View source for John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

{{Short description|British politician and historian (1834–1902)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix     = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name                 = The Lord Acton
|honorific-suffix     = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCVO|DL}}
|image                = Picture of John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.jpg
|constituency_MP      = [[Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgnorth]]
|term_start           = 25 July 1865
|term_end             = 1866
|predecessor          = [[Henry Whitmore]]
|successor            = Henry Whitmore
|alongside            = [[John Pritchard (MP)|John Pritchard]]
|constituency_MP1     = [[Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Carlow]]
|term_start1          = 19 May 1859
|term_end1            = 25 July 1865
|predecessor1         = John Alexander
|successor1           = [[Thomas Stock (MP)|Thomas Stock]]
|birth_date           = 10 January 1834
|birth_place          = [[Naples]], [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies|Two Sicilies]]
|death_date           = {{Death date and age|1902|6|19|1834|1|10|df=y}}
|death_place          = [[Tegernsee]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]]<br />[[German Empire]]
|restingplace         =
|birthname            = John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
|nationality          = British
|party                = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] 
|spouse               = {{marriage|Countess Marie von Arco auf Valley|1865}}
|children             = 6
|father               = [[Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton|Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet]]
|residence            =
|education            = [[Oscott College]]
|alma_mater           = [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]]
|occupation           = Historian; politician
|cabinet              =
|committees           =
|portfolio            =
|signature            =
| relatives          = [[Alex Callinicos]] (grandson)
}}
'''John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCVO|DL}} (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as '''Lord Acton''', was an English [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] historian, [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician, and writer.  A strong advocate for [[individual liberty]], Acton is best known for his timeless observation on the dangers of [[Authoritarianism|concentrated authority]]. In an 1887 letter to an Anglican bishop, he famously wrote, 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely',<ref name="lmcone">[http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165acton.html Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887] Transcript of, published in ''Historical Essays and Studies'', edited by J. N. Figgis and R. V. Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907).</ref> underscoring his belief that unchecked power poses the greatest threat to [[human freedom]]. His works consistently emphasised the importance of [[Limited government|limiting governmental]] and institutional power in favour of individual rights and personal liberty.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Harvey |first=William B. |year=1965 |title=Lord Acton: A Reappraisal |journal=The Review of Politics |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=379–398 |doi=10.1017/S0034670500005680 |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |jstor=1507914}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-11-05 |title=Lord Acton on Liberty and Government {{!}} Mises Institute |url=https://mises.org/mises-daily/lord-acton-liberty-and-government |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=mises.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-28 |title=Acton's Warning Is for Everyone and All Times |url=https://www.johnlocke.org/actons-warning-is-for-everyone-and-all-times/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=John Locke Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and background==
The only son of [[Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton|Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet]],<ref name="Dod" /> and grandson of the [[Kingdom of Naples|Neapolitan]] admiral and prime minister [[Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet]]<ref name="Chambers">Chambers Biographical Dictionary, {{ISBN|0-550-16010-8}}, p. 6</ref> (who succeeded to the baronetcy and estates held by another branch of the Acton family in [[Shropshire]] in 1791), Acton was known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Baronet, from 1837 to 1869. His grandfather was part of a younger line of the family that had moved to [[France]] and [[Italy]], but after the extinction of the elder branch he became the patriarch.<ref name="Chambers" />

Acton's father, known as Richard, married Marie Louise Pelline, the only daughter of [[Emmerich Joseph, 1st Duc de Dalberg]], a naturalised French noble of ancient German lineage who had entered the French service under [[Napoleon]] and represented [[Louis XVIII]] at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1814. After Sir Richard Acton's death in 1837, she became the wife of the [[Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|2nd Earl Granville]] (1840).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=159}}<ref name="Dod">{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | page = 83 }}</ref> Marie Louise Pelline de Dalberg was heiress of [[Worms, Germany|Herrnsheim]] in Germany. She became the mother of John Dalberg-Acton who was born in [[Naples]].<ref name="Chambers" />{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=159}}

He was raised as a [[Roman Catholic]], and was educated at [[Oscott College]], under the future-Cardinal [[Nicholas Wiseman]], until 1848. He then studied privately at [[Edinburgh]]. He was denied entry to the [[University of Cambridge]] because he was a Catholic,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=159}} and subsequently went to [[Munich]] where he studied at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]] and resided in the house of [[Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger]], the theologian and forerunner of the [[Old Catholic Church]], with whom he became lifelong friends.<ref name=Gronbacher /> Döllinger inspired in him a deep love of historical research and a profound conception of its functions as a critical instrument in the study of sociopolitical liberty.<ref name="Gronbacher">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Gronbacher |first=Gregory |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter=Acton, Lord (1834–1902) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n3 |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=4–5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

