars also as a student of political thought. The complexity and range of the political problems with which he grapples reveal a mind of remarkable inclusiveness and intellectual grasp. It is true that Greville rarely takes the bold decisions of Sidney; nor does he often achieve the profound insights of Spenser. But the scope of his interests extends into some fields which these men either leave alone or deal with only in relatively cursory terms. The nature of kingship, and the precise extent of royal power, were questions which Sidney and Spenser, beyond very general comments, left largely to lawyers. Yet the problem of sovereignty was among the most vital in Elizabethan and Jacobean

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