Joseph de Maistre's antirevolutionary Europeanism

This presentation will focus on the europeanist thought of the Savoyard thinker and diplomat Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821). Maistre is often described as a reactionary author. But he could also be seen as an europeanist striving for the preservation of freedom in Europe. Maistre's europeanism was most clearly expressed in his work 'Du Pape' (1819). In this historical work, Maistre is critical of the European monarchies of the Restoration era. According to Maistre, freedom in Europe is best preserved when the Pope acts as a neutral arbiter. Maistre's Europeanism is part of a neglected but once influential tradition of Europeanist thought, as this presentation will demonstrate.