He was a master of the principal foreign languages, and began at an early age to collect a magnificent historical library, which he intended to use to compose a "History of Liberty". In politics, he was always an ardent [[The Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=159}}

==Career==
{{Liberalism UK|People}}
[[File:John Acton, 1st Baron Acton by Franz Seraph von Lenbach.jpg|upright|left|thumb|230px|Portrait of John Acton by [[Franz von Lenbach|Franz Seraph von Lenbach]], circa 1879.]]
During his extensive travels, Acton spent much time in the chief intellectual centres of Europe, reading the correspondence of historical personalities.<ref name=Gronbacher /> Among his friends were [[Charles Forbes René de Montalembert|Montalembert]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville|Tocqueville]], [[Fustel de Coulanges]], [[Bluntschli]], [[Heinrich von Sybel|von Sybel]] and [[Leopold von Ranke|Ranke]]. In 1855, he was appointed [[deputy lieutenant]] of Shropshire.<ref name = Dod/> A year later, he was attached to [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|Lord Granville's]] mission to Moscow as British representative at the coronation of [[Alexander II of Russia]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=159}}

===Politics===
In 1859, Acton settled in England, at his country house, [[Aldenham Park, Morville|Aldenham]], in [[Shropshire]]. He was returned to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] that same year as member for the Irish borough of [[Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Carlow]] and became a devoted admirer and adherent of Prime Minister [[William Ewart Gladstone]]. However, Acton was not an active MP, and his parliamentary career came to an end after the [[1865 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1865]], when he headed the Liberal ballot for [[Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgnorth]] near his Shropshire home. Acton nearly defeated Conservative leader [[Henry Whitmore]], but Whitmore successfully [[election petition|petitioned]] for a scrutiny of the ballots, and thus retained his seat. After the [[Reform Act 1867]], Acton again contested Bridgnorth, this time reduced to a single seat, in [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868]] but to no avail.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}

Acton took a great interest in the United States, considering its [[Federal republic|federal]] structure an ideal guarantor of individual liberties. During the [[American Civil War]], his sympathies lay entirely with the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], for their defence of [[States' Rights]] against a centralised government that he believed would inevitably turn tyrannical. His notes to Gladstone on the subject helped sway many in the British government to sympathise with the [[Confederate States of America|South]]. After the South's surrender, he wrote to [[Robert E. Lee]] that "I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo," adding that he "deemed that you were fighting battles for our liberty, our progress, and our civilization."<ref>[http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig3/acton-lee.html 4 Nov 1866, letter to Robert E. Lee, The Acton-Lee Correspondence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618093809/http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig3/acton-lee.html |date=18 June 2015 }} at lewrockwell.com, accessed 21 February 2011.</ref> Acton's stance on the Confederacy was shared by most English Catholics at the time, both liberal and [[Ultramontane]].<ref name="McGreevy">{{cite book |last1=McGreevy |first1=John T. |title=Catholicism and American Freedom: A History |date=2003 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=79}}</ref> The editors of the Ultramontane ''Tablet'' denounced [[Abraham Lincoln]] as a dangerous radical, and [[John Henry Newman]], when asked for his opinion on the matter, stated that slavery was not "intrinsically evil" and that the issue had to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.<ref name="McGreevy" />

In 1869, [[Queen Victoria]] raised Acton to the [[peerage]] as ''[[Baron Acton|Baron Acton, of Aldenham in the County of Shropshire]]''. His elevation came primarily through the intercession of Gladstone.<ref name="Blackwell">{{cite book |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Historians |last=Norman |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Norman (historian) |editor=Cannon, John |editor-link=John Cannon (historian) |year=1988 |publisher=Basil Blackwell Ltd. |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=0-631-14708-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/blackwelldiction0000unse_u4p6/page/1 1] |url=https://archive.org/details/blackwelldiction0000unse_u4p6/page/1 }}</ref> The two were intimate friends and frequent correspondents.  Gladstone was particularly concerned to elevate Acton's standing as he headed out to Rome to resist the Pope's plan to have Papal Infallibility confirmed at the Vatican Council.  Both Acton and Gladstone opposed this scheme and it was thought that, if Acton were a British Peer, it would strengthen his position in Rome.  [[Matthew Arnold]] said: "Gladstone influences all round him but Acton; it is Acton who influences Gladstone."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}} Acton was appointed to the [[Royal Victorian Order]] as a Knight Commander (KCVO) in the 1897 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26871 |date=9 July 1897 |page=3819}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=10900 |date=13 July 1897 |page=673 |city=e}}</ref> He was also a strong supporter of [[Irish Home Rule]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=John |title=Biographical Dictionary of Literary Influences: The Nineteenth Century, 1800-1914 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00powe |url-access=limited |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict00powe/page/n27 11]|isbn=978-0313304224 }}</ref>

