De gli stati di Francia e della lor possanza

In 8 (cm 14,5 x 20,5), pp. 77 + (2) di indice + (1 bianca). Cartonatura moderna. Ristampa secentesca (Barezzi pubblico' due precedenti edizioni nel 1625 e nel 1628) di quest'opera uscita in edizione originale nel 1578, poi in francese nel 1588. Il marchigiano Matteo Zampini, nativo di Recanati, dottore in legge, giureconsulto recatosi in Francia al seguito di Caterina de' Medici, scrive un'opera in cui mette a fuoco l'apparato istituzionale francese favorendo la conoscenza in Italia dell'ordre social della societa' francese alla fine del Cinquecento. Divenuto consigliere di Enrico III, si uni' in seguito alla Lega e con l'ascesa al trono di Enrico IV fu costretto a tornare in Italia. "After a lengthy introduction in which Zampini defends the prerogatives of the monarchy, he states that in special cases the Estates have equal power with the king. Ordinarily the king has absolute power; he need not summon the Estates to meet even once during his reign. But the Estates have extraordinary power in four cases because the king does not have the right to destroy the kingdom over which he has been given authority. If the king should alienate the royal domain, engage the nation in an illegal war, establish new taxes without the consent of the Estates, or become heretic or favor heresy in the kingdom, the Estates have the power to demand the correction of the problem. But Zampini does not make clear what redress the Estates have; previously he has noted that the Estates are valid only when called and presided over by the king. The answer seems to be that custom constrains the king to call a meeting of the Estates in any of the four cases; Zampini does not appear to allow resistance if the king should fail to call the Estates in such a situation" (F. J. Baumgartner, "Radical Reactionaries. The Political Thought of the French Catholic League", 1976, p. 91).