The origins of modern European states are often traced back to the expansion of royal and princely authority in the late Middle Ages, transforming scattered power structures into centralized governments. Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe rethinks state formation as a process of decentralization, exploring how these governments willingly left power to lesser political players. It challenges the assumption that the rise of states made lordship obsolete, showing instead how distributing authority among local lords reinforced the development of new political systems. The contributors tackle this fresh perspective on lordship and state formation from two complementary angles. Detailed snapshots of lordship in France and the Low Countries assess the political significance of different aspects of lordly power. Historiographical essays discuss frameworks for understanding relationships between lordship and the state in contexts across Europe. These comparative perspectives establish an innovative approach to a key question in political history.
| ISBN: | 9780197267844 |
| Publication date: | 23rd January 2025 |
| Author: | Erika GrahamGoering, Jim van der Meulen, Frederik Buylaert |
| Publisher: | British Academy an imprint of OUP/British Academy |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 316 pages |
| Series: | Proceedings of the British Academy |
| Genres: |
European history: medieval period, middle ages |
The origins of modern European states are often traced back to the expansion of royal and princely authority in the late Middle Ages, transforming scattered power structures into centralized governments. Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe rethinks state formation as a process of decentralization, exploring how these governments willingly left power to lesser political players. It challenges the assumption that the rise of states made lordship obsolete, showing instead how distributing authority among local lords reinforced the development of new political systems. The contributors tackle this fresh perspective on lordship and state formation from two complementary angles. Detailed snapshots of lordship in France and the Low Countries assess the political significance of different aspects of lordly power. Historiographical essays discuss frameworks for understanding relationships between lordship and the state in contexts across Europe. These comparative perspectives establish an innovative approach to a key question in political history.
Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe features in the following genres: European history: medieval period, middle ages
Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe is available in Hardback
Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe was written by Erika GrahamGoering, Jim van der Meulen, Frederik Buylaert and published by British Academy an imprint of OUP/British Academy
Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe has 316 pages
Yes it is part of Proceedings of the British Academy series
£89.10