Popular revolts and reason of State in Europe: The broken time of political modernity

Reason of State is a political doctrine which developed in Europe from the sixteenth century onwards. It stands out as a way of controlling ‘time’ in the government of men. Reason of State, which is specifically modern, is built on the belief that it has always existed. Its theorists thus construe an ancient reason of State to justify the modern reason of State and its practices tied to the development of absolutism. It is at once timeless (having existed from time immemorial) and specifically modern. Just like the idea of revolution, the concept of raison of state is key to unravelling European political modernity. This because it is based on a game of mirrors between present and past. Authors such as R. Koselleck, P. Prodi and F. Chabod have all analysed the notion of reason of State. We will therefore look at their analysis and confront them to the corpus of pamphlets of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France opposing absolutism. The time of revolution is that of a broken temporality – as opposed to that of absolute power which, to justify itself, creates an illusion of continuity. The concept of revolution that the paper will take into account is that concerning popular reactions against the assertion of the reason of State. The concept is generally limited to the conception that considers power as a given. But, historically, it is as much a product of this assertion as it is of the reactions against it, that is to say, a reaction by the subjects it rules over. It is in this complex process of action and reaction, of submission and of revolution, that the conception of European modernity is rooted, that its definition evolves, that its image changes. The aim of the paper is to establish how popular revolts, linked to the affirmation of reason of State in Europe, have shaped both political modernity and the image of Europe in the world.