===Religion and writings===
[[File:Lord Acton in a Group Portrait at Tegernsee.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Lord Acton, with [[Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger|Döllinger]] and [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]], 1879.]]
Meanwhile, Acton became the editor of the Roman Catholic monthly paper, ''[[The Rambler (Catholic periodical)|The Rambler]]'', in 1859, upon [[John Henry Newman|John Henry (later Cardinal) Newman]]'s retirement from the editorship.<ref>MacDougall, Hugh A. (1962). ''The Acton/Newman Relations: The Dilemma of Christian Liberalism''. Fordham University Press.</ref> In 1862, he merged this periodical into the ''Home and Foreign Review''. Though a sincere Roman Catholic, his spirit as a historian was hostile to ultramontane pretensions, and his independence of thought and liberalism soon brought him into conflict with the church hierarchy. As early as August 1862, Cardinal [[Nicholas Wiseman|Wiseman]] publicly censured the ''Review''; and when in 1864, after [[Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger|Döllinger]]'s appeal at the Munich Congress for a less hostile attitude towards historical criticism, the pope issued a declaration that the opinions of Catholic writers were subject to the authority of the Roman congregations, Acton felt that there was only one way of reconciling his literary conscience with his ecclesiastical loyalty, and he stopped the publication of his monthly periodical. He continued, however, to contribute articles to the ''[[North British Review]]'', which, previously a Scottish [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church]] organ, had been acquired by friends in sympathy with him, and which for some years (until 1872, when it ceased publication) promoted the interests of a high-class Liberalism in both temporal and ecclesiastical matters. Acton also did a good deal of lecturing on historical subjects.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}

In the March 1862 ''Rambler'', Acton wrote: {{blockquote|The Celts are not among the progressive, initiative races, but among those which supply the materials rather than the impulse of history, and are either stationary or retrogressive. The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the [[Teutons]] are the only makers of history, the only authors of advancement. Other races possessing a highly developed language, a speculative religion, enjoying luxury and art, attain to a certain pitch of cultivation which they are unable to either communicate or to increase. They are a negative element in the world.}}
And: "Subjection to a people of a higher capacity for government is of itself no misfortune; and it is to most countries the condition of their political advancement."<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31278|title=The History of Freedom, and Other Essays|first=John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton|last=Acton|date=15 February 2010|via=Project Gutenberg}}</ref>

{{anchor|Lord Acton's dictum|"Lord Acton's dictum"|Acton's dictum}}In 1870, along with his mentor [[Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger|Döllinger]], Acton opposed the moves to promulgate the [[doctrine]] of [[papal infallibility]] in the [[First Vatican Council]], travelling to Rome to lobby against it, ultimately unsuccessfully.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tonsor | first1 = Stephen J | year = 1959 | title = Lord Acton on Dollinger's Historical Theology | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 20 | issue = 3| pages = 329–352 | doi=10.2307/2708113| jstor = 2708113 }}</ref> Acton did not become an [[Old Catholic Church|Old Catholic]], and continued attending Mass regularly; he received the [[last rites]] on his deathbed.<ref>{{cite CE1913 |last=Thurston |first=Herbert |wstitle=John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton |volume=1}}</ref> The Catholic Church did not try to force his hand. It was in this context that, in a letter he wrote to scholar and ecclesiastic [[Mandell Creighton]], dated April 1887, Acton made his most famous pronouncement:

<blockquote>But if we might discuss this point until we found that we nearly agreed, and if we do agree thoroughly about the impropriety of [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlylese]] denunciations and [[Pharisaism]] in history, I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. '''Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.''' There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. That is the point at which the negation of Catholicism and the negation of Liberalism meet and keep high festival, and the end learns to justify the means. You would hang a man of no position like [[Ravaillac]]; but if what one hears is true, then [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth]] asked the gaoler to murder [[Mary, Queen of Scots|Mary]], and [[William III of England]] ordered his Scots minister to [[Massacre of Glencoe|extirpate a clan]]. Here are the greatest names coupled with the greatest crimes; you would spare those criminals, for some mysterious reason. I would hang them higher than [[Haman]], for reasons of quite obvious justice, still more, still higher for the sake of historical science.<ref name="lmcone"/></blockquote>

