Empowering interactions : political cultures and the emergence of the state in Europe, 1300-1900

The emergence of the state in Europe is a topic that has engaged historians since the establishment of the discipline of history. Yet the primary focus of has nearly always been to take a top-down approach, whereby the formation and consolidation of public institutions is viewed as the outcome of activities by princes and other social elites. Yet, as the essays in this collection show, such an approach does not provide a complete picture. By investigating the importance of local and individual initiatives that contributed to state building from the late middle ages through to the nineteenth century, this volume shows how popular pressure could influence those in power to develop new institutional structures. By not privileging the role of warfare and of elite coercion for state building, it is possible to question the traditional top-down model and explore the degree to which central agencies might have been more important for state representation than for state practice. The studies included in this collection treat many parts of Europe and deal with different phases in the period between the late middle ages and the nineteenth century. Beginning with a critical review of state historiography, the introduction then sets out the concept of 'empowering interactions' which is then explored in the subsequent case studies and a number of historiographical, methodological and theoretical essays. Taken as a whole this collection provides a fascinating platform to reconsider the relationships between top-down and bottom-up processes in the history of the European state. Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 10 Abstracts......Page 18 Preface......Page 34 Introduction: Empowering Interactions: Looking at Statebuilding from Below......Page 36 Part I SOUTHERN EUROPE......Page 68 1 The Construction of Local Political Identity in Lake and River Communities in North-West Italy, Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries......Page 70 2 Models of Government ‘from Below’ in Fifteenth-Century Lombardy. The ‘Capitoli di Dedizione’ to Francesco Sforza, 1447−1450......Page 86 3 Local Conflicts and Political Authorities in the Papal State in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century......Page 100 4 The Politics of Mercy: Village Petitions and a Noblewoman’s Justice in the Roman Countryside in the Eighteenth Century......Page 114 5 The Dynamics of Law Formation in Italian Legal Science during the Early Modern Period: the Function of Custom......Page 126 Part II CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE......Page 134 6 Threats from Above on Request from Below: Dynamics of the Territorial Administration of Berne, 1420–1450......Page 136 7 Modes of Reading, Community Practice and the Constitution of Textual Authority in the Thurgau and Graubünden, 1520−1660......Page 150 8 ‘God is high up, the Tsar is far away’. The Nature of Polity and Political Culture in Seventeenth-Century Russia. A Comparative View......Page 166 9 Communication between Authorities and Subjects in Bohemia, Hungary and the Holy German Empire, 1650−1800: A Comparison of Three Case Studies......Page 184 10 Corporate Property, Collective Resources and Statebuilding in Older Swiss History......Page 198 11 Local Demand for Order and Government Intervention: Social Group Conflicts as Statebuilding Factors in Villages of the Rhine Palatinate, c.1760−1810......Page 208 12 Joseph-Samuel Farinet and the ‘Modern’ State: Banditry, Patronage and Resistance in Nineteenth-Century Valais......Page 222 Part III NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE − AND BEYOND......Page 238 13 Political Topos or Community Principle? Res Publica as a Source of Legitimacy in the French Peasants’ Revolts of the Late Middle Ages......Page 240 14 Statebuilding in Portugal during the Middle Ages: A Royal Endeavour in Partnership with the Local Powers?......Page 254 15 Informing the Council. Central Institutions and Local Knowledge in the Spanish Empire......Page 270 16 Peasants and Tax-farmers in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: Local Conflict and Institutional Change......Page 288 17 Statebuilding with the Participation of the Estates? East Frisia between Territorial Legislation and Communalist Ritual,1611–1744......Page 302 Part IV HISTORIOGRAPHICAL AND CONCEPTUAL DEBATES......Page 314 18 Citizens and their Rulers......Page 316 19 Concepts and Approaches in Recent Scholarship on Statebuilding – A Critical Review......Page 328 20 No Statebuilding from Below! A Critical Commentary......Page 334 21 Statebuilding from Below – Towards a Balanced View......Page 340 22 The Impact of Communication Theory on the Analysis of the Early Modern Statebuilding Processes......Page 348 23 Empowering Interactions and Intertwining Jurisdictions......Page 354 Index......Page 362 Ashgate Contents 6 Contributors 10 Abstracts 18 Preface 34 Introduction: Empowering Interactions: Looking at Statebuilding from Below 36 Part I SOUTHERN EUROPE 68 1 The Construction of Local Political Identity in Lake and River Communities in North-West Italy, Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries 70 2 Models of Government ‘from Below’ in Fifteenth-Century Lombardy. The ‘Capitoli di Dedizione’ to Francesco Sforza, 1447−1450 86 3 Local Conflicts and Political Authorities in the Papal State in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century 100 4 The Politics of Mercy: Village Petitions and a Noblewoman’s Justice in the Roman Countryside in the Eighteenth Century 114 5 The Dynamics of Law Formation in Italian Legal Science during the Early Modern Period: the Function of Custom 126 Part II CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE 134 6 Threats from Above on Request from Below: Dynamics of the Territorial Administration of Berne, 1420–1450 136 7 Modes of Reading, Community Practice and the Constitution of Textual Authority in the Thurgau and Graubünden, 1520−1660 150 8 ‘God is high up, the Tsar is far away’. The Nature of Polity and Political Culture in Seventeenth-Century Russia. A Comparative View 166 9 Communication between Authorities and Subjects in Bohemia, Hungary and the Holy German Empire, 1650−1800: A Comparison of Three Case Studies 184 10 Corporate Property, Collective Resources and Statebuilding in Older Swiss History 198 11 Local Demand for Order and Government Intervention: Social Group Conflicts as Statebuilding Factors in Villages of the Rhine Palatinate, c.1760−1810 208 12 Joseph-Samuel Farinet and the ‘Modern’ State: Banditry, Patronage and Resistance in Nineteenth-Century Valais 222 Part III NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE − AND BEYOND 238 13 Political Topos or Community Principle? Res Publica as a Source of Legitimacy in the French Peasants’ Revolts of the Late Middle Ages 240 14 Statebuilding in Portugal during the Middle Ages: A Royal Endeavour in Partnership with the Local Powers? 254 15 Informing the Council. Central Institutions and Local Knowledge in the Spanish Empire 270 16 Peasants and Tax-farmers in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: Local Conflict and Institutional Change 288 17 Statebuilding with the Participation of the Estates? East Frisia between Territorial Legislation and Communalist Ritual,1611–1744 302 Part IV HISTORIOGRAPHICAL AND CONCEPTUAL DEBATES 314 18 Citizens and their Rulers 316 19 Concepts and Approaches in Recent Scholarship on Statebuilding – A Critical Review 328 20 No Statebuilding from Below! A Critical Commentary 334 21 Statebuilding from Below – Towards a Balanced View 340 22 The Impact of Communication Theory on the Analysis of the Early Modern Statebuilding Processes 348 23 Empowering Interactions and Intertwining Jurisdictions 354 Index 362 ISBN-13:,9780754664734 This volume explores the emergence of the state in Europe between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through a series of case studies and historiographical, methodological and theoretical essays, it challenges the traditional top-down model of state development long held by historians. Instead it explores the numerous ways in which non-elite groups could influence the formation of national political institutions