A diplomat and writer from Savoy, Maistre spent years in Saint Petersburg as ambassador of the king of Sardinia. He was the fiercest critic of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, which he saw as a revolt against God. He defended the pope and the king as the foundations of social order and influenced European counterrevolutionary thought.
Core ideas
The French Revolution was a divine punishment for the sins of the age
Strong authority, of king and pope, is needed to maintain order
Written constitutions count for little; the true foundation of a people is tradition
The tradition: Reactionary
A reactionary not only preserves but wants to return to an order before a rupture. Maistre wanted to restore the world before the Revolution, with throne and altar at the center.