Thenceforth he steered clear of theological [[polemics]]. He devoted himself to reading, study and congenial society. With all his capacity for study, he was a man of the world and a man of affairs, not a bookworm.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}} His only notable publications were a masterly essay in the ''[[Quarterly Review]]'' of January 1878 on "Democracy in Europe;" two lectures delivered at Bridgnorth in 1877 on "The History of Freedom in Antiquity" and "The History of Freedom in Christianity"—these last the only tangible portions put together by him of his long-projected "History of Liberty;" and an essay on modern German historians in the first number of the ''[[English Historical Review]]'', which he helped to found (1886). After 1879 he divided his time between London, [[Cannes]], and [[Tegernsee]] in Bavaria, enjoying and reciprocating the society of his friends. In 1872 he had been given the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the [[University of Munich]]; in 1888 Cambridge gave him the honorary degree of [[Doctor of Laws]], and in 1889 Oxford the [[Doctor of Civil Law]]; and in 1890 he received the high academic accolade of being made a fellow of [[All Souls College, Oxford]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}

In 1874, when Gladstone published his pamphlet on ''[[The Vatican Decrees in their Bearing on Civil Allegiance]]'', Lord Acton wrote during November and December a series of remarkable letters to ''[[The Times]]'', illustrating Gladstone's main theme by numerous historical examples of papal inconsistency, in a way which must have been bitter enough to the ultramontane party, but ultimately disagreeing with Gladstone's conclusion and insisting that the Church itself was better than its premises implied. Acton's letters led to another storm in the English Roman Catholic world, but once more it was considered prudent by the [[Holy See]] to leave him alone. In spite of his reservations, he regarded "communion with Rome as dearer than life".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Franz von Lenbach Portrait Lady Acton.jpg|thumb|Franz von Lenbach: Portrait of Lady Acton, 1889]]
On 1 August 1865, Acton married Countess Marie Anna Ludomilla Euphrosina von Arco auf Valley (1841–1923), daughter of the Bavarian Count Maximilian von Arco auf Valley, with whom he had six children:{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

# Mary Elizabeth Anne Dalberg-Acton (1866–1951), married Lt-Col. Edward Bleiddian Herbert and had children.
# Annie Mary Catherine Dalberg-Acton (1868–1917)
# [[Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton]] (1870–1924)
# John Dalberg Dalberg-Acton (1872–1873)
# Elizabeth Mary Dalberg-Acton (1874–1881)
# Jeanne Marie Dalberg-Acton (1876–1919)

His nephew was [[Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley]] (1897–1945), a German count and political activist, and assassin of socialist Bavarian minister-president [[Kurt Eisner]] in 1919.

When his cousin [[Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari|Maria, Duchess of Galliera]] died in 1888, Acton inherited the dormant title of [[Marquess of Groppoli]].

==Professor at Cambridge==
Acton's reputation for learning spread gradually abroad, largely through Gladstone's influence. Gladstone found him a valuable political adviser, and in 1892, when the Liberal government came in, Lord Acton was made a lord-in-waiting. Finally, in 1895, on the death of Sir [[John Robert Seeley|John Seeley]], Lord [[Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Rosebery]] appointed him to the [[Regius Professor of Modern History (Cambridge)|Regius Professorship of Modern History]] at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].<ref name=Gronbacher /> He delivered two courses of lectures on the [[French Revolution]] and on Modern History, along with private tutoring. The ''Cambridge Modern History'', though he did not live to see it, was planned under his editorship.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}

==Death and legacy==
After his health began to fail in 1901, Acton died on 19 June 1902 at his wife's family home in the [[spa]] town of [[Tegernsee]], [[Bavaria]], [[German Empire|Germany]]. He was buried in a small communal graveyard by [[Lake Tegernsee]], a grave which today lies unmarked, having lost its headstone in the latter half of the 20th century.<ref>'Lord Acton', by Roland Hill (Pub. Yale University Press, 2000)</ref> He was succeeded in the title by his son, [[Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton]]. His 60,000-volume library, with books full of his own annotations, was purchased prior to his death by [[Andrew Carnegie]] in secret, in order to secure the library for Acton's use during his lifetime. Upon Lord Acton's death, it was presented to [[John Morley]], who donated it to the University of Cambridge.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}<ref name="Carnegie 2006">{{cite book | last=Carnegie | first=Andrew | title=The autobiography of Andrew Carnegie; and his essay, The Gospel of Wealth | year=2006 | isbn=0-451-53038-1 | oclc=74823252 | page=166| publisher=Penguin }}</ref>
According to [[Hugh Chisholm]], author of the article in the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'':
{{blockquote|Lord Acton has left too little completed original work to rank among the great historians; his very learning seems to have stood in his way; he knew too much and his literary conscience was too acute for him to write easily, and his copiousness of information overloads his literary style.  But he was one of the most deeply learned men of his time, and he will certainly be remembered for his influence on others.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=160}}
}}

