INTRODUCTION *
CHAPTER I. THE FORMATION OF THE EUROPEAN STATE SYSTEM *
Warfare and State Formation: From the Age of Invasions to the Eighteenth Century *
The State Made War but War did not Make the State *
War within the Family – Politics and Diplomacy *
Norms and Interests *
Conclusion *
CHAPTER II. THE FOUNDATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN MONARCHY *
What was a State? *
The Basic Features of European Society *
King and Aristocracy *
The Formation of Dynasties *
War and the State *
The Finances *
Towards a Monopoly of Violence: The Royal Courts of Law *
The Central Administration *
From Ugly Toes to the King’s Napkin *
The Formation of the Sovereign State *
King, Nobility and People, and the Idea of the Nation *
The State and the People: the Peasant Rebellions *
Conclusion *
CHAPTER III. THE STATE AND ITS COMPETITORS *
The Church and the Papal Monarchy *
States without a King: Principalities and City Republics *
The Medieval Foundations of the European State *
Conclusion *
CHAPTER IV. THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES *
The Renaissance *
The Reformation *
Reformation and State Formation *
The Great Discoveries and the Development of European Trade *
Why did Europe Conquer the World? *
Conclusion *
CHAPTER V. ABSOLUTISM AND CONSTITUTIONALISM *
Capital Versus Coercion – England, The Dutch Republic and France *
The Dutch Republic *
Coercion and Capital *
Towards Absolute Monarchy in France *
The Development of Constitutional Government in England *
The Difference between France and England *
The Spanish Kingdoms *
Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Agrarian States – the Case of Scandinavia *
Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Agrarian States: Prussia, Austria and East Central Europe *
Conclusion: Absolutism and Constitutionalism: Advantages and Disadvantages *
CHAPTER VI. THE STATE AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT *
Enlightened Despotism and Parliamentary Government *
The Development of a Modern Bureaucracy *
Conclusion *
CONCLUSION: THE STATE OF THE OLD REGIME AND ITS LEGACY *
REFERENCES *
Biography
Sverre Håkon Bagge was Professor at the University of Bergen from 1991 to 2012. His books in English include: Society and Politics in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla (1991); Kings, Politics, and the Right Order of the World in German Historiography, c. 950-1150 (2002); Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation (2014).
