Originally published in 1983, this book discusses an important ideological development: the emergence of a new concept of the state as a substantive entity and the source of the ruler’s authority over his subjects. It maintains that such a concept emerged in French political thought of the sixteenth century and was promptly assimilated into existing systems of ideas. The book re-interprets numerous aspects of the French kingdom’s social composition, means of government, economic condition and religious experience, both prior to and during the sixteenth century itself. Examining these aspects in the light of modern research, the book provides an original contribution towards understanding political consciousness in a past society: for it adopts a far broader contextual approach than is normally to be found in the works of specialist historians of ideas.