The [[Acton School of Business]], established in 2002 in Austin, Texas, was named in his honor.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton'''
|2= 2. [[Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet|Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Acton]]
|3= 3. Marie Louise Pelline von Dalberg
|4= 4. [[Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet]]
|5= 5. Marianna Acton
|6= 6. [[Emmerich Joseph von Dalberg]], Duke of [[Dalberg]]
|7= 7. Marie Pellegrine Thérèse Brignole-Sale
|8= 8. Dr. Edward Acton
|9= 9. Catherine Loys
|10= 10. Lt-Gen. Joseph Edward Acton
|11= 11. Gräfin Marie Eleanore Berghe von Trips
|12= 12. [[Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg|Freiherr Wolfgang Heribert Kämmerer von Worms gen. von Dalberg zu Herrnsheim]]
|13= 13. Freiin Maria Elisabeth Augusta Ulner von Dieburg
|14= 14. Antonio Giulio III Brignole-Sale, 9th Marquis of Groppoli
|15= 15. Anna Maria Gaspara Vincenza Pieri''-Serriciardi''
}}

==Notable quotations==
* Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.<ref name="lmcone"/>
* Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.<ref name="lmcone"/>
* There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.<ref name="lmcone"/>
* History is the arbiter of controversy, the monarch of all she surveys.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/03/whig-history-at-eighty|title=Whig History at Eighty &#124; Wilfred M. McClay|website=First Things|date=March 2011 }}</ref>
* Universal History is ... not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18685/pg18685.html Lectures on Modern History (1895)] Appendix I. at Project Gutenberg.</ref>
* There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success. [said of [[Oliver Cromwell]]]<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18685/pg18685.html Lectures on Modern History (1895)] Lecture XI, The Puritan Revolution.  at Project Gutenberg.</ref>
* The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27488/27488-h/27488-h.htm ''Lectures on the French Revolution'' (1910)] Macmillan, p. 92, at Project Gutenberg.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5u3se3N0bZQC&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+strong+man+with+the+dagger+is+followed+by+the+weak+man+with+the+sponge.&pg=PA255 quoted in ''Forbidden Knowledge'' (1996)] by Roger Shattuck, p. 236</ref>
* The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25720/25720-h/25720-h.htm ''A Lecture on the Study of History'', 1895] Macmillan (1911), p. 3, at Project Gutenberg.</ref>
* Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.<ref>[http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_acton.html John Acton Quotes] from brainyquote.com Accessed 21 February 2011.</ref>
* Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=G5cuAAAAIAAJ&q=Rambler as quoted in ''The American Political Science Review'' vol. 56, 1963] from [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/146/mode/2up/search/liberty ''The Rambler'' Volume 2] (1860) p. 146.</ref>
* The wisdom of divine rule appears not in the perfection but in the improvement of the world... History is the true demonstration of Religion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bu.edu/historic/riha/core.html|title=Religion and Innovation in Human Affairs|website=bu.edu}}</ref>

==Works==
{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=22em}}
* ''The Civil War in America: Its Place in History'' (lecture; 1866).
* ''The Rise and Fall of the Mexican Empire'' (lecture; 1868).
* ''Letters from Rome on the Council'' (1870).
* ''The War of 1870'' (lecture; 1871).
* ''The History of Freedom in Antiquity'' (address; 1877).
* ''The History of Freedom in Christianity'' (address; 1877).
* Introductory note to [[Lawrence Burd|L.A. Burd]]'s edition of Machiavelli's [https://archive.org/stream/ilprincipe00machuoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''Il Principe''] (1891).
* {{cite book |url= https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027801830#page/n5/mode/2up |title= A Lecture on the Study of History: delivered at Cambridge June 11, 1895 |year = 1895 |place= London |publisher = Macmillan and Co. |via = [[Internet Archive]]}}
* Introductory note to [[George Peabody Gooch|G.P. Gooch]]'s [https://archive.org/stream/annalsofpolitics00goociala#page/n5/mode/2up ''Annals of Politics and Culture''] (1901).

