Medieval War and State Building in Europe

• In Event: Religion and Social Institutions in Historical State Building in Europe

Abstract

Bellicist accounts of state formation focus on the importance of interstate warfare (1450-1650) in European state formation. A new literature has discovered deeper and earlier roots of the state in the medieval era. This necessitates a re-examination of the bellicist accounts—and the inclusion of the most powerful rival for political authority of the time, the Catholic Church. The Church was the wealthiest landowner, commanded both military and spiritual authority, and actively sought to maintain the balance of political power in it is favor. It was also the single biggest source of human capital, institutional templates, and conflict adjudication. This paper examines how medieval warfare, Church influence, and other factors contributed to state growth beginning in the medieval era.

Author

• Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University