Dynasties : a global history of power, 1300-1800 / Jeroen Duindam, Leiden University.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Duindam, Jeroen Frans Jozef, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power (Social sciences)--History.

Power (Social sciences).

History.

Royal houses--History.

Royal houses.

Kings and rulers, Medieval.

Kinship--Political aspects--History.

Kinship.

Kinship--Political aspects.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xx, 384 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps, plans ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Summary:

"For thousands of years, societies have fallen under the reign of a single leader, ruling as chief, king, or emperor. In this fascinating global history of medieval and early modern dynastic power, Jeroen Duindam charts the rise and fall of dynasties, the rituals of rulership, and the contested presence of women on the throne. From European, African, Mughal, Ming-Qing and Safavid dynasties to the Ottoman Empire, Tokugawa Japan and Chosen Korea, he reveals the tension between the ideals of kingship and the lives of actual rulers, the rich variety of arrangements for succession, the households or courts which catered to rulers' daily needs, and the relationship between the court and the territories under its control. The book integrates numerous African examples, sets dynasties within longer-term developments such as the rise of the state, and examines whether the tensions inherent in dynastic power led inexorably to cycles of ascent and decline"-- Provided by publisher.

"Dynasty persists into the modern world, but it has lost much of its aura during recent centuries. With the emergence of industrialised and urbanised societies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, alternative forms of power have become more prominent. Kingship evolved at a point where societies moved beyond kinship as the key principle of social organisation; it retreated in modern urban and industrial society. Kinship and family, however, remain a force to be reckoned with. Personalised and enduring forms of leadership in politics and in business tend to acquire semi-dynastic traits even in the contemporary world. In autocratic states, the power of modern-day dynasts extends far beyond anything their predecessors could have imagined"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1. Rulers: position versus person

2. Dynasty: reproduction and succession

3. At court: spaces, groups, balances

4. Realm: connections and interactions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-371) and index.

ISBN:

9781107060685

1107060680

9781107637580

1107637589

OCLC:

914224400

Online:

Cover image