Power and authority Gabriel Glickman

Key points Sovereignty in European states divided and contested. Royal power vs other forms of authority – quasi-autonomous regions, representative institutions, territorial nobilities. Clashes between princes and their opponents have religious/ideological undertone.

Kingship in Europe Strongest states c. 1500-1600 are dynastic hereditary monarchies – England, France, Spain. Kings possess largest armies and bureaucracies. Kingship rests on spiritual and legal claims to power.

Constraints upon Kings Europe of ‘composite monarchies’ (Elliott). Diversity of languages, institutions, systems of law, regional identities. Principal checks on royal power = representative institutions, power of aristocracies.

Holy Roman Empire – the Imperial Circles

Italian city states c. 1500

Italian city states Greater civic participation, though still domination of elites/oligarchies. Republican/humanist ideology – claim to preserve political ethics of Republican Rome. Spread of humanism= influence of Italian civic writings over wider part of Europe.

Expansion of royal power Meaning of concept ‘empire’ / ‘imperium’ in Early Modern Europe = total dominion, absolute sovereignty, not territorial conquests. External ambition proceeds simultaneously with internal centralisationc.1500-1650. Monarchs seeking to make territories less ‘composite’.

Key themes of royal expansion/centralisation 1500-1650 Control over the Church – in Catholic as much