Patriarcha

Patriarcha is a significant work by Sir Robert Filmer, an English theorist who promoted an absolutist concept of kingship. Written in the 1630s but published in 1680, Patriarcha argues that the state is analogous to a family, with the first king being a father. Filmer believed that submission to patriarchal authority was the foundation of political obligation. He interpreted scripture to assert that Adam was the first king and that monarchs ruled as his direct heirs.1

Filmer's ideas were influential, though they were famously critiqued by John Locke in his Two Treatises of Government. Locke argued against Filmer's theory of the divine right of kings, which posited that rulers derived their authority from their descent from Adam. Locke found Filmer's arguments to be nonsensical and lacking historical support. Despite Locke's criticism, modern scholars recognize Filmer as a key figure in English absolutist thought.21