'''Posthumous'''
* [https://archive.org/stream/lettersoflordact00actouoft#page/n7/mode/2up ''Letters of Lord Acton to Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone''] (1904).
* [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028040396#page/n5/mode/2up ''Lectures on Modern History''] (1906).<ref>{{cite journal|author=Willert, P. F.|title=Review of ''Lectures on Modern History'' by the late Right Honourable John Edward Emerich, First Baron Acton; edited by J. N. Figgis and R. Vere Lawrence|journal=The English Historical Review|date=January 1907|volume=22|pages=164–166|doi=10.1093/ehr/XXII.LXXXV.164|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4815158;view=1up;seq=176|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* [https://archive.org/stream/historyoffreedom00actoiala#page/n7/mode/2up ''The History of Freedom and Other Essays''] (1907).
* [https://archive.org/stream/a544621300actouoft#page/n9/mode/2up ''Historical Essays and Studies''] (1907).
* {{cite book |url= https://archive.org/stream/a544669300actouoft#page/n5/mode/2up |title= Lectures on the French Revolution |year= 1910 |place= London |publisher= Macmillan and Co. |editor1=  Figgis, John Neville |editor1-link= John Neville Figgis |editor2= Laurence, Reginald Vere |editor2-link= Reginald Vere Laurence |via= [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/a544732401actouoft |title= Selections from the Correspondence of the First Lord Acton  |year= 1917 |place= London |publisher= Longmans, Green and Co. |editor1=  Figgis, John Neville |editor1-link= John Neville Figgis |editor2= Laurence, Reginald Vere |editor2-link= Reginald Vere Laurence |volume= 1 |via= [[Internet Archive]]}}

'''Articles'''
* [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/62/mode/2up "Mill on Liberty,"] [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/376/mode/2up Part II], ''The Rambler'' (1859–60).
* [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/136/mode/2up "The Roman Question,"] ''The Rambler'' (1860).
* [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/290/mode/2up "The State of the Church,"] ''The Rambler'' (1860).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760403londuoft#page/158/mode/2up "Hefele's 'Life of Ximenes',"] ''The Rambler'' (1860).
* [https://archive.org/stream/therambler02newmuoft#page/154/mode/2up "The Political System of the Popes,"] [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760403londuoft#page/26/mode/2up Part II], [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760404londuoft#page/182/mode/2up Part III], ''The Rambler'' (1860–61).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760404londuoft#page/144/mode/2up "Döllinger's 'History of Christianity',"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760404londuoft#page/192/mode/2up "Notes on the Present State of Austria,"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760405londuoft#page/16/mode/2up "Political Causes of the American Revolution,"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760405londuoft#page/140/mode/2up "Cavour,"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760405londuoft#page/290/mode/2up "The Catholic Academy,"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760406londuoft#page/n7/mode/2up "Döllinger on the Temporal Power,"] ''The Rambler'' (1861).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760406londuoft#page/190/mode/2up "Mr. Goldwin Smith's Irish History,"] ''The Rambler'' (1862).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ns2a634760406londuoft#page/318/mode/2up "The Protestant Theory of Persecution,"] ''The Rambler'' (1862).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ra634742501londuoft#page/n9/mode/2up "Nationality,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1862).
* [https://archive.org/stream/ra634742501londuoft#page/146/mode/2up "Secret History of Charles II,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1862).
* [https://archive.org/stream/a634742502londuoft#page/152/mode/2up "Confessions of Frederick the Great,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1863).
* [https://archive.org/stream/a634742502londuoft#page/504/mode/2up "The Waldensian Forgeries,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1863).
* [https://archive.org/stream/aa634742502londuoft#page/162/mode/2up "Ultramontanism,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1863).
* [https://archive.org/stream/aa634742502londuoft#page/610/mode/2up "Mediæval Fables of the Popes,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1863).
* [https://archive.org/stream/a634742500londuoft#page/208/mode/2up "The Munich Congress,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1864).
* [https://archive.org/stream/a634742500londuoft#page/666/mode/2up "Conflicts with Rome,"] ''Home and Foreign Review'' (1864).
* "Material Resources of the Papacy," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Fra Paolo Sarpi," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Case of Monte Cassino," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Döllinger on Universities," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Ministerial Changes in Italy," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Secret History of the Italian Crisis," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Secret Bull," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Reminiscences of Massimo d'Azeglio," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Next General Council," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Ranke," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "M. Littré on the Middle Ages," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Mr. Goldwin Smith on the Political History of England," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Nicholas of Cusa," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "Maurice of Saxony," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Acta Sanctorum," ''The Chronicle'' (1867).
* "The Queen's Journal," ''The Chronicle'' (1868).
* "Ozanam on the Fifth Century," ''The Chronicle'' (1868).
* [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3011300;view=1up;seq=42 "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew,"] ''The North British Review'' (1868).
* [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3011300;view=1up;seq=139 "The Pope and the Council,"] ''The North British Review'' (1869).
* [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3011302;view=1up;seq=187 "The Vatican Council,"] ''The North British Review'' (1870).
* [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3011302;view=1up;seq=355 "The Borgias and their Latest Historian,"] ''The North British Review'' (1871).
* [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlyreview01smitgoog#page/n12/mode/2up "Wolsey and the Divorce of Henry VIII,"] ''Quarterly Review'' (1877).
* [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlyreview85smitgoog#page/n124/mode/2up "Sir Erskine May's 'Democracy in Europe',"] ''Quarterly Review'' (1878).
* [https://archive.org/stream/twentiethcentury17londuoft#page/464/mode/2up "George Eliot's Life,"] ''The Nineteenth Century'' (1885).
* [https://archive.org/stream/englishhistorica01londuoft#page/6/mode/2up "German Schools of History,"] ''English Historical Review'' (1886).
* [https://archive.org/stream/englishhistorica05londuoft#page/306/mode/2up "Wilhelm von Giesebretch,"] ''English Historical Review'' (1890).
* [https://archive.org/stream/englishhistorica05londuoft#page/700/mode/2up "Döllinger's Historical Work,"] ''English Historical Review'' (1890).

