42. - De la Court, Pieter (1618–1685) and Johan (1622–1660)

Summary

In Chapter 8 of the TP Spinoza states it is the “secret policy” of a monarchy that its subjects should “sink beneath their burden,” because the standing of kings “counts for more in war than in peace, and because those who wish to reign alone must do their best to keep their subjects in a state of poverty” (TP8.31). He then notes that there are also other considerations that militate against monarchy and in favor of democratic republics, but that here he is omitting these points which were “noted some time ago by that most wise Dutchman. V.H. [prudentissimus Belga V.H.],” V.H. standing for “Van der Hove”; he is here referring to the two brothers Johan and Pieter de la Court, figures of pivotal importance in the development of Dutch democratic republican political theory during the 1650s and 1660s.