The Spirit of Laws

Character Guide

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The Despotic Prince (The Single Ruler)

Montesquieu's archetype of a ruler who directs everything by his own will and caprice, introduced in Book II as one of the three basic forms of government.

The Vizier (The First Slave)

The delegate to whom a despotic prince hands over administration because he is naturally 'lazy, voluptuous, and ignorant' and unwilling to manage affairs himself.

The Monarch

A single person who governs 'by fixed and established laws,' distinguished early on from the despot by his adherence to legal constraint and reliance on the nobility.

The Body of the People (Democracy) (The Sovereign People)

In a democracy, the collective citizenry that holds supreme power and exercises it only through their suffrages, discussed in Book II's account of republican government.

The Nobility (Intermediate Powers)

The 'intermediate, subordinate, and dependent powers' Montesquieu identifies as essential to monarchy, encapsulated in his maxim 'no monarch, no nobility; no nobility, no monarch.'

Cardinal Richelieu

A historical statesman Montesquieu cites early as having reduced the power of France's traditional governing bodies, relying instead on the personal virtue of the prince and ministers.

Charles XII of Sweden

A historical king mentioned as an example of a ruler clashing with a legislative body (the Swedish senate) while abroad at Bender.

Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great)

Cited as a ruler who reformed the Russian tax system, illustrating how even near-despotic states can adopt prudent regulations.

Glossary

Despotic government

One of Montesquieu's three government types, in which a single person rules entirely by personal will and caprice, with fear as its governing principle.

Vizir (Vizier)

The chief minister to whom a despotic prince delegates full governing power, since the prince himself is typically too indolent or corrupted to rule directly.

Seraglio

The secluded palace quarters (harem) where Eastern princes were often raised in isolation and later confined, cutting them off from public affairs.

Political virtue

The specific civic quality (love of one's country and its laws) that Montesquieu identifies as the animating 'principle' required to sustain a republic.

Honor (as a principle)

The spring that Montesquieu says drives monarchical government, distinct from the virtue needed in republics or the fear needed in despotisms.

Cession of goods

A legal practice allowing debtors to surrender their property to escape further liability, which Montesquieu says flourishes in moderate governments but is absent under despotism.

Intermediate powers

The nobility, clergy, and other subordinate bodies that Montesquieu argues must exist between monarch and people to keep monarchical rule lawful rather than despotic.

Fundamental laws

The basic constitutional rules of a state (such as succession or the powers of intermediary bodies) that, in Montesquieu's view, despotisms characteristically lack.

Pasha

A provincial governor or high official under Ottoman despotic rule, used by Montesquieu as an example of unstable, will-dependent authority.

Metempsychosis

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls (reincarnation), referenced by Montesquieu when discussing Eastern beliefs and practices around population control.

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