{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{EB1911||wstitle=Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton), 1st Baron |volume=1 |last= Chisholm |first= Hugh |author-link= Hugh Chisholm |pages=159–160}}

==Further reading==
{{Further reading cleanup|date=March 2024}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lang |first1=Timothy |year=2002 |title=Lord Acton and 'The Insanity of Nationality' |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=129–149 |doi=10.2307/3654261 |jstor=3654261}}
* Pezzimenti, Rocco (2001). ''The Political Thought of Lord Acton: The English Catholics in the Nineteenth Century.'' Leominster: Gracewing.
* [[Roland Hill (journalist)|Hill, Roland]] (2000). ''Lord Acton''. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press.
* Boyd, Kelly, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writers'' (Rutledge, 1999) 1:1–2
* [[Russell Kirk|Kirk, Russell]] (1994). ''Lord Acton on Revolution.'' Grand Rapids, Mich.: Acton Institute.
* Chadwick, Owen (1998). ''Acton and History''. Cambridge University Press.
* Tulloch, Hugh (1988). ''Acton.'' New York: St. Martin's Press.
* Nurser, John (1987). ''The Reign of Conscience: Individual, Church, and State in Lord Acton's History of Liberty''. London: Taylor & Francis.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Murphy | first1 = Terrence | year = 1984 | title = Lord Acton and the Question of Moral Judgments in History: The Development of His Position | journal = The Catholic Historical Review | volume = 70 | issue = 2| pages = 225–250 }}
* Chadwick, Owen (1976). ''Acton and Gladstone''. London: Athlone Press.
* Schuettinger, Robert Lindsay (1976). ''Lord Acton: Historian of Liberty''. Open Court Publishing Company.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Deane | first1 = Seamus F | year = 1972 | title = Lord Acton and Edmund Burke | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 33 | issue = 2| pages = 325–335 | doi=10.2307/2708878| jstor = 2708878 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Massey | first1 = Hector J | year = 1969 | title = Lord Acton's Theory of Nationality | journal = The Review of Politics | volume = 31 | issue = 4| pages = 495–508 | doi=10.1017/s0034670500011827| s2cid = 143980116 }}
* Mathew, David (1968). ''Lord Acton and His Times''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Watt | first1 = E.D. | year = 1966 | title = Rome and Lord Acton: A Reinterpretation | journal = The Review of Politics | volume = 28 | issue = 4| pages = 493–507 | doi=10.1017/s003467050001322x| s2cid = 145598255 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Weaver | first1 = Richard M. | author-link = Richard M. Weaver | year = 1961 | title = Lord Acton: The Historian as Thinker  |journal=[[Modern Age (periodical)|Modern Age]] | volume = V | issue = 1| pages = 13–22 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Acton | first1 = Harold | author-link = Harold Acton | year = 1961 | title = Lord Acton | journal = Chicago Review | volume = 15 | issue = 1| pages = 31–44 | doi=10.2307/25293642| jstor = 25293642 }}
* Fasnacht, George Eugene (1952). ''Acton's Political Philosophy: An Analysis''. London: Hollis.
* [[Gertrude Himmelfarb|Himmelfarb, Gertrude]] (1952). ''Lord Action: A Study in Conscience and Politics''. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
* [[Roland Hill (journalist)|Hill, Roland]] (1952). ''Lord Acton''. ''History Today'' (1952) 2#8 pp.&nbsp;551–557 online
* {{cite journal | last1 = Engel-Janosi | first1 = Friedrich | year = 1941 | title = Reflections of Lord Acton on Historical Principles | journal = The Catholic Historical Review | volume = 27 | issue = 2| pages = 166–185 }}
* Mathew, David (1946). ''Acton: The Formative Years''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.
* [[Mary Gladstone|Drew, Mary Gladstone]] (1924). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015063782596;view=1up;seq=13 "Acton and Gladstone."] In: ''Acton, Gladstone, and Others.'' London, Nisbet & Co., ltd., pp.&nbsp;1–31.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Brinton | first1 = Crane | author-link = Crane Brinton | year = 1919 | title = Lord Acton's Philosophy of History | journal = The Harvard Theological Review | volume = 12 | issue = 1| pages = 84–112 | jstor=1507914 | doi=10.1017/s0017816000010300| s2cid = 162646791 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1428624 }}
