Between Machiavelli and Hobbes: The Republican Ideology of Johan and Pieter De la Court

In this essay I will endeavor to frame the political thought of the brothers De la Court (two of the most relevant political writers of Dutch republicanism in the 17th century) within the material and ideological context of Holland's Golden Age, to emphasize their importante, within but not exclusive to the Dutch sphere of influence, not only as precursors of some themes od Spinoza's own political philosophy, but above all as thinkers who in their own right can be included in the multifaceted "Dutch Legacy" of 17th and 18th century Europe. This attempt is developed by re-examining the collocation of their works within the political and social systems of early modern Holland, which although atypical is at the same time very relevant when considering the historical genesis of the modern state