Truly, though kingship be not a title but a name of office that runs through the law, yet it is not so ratione nominis, but from what is signified. It is a name of office, plainly implying a Supreme Authority. Is it more, or can it be stretched to more? I say, it is a name of office, plainly implying the Supreme Authority, and if it be so, why then I would suppose, (I am not peremptory in any thing that is matter of deduction or inference of my own,) why then I should suppose that whatsoever name hath been or shall be the name, in which the Supreme Authority shall act; why, (I say) if it had been those four or five letters, or whatsoever else it had been, that signification goes to the thing. Certainly it does, and not to the name. Why then, there can be no more said, but this, why this hath been fixt, so it may have been unfixt.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Cromwell argues that the authority of kingship comes from the power it signifies, not the name itself.
- In plain terms
- The title matters less than the power it represents.
- What can you take from it?
- Authority lies in function, not labels.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does the name define the office?
- What makes authority real?
Another view
This distinction may not resolve practical conflicts over succession.
More from Oliver Cromwell
We are Englishmen; that is one good fact.
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