* [[Harold Laski|Laski, Harold J.]] (1918). [https://archive.org/stream/dialjournallitcrit65chicrich#page/58/mode/2up "Lord Acton: Idealist,"] ''The Dial'', Vol. LXV, pp.&nbsp;59–61.
* [[William Samuel Lilly|Lilly, W.S.]] (1911). [https://archive.org/stream/dublinreview148londuoft#page/212/mode/2up "Lord Acton and the French Revolution,"] ''The Dublin Review'', Vol. CXLVIII, pp.&nbsp;213–229.
* [[Francis Aidan Gasquet|Gasquet, Abbot]] (1906). [https://archive.org/stream/ra544727400actouoft#page/n9/mode/2up ''Lord Acton and His Circle'']. London: Burn & Oates.
* [[Herbert Thurston|Thurston, Herbert]] (1906). [https://archive.org/stream/newcatholicworl08unkngoog#page/n368/mode/2up "The Late Lord Acton,"] ''The Catholic World'', Vol. LXXXIV, pp.&nbsp;357–372.
* Lyttelton, Maud (1904). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000020206314;view=1up;seq=622 "Mr. Gladstone's Friendship with Lord Acton,"] ''Lippincott's Magazine'', Vol. LXXIV., pp.&nbsp;610–616.
* {{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=Reginald L. |author-link=Reginald Lane Poole |year=1902 |title=John Emerich, Lord Acton |url=https://archive.org/stream/englishhistorica17londuoft#page/692/mode/2up |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=17 |issue=68 |pages=692–699 |doi=10.1093/ehr/xvii.lxviii.692}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/historians/acton_john.html Making History biography]
* {{Gutenberg author|id=8192}}
* {{Librivox author |id=11452}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=("Lord Acton" OR "Baron Acton" OR "John Dalberg Acton" OR "Acton, John Emerich Edward")}}
* [http://www.acton.org/research/lord-acton Acton Institute: Research on Lord Acton] sources from the [[Acton Institute]]
* {{UK National Archives ID}} [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|UK National Archives]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Carlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Carlow]]
  | years  = [[1859 United Kingdom general election|1859]]–[[1865 United Kingdom general election|1865]]
  | before = [[John Alexander (MP)|John Alexander]]
  | after  = [[Thomas Stock (MP)|Thomas Stock]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Bridgnorth (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgnorth]]
  | with   = [[John Pritchard (MP)|John Pritchard]]
  | years  = [[1865 United Kingdom general election|1865]]–1866
  | before = [[Henry Whitmore]] <br /> [[John Pritchard (MP)|John Pritchard]]
  | after  = [[Henry Whitmore]] <br /> [[John Pritchard (MP)|John Pritchard]]
}}

{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
 | title=[[Baron Acton]]
 | years=1869–1902
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton|Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton]] }}

{{s-reg|en-bt}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet|Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Baron Acton|Baronet]] <br /> '''(of Aldenham)'''
       | years  = 1837–1902 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton|Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton]] }}

{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Regius Professor of History (Cambridge)|Regius Professor of Modern History]] at the [[University of Cambridge]]|years=1895–1902|before=[[John Robert Seeley]]|after=[[J. B. Bury]]}}

{{s-end}}

{{Liberalism}}
{{Libertarianism|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acton, John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1834 births]]
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[[Category:19th-century English historians]]
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[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford|Fellows of All Souls College]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]]
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[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922)]]
[[Category:19th-century Neapolitan people]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1859–1865]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868]]
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