Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:1068Hits:21166996Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID193690
Title ProperTilly Goes to Church
Other Title Informationthe Religious and Medieval Roots of European State Fragmentation
LanguageENG
AuthorGrzymala-Busse, Anna
Summary / Abstract (Note)The starting point for many analyses of European state development is the historical fragmentation of territorial authority. The dominant bellicist explanation for state formation argues that this fragmentation was an unintended consequence of imperial collapse, and that warfare in the early modern era overcame fragmentation by winnowing out small polities and consolidating strong states. Using new data on papal conflict and religious institutions, I show instead that political fragmentation was the outcome of deliberate choices, that it is closely associated with papal conflict, and that political fragmentation persisted for longer than the bellicist explanations would predict. The medieval Catholic Church deliberately and effectively splintered political power in Europe by forming temporal alliances, funding proxy wars, launching crusades, and advancing ideology to ensure its autonomy and power. The roots of European state formation are thus more religious, older, and intentional than often assumed.
`In' analytical NoteAmerican Political Science Review Vol. 118, No.1; Feb 2024: p. 88 - 107
Journal SourceAmerican Political Science Review Vol: 118 No 1


 
 
Media / Other Links  Full Text