Parergon Editor’s Foreword

This is the fifth in a now well-established series of guest-edited issues of Parergon. It brings together articles that have been developed from workshop sessions to full journal articles by scholars who attended a workshop on ‘Reason of State’ at The University of Queensland in late 2009. The articles explore, in various contexts, the manner in which understandings of reason of state and natural law influenced thought and governance of the early modern state.

One article, by Ian Hunter, has, in part, appeared in Grotiana. Contrary to our usual practice of using only previously unpublished material, we welcome this essay which has been tailored to the specific requirements of this Special Issue, and acts as a reference point for several of the other pieces.

Thanks are due to the two guest editors, and to the expert readers who reported independently and anonymously to Parergon on the original submissions. Thanks are also due to Lesley O’Brien whose meticulous copyediting and promptness in keeping to deadlines have enabled us to publish the issue on schedule. I wish also to thank Toby Burrows and Lesley O’Brien for their care with the reviews section, and Andrew Lynch and various members of the International Editorial Board for their advice at all stages.