Eikonoklastes
Encyclopedia
Eikonoklastes is a book by John Milton
, published October 1649. In it he provides a justification for the execution of Charles I, which had taken place on 30 January 1649. The book's title is taken from the Greek, and means "iconoclast
" or "breaker of the icon", and refers to Eikon Basilike
, a Royalist propaganda work. The translation of Eikon Basilike is "icon of the King"; it was published immediately after the execution. Milton's book is therefore usually seen as Parliamentarian propaganda, explicitly designed to counter the Royalist arguments.
government.
Eikon Basilike was published just after Charles I's execution, and the work portrayed him as a martyr. The piece was written with straightforward political aims, to stir up popular sentiment in support of the former monarch and to undermine the control of the Commonwealth government. The work proved so popular that there were 35 editions produced that year. Milton's approach was different from that of Eikon Basilike, which may have in fact been a composite work with John Gauden
involved in ghostwriting: instead of appealing to popular sentiment, Milton's work was closely argued and tried to meet each of the points in the Eikon.
Milton believed, certainly, that the Eikon Basilike created a false idol and he wanted to destroy it with truth. Eikonoklastes, titled Eikonolastes in Answer to a Book Intitl'd Eikon Basilike, The Portrature of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings, was issued in two versions in October 1649, in English, and was enlarged in 1650. It was quite soon translated into Latin and French. In 1651 a reply appeared, Eikon Aklastos ("the icon unbroken"). It was written by Joseph Jane
, involved in royalist organisation.
To Milton, Charles I was able to coerce the English people and actually made them his slaves, especially through his veto power which established him "as the transcendent and ultimat Law above all our Laws; and to rule us forcibly by Laws to which we ourselves did not consent".
Milton attacks Charles I's rhetorical flourishes throughout Eikon Basilike, and he claims that "the whole Book might perhaps be intended a peece of Poetrie". Milton criticizes ever aspect of Eikon Basilike to the point that when Charles I claims that he was with gentlemen, Milton responds "Gentlemen indeed; the ragged Infantrie of Stewes and Brothels". However, the criticism was not limited to just style and images. In response that Charles I coining the term "demagogue", Milton claimed that the word as an attack on the English language and the English people and says, "the affrightment of this Goblin word; for the King by his leave cannot coine English as he could Money, to be current".
In the second edition, Milton expanded his claim that the supporters of Charles I were an "inconstant, irrational, and Image-doting rabble" to declare:
Milton also altered an epigraph
by Sallust
on the title page that comes from Gaius Memmius
's speech in Bellum Iugurthinum. The speech penned by Sallust for Memmius describes various abuses, and is used to argue that all monarchs are corrupt.
In addition to a discussion of Charles I and monarchy, Milton added response to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
, who wrote The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars.
principles, and he claims that reformation cannot accept episcopal or monarchical control. Instead, a presbyterian based religion was the only proper type of religion. To John Shawcross, Milton's experience while writing the piece, along with the two Defences "supplied the experience with the world, that dark world and wide, that seems to have been needed for Milton to move beyond the defiant to degrees of understanding, if not acceptance, of humankind."
Starting in 1649, Milton began to connect his various prose publications with the plan of a future epic to be composed, and Eikonoklastes was one such work. As such, there are multiple parallels between the actions of Charles I monarchy and Satan's rule in hell found within Paradise Lost
. The description of a rise of an antichristian monarchs near the end of Eikonoklastes declares that such individuals rely on an ambiguous language in order to gain power. Likewise, Milton's Satan relies on the same kind of rhetoric. Likewise, the deviant followers of Charles I are connected to demons in hell who drink and blaspheme.
After the English Restoration
of 1660, Milton's readers primarily were vindictive, and Eikonoklastes had justified regicide
s. The Act of Oblivion
was enacted on 29 August 1660, and Milton was not among those who were listed to suffer the death penalty for their part in Charles I's execution. On the other hand, a proclamation by the king demanded that Eikonoklastes and Defensio pro Populo Anglicano
be burned. The works were soon after burned in public by the public hangman. This did not stop the work attracting readers, and there was a new edition in 1690 after the Glorious Revolution
.
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, published October 1649. In it he provides a justification for the execution of Charles I, which had taken place on 30 January 1649. The book's title is taken from the Greek, and means "iconoclast
Iconoclast
An iconoclast is someone who engages in iconoclasm—destruction of religious symbols or, by extension, established dogma or conventions.Iconoclast may also refer to:...
" or "breaker of the icon", and refers to Eikon Basilike
Eikon Basilike
The Eikon Basilike , The Pourtrature of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings, was a purported spiritual autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England...
, a Royalist propaganda work. The translation of Eikon Basilike is "icon of the King"; it was published immediately after the execution. Milton's book is therefore usually seen as Parliamentarian propaganda, explicitly designed to counter the Royalist arguments.
Background
Milton was commissioned to write Eikonoklastes as a response to Charles I's supposed Eikon Basilike (1649). The tract was intended to be the official argument by the CommonwealthCommonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
government.
Eikon Basilike was published just after Charles I's execution, and the work portrayed him as a martyr. The piece was written with straightforward political aims, to stir up popular sentiment in support of the former monarch and to undermine the control of the Commonwealth government. The work proved so popular that there were 35 editions produced that year. Milton's approach was different from that of Eikon Basilike, which may have in fact been a composite work with John Gauden
John Gauden
John Gauden was an English bishop of Exeter then bishop of Worcester and writer, and the reputed author of the important Royalist work Eikon Basilike.-Life:...
involved in ghostwriting: instead of appealing to popular sentiment, Milton's work was closely argued and tried to meet each of the points in the Eikon.
Milton believed, certainly, that the Eikon Basilike created a false idol and he wanted to destroy it with truth. Eikonoklastes, titled Eikonolastes in Answer to a Book Intitl'd Eikon Basilike, The Portrature of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings, was issued in two versions in October 1649, in English, and was enlarged in 1650. It was quite soon translated into Latin and French. In 1651 a reply appeared, Eikon Aklastos ("the icon unbroken"). It was written by Joseph Jane
Joseph Jane
-Life:He was born into an old family which had long been influential in Liskeard, Cornwall. His father was mayor there in 1621, and 1625 he was himself mayor of Liskeard, and in 1640 was again returned to represent the borough in the Long Parliament....
, involved in royalist organisation.
Tract
Milton begins his work by mentioning that he was commissioned to write Eikonoklastes and that he did such for the good of the Commonwealth: "I take it on me as a work assign'd rather, then by me cho'n or affected" The central argument of Eikonoklastes involves the tyranny inherent in all monarchies, and Milton attacks the idea put forth by Charles I that the liberty of individuals consists "in the enjoyment of the fruits of our industry, and the benefit of those Laws to which we our selves have consented". Milton's response is to point out how such a definition cannot actually separate different kinds of governments:First, for in the injoyment of those fruits, which our industry and labours have made our own upon our own, what Privilege is that, above what the 'Turks, Jewes, and Mores enjoy under the Turkish Monarchy? For without that kind of Justice, which is also in Argiers, among Theevs and Pirates between themselvs, no kind of Government, no Societie, just or unjust could stand; no combination or conspiracy could stick together. We expect therfore something more, that must distinguish free Government from slavish
To Milton, Charles I was able to coerce the English people and actually made them his slaves, especially through his veto power which established him "as the transcendent and ultimat Law above all our Laws; and to rule us forcibly by Laws to which we ourselves did not consent".
Milton attacks Charles I's rhetorical flourishes throughout Eikon Basilike, and he claims that "the whole Book might perhaps be intended a peece of Poetrie". Milton criticizes ever aspect of Eikon Basilike to the point that when Charles I claims that he was with gentlemen, Milton responds "Gentlemen indeed; the ragged Infantrie of Stewes and Brothels". However, the criticism was not limited to just style and images. In response that Charles I coining the term "demagogue", Milton claimed that the word as an attack on the English language and the English people and says, "the affrightment of this Goblin word; for the King by his leave cannot coine English as he could Money, to be current".
In the second edition, Milton expanded his claim that the supporters of Charles I were an "inconstant, irrational, and Image-doting rabble" to declare:
that like a credulous and hapless herd, begott'n to servility, and inchanted with these popular institutes of Tyranny, subscrib'd with a new device of the Kings Picture at his praiers, hold out both thir eares with such delight and ravishment to be stigmatiz'd and board through in witness of thir own voluntary and beloved baseness.
Milton also altered an epigraph
Epigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
by Sallust
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
on the title page that comes from Gaius Memmius
Gaius Memmius (Tribune)
Gaius Memmius was a tribune of the plebs in 111 BC and attacked certain aristocrats on a charge of corrupt relations with Jugurtha...
's speech in Bellum Iugurthinum. The speech penned by Sallust for Memmius describes various abuses, and is used to argue that all monarchs are corrupt.
In addition to a discussion of Charles I and monarchy, Milton added response to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
, who wrote The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars.
Themes
Milton argues that there is a potential in all monarchical governments for the potential of enslaving a population, which was an argument he previously relied on in his The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. Milton's view of freedom was not limited to just having the right to property, but to be free from the potential of arbitrary domination by a monarch. Monarchy was not the only subject of importance to Milton within Eikonoklastes; Milton also defended CalvinisticCalvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
principles, and he claims that reformation cannot accept episcopal or monarchical control. Instead, a presbyterian based religion was the only proper type of religion. To John Shawcross, Milton's experience while writing the piece, along with the two Defences "supplied the experience with the world, that dark world and wide, that seems to have been needed for Milton to move beyond the defiant to degrees of understanding, if not acceptance, of humankind."
Starting in 1649, Milton began to connect his various prose publications with the plan of a future epic to be composed, and Eikonoklastes was one such work. As such, there are multiple parallels between the actions of Charles I monarchy and Satan's rule in hell found within Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
. The description of a rise of an antichristian monarchs near the end of Eikonoklastes declares that such individuals rely on an ambiguous language in order to gain power. Likewise, Milton's Satan relies on the same kind of rhetoric. Likewise, the deviant followers of Charles I are connected to demons in hell who drink and blaspheme.
Critical review
The work failed: it is the general view that Milton's work did not succeed, at least in terms of rebutting the Eikon Basilike. On the other hand scholars still debate exactly what the polemic intention of Milton's work was. This book was the first work by Milton to be at all widely read. Public sentiment still supported Charles I, but the tract was able to appeal to a larger audience than many of Milton's previous works.After the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
of 1660, Milton's readers primarily were vindictive, and Eikonoklastes had justified regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
s. The Act of Oblivion
Indemnity and Oblivion Act
The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 is an Act of the Parliament of England , the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion"....
was enacted on 29 August 1660, and Milton was not among those who were listed to suffer the death penalty for their part in Charles I's execution. On the other hand, a proclamation by the king demanded that Eikonoklastes and Defensio pro Populo Anglicano
Defensio pro Populo Anglicano
Defensio pro Populo Anglicano is a Latin polemic by John Milton, published in 1651. The full title in English is John Milton an Englishman His Defence of the People of England. It was a piece of propaganda, and made political argument in support of what was at the time the government of...
be burned. The works were soon after burned in public by the public hangman. This did not stop the work attracting readers, and there was a new edition in 1690 after the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
.