Lordship and the decentralized state in late medieval Europe / edited by Erika Graham-Goering, Jim van der Meulen, and Frederik Buylaert.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Graham-Goering, Erika, editor of compilation.

Meulen, Jim van der, editor of compilation.

Buylaert, Frederik, 1981- editor of compilation.

Series:

Proceedings of the British Academy ; 268.

Proceedings of the British Academy ; 268

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Decentralization in government--Europe--History--To 1500.

Decentralization in government.

Nobility--Political activity--Europe--History--To 1500.

Nobility.

Europe--Politics and government--476-1492.

Europe.

Europe--Politics and government--1492-1648.

State, The--Origin--Historiography.

State, The.

Civilization, Medieval.

Middle Ages.

Genre:

Essays.

Physical Description:

xvii, 298 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2025.

Summary:

"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 centralised governments. Lordship and the Decentralised State in Late Medieval Europe rethinks state formation as a process of decentralisation, 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"--Back cover.

Contents:

Foreword / Justine Firnhaber-Baker

Introduction: Lordship and the Decentralized State in Late Medieval Europe / Erika Graham-Goering, Jim van der Meulen, and Frederik Buylaert

Lordship and the State: Alloy or Emulsion? / John Watts

Part I. Case Studies of Lordship in France and the Low Countries. Integrative Approaches to (Co-)Lordship in Late Medieval Languedoc / Erika Graham-Goering

Rehabilitating Norman Lordship: The Fief of Hauberk and its Judicial Rights in the 15th and 16th Centuries / Ysaline Bourgine de Meder

(De)Centralizing Governance in Late Medieval France: Actors and Mechanisms / Georg Jostkleigrewe

Seigneurial Lordship and the State in the County of Flanders (c. 1350-1550) / Frederik Buylaert

Pursuit of Nobility and the Priorities of Political Representatives in Early 15th-Century Flanders / Wim Blockmans

Lordship in Medieval Holland and Zeeland / Rombert Stapel and Arie van Steensel

Urban Political Elites and Seigneurial Lordship: Antwerp and its Hinterland (c. 1400-1550) / Janna Everaert and Sieben Feys

The Seigneurial Landscapes of Riverine Brabant and Guelders (15th-16th Centuries) / Mario Damen and Jim van der Meulen

Conclusions to Part I. Lordship, Commonwealth, Variegated Polities, and the State / Elizabeth A. R. Brown

Part II. European Historiographies of Lordship. Lordship and State Formation in Late Medieval England / Chris Given-Wilson

Lordship and State Formation in Scotland, 1300-1500 / Alice Taylor

Lordship and State Formation in the Holy Roman Empire, 1300-1550 / Hillay Zmora

A Land of Lords: Lordship and State Formation in the Italian Peninsula / Francesco Bozzi

Jurisdiction: The Crooked Leg of Lordship? State Formation in Castile in the 15th Century / José Antonio Jara Fuente

Lordship and State in Scandinavia, c. 1300-1500 / Hans Jacob Orning

Conclusions to Part II. State and Lordship: Concluding Remarks / Jean-Philippe Genet.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

019726784X

9780197267844

OCLC:

1515074873