Luther's legacy : the Thirty Years War and the modern notion of 'state' in the empire, 1530s to 1790s / Robert von Friedeburg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Friedeburg, Robert von, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Luther, Martin, 1483-1546--Influence.

Luther, Martin.

State, The--History.

State, The.

Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648--Influence.

Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648.

Reformation--Influence.

Reformation.

Power (Social sciences)--Europe--History.

Power (Social sciences).

Balance of power--History.

Balance of power.

Germany--History--16th century.

Germany.

Germany--History--17th century.

Germany--History--18th century.

Europe--Politics and government--1648-1715.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 441 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this new account of the emergence of a distinctive territorial state in early modern Germany, Robert von Friedeburg examines how the modern notion of state does not rest on the experience of a bureaucratic state-apparatus. It emerged to stabilize monarchy from dynastic insecurity and constrain it to protect the rule of law, subjects, and their lives and property. Against this background, Lutheran and neo-Aristotelian notions on the spiritual and material welfare of subjects dominating German debate interacted with Western European arguments against 'despotism' to protect the lives and property of subjects. The combined result of this interaction under the impact of the Thirty Years War was Seckendorff's Der Deutsche Fürstenstaat (1656), constraining the evil machinations of princes and organizing the detailed administration of life in the tradition of German Policey, and which founded a specifically German notion of the modern state as comprehensive provision of services to its subjects.

Contents:

Introduction

Luther's legacy and the 'German' notion of state

Meinecke's riddle : reason of state and Reformation prudence

Royal rights and princely dynasties in late medieval and early modern Germany, fourteenth to early seventeenth century

Civil order and princely rights, 1450s to 1580s : the making of the elements

The transformation of ideas on order and the rise of the 'fatherland', 1580s to 1630s : the re-ordering of the elements

The challenge of 'reason of state', 1600s to 1650s

The catastrophe of war and the collapse of relations between princes and vassals

Re-establishing of compromise and the new use of the elements : Seckendorff, Pufendorf and the dissemination of the new concept of 'state'

Readings of despotism : the attack on 'war-despotism' between Bodin and Montesquieu

Conclusion : Luther's legacy : the 'Germaness' of the modern notion of 'state' .

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Feb 2016).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-46710-4

1-316-46860-7

1-316-46885-2

1-316-46935-2

1-316-46910-7

1-316-47035-0

1-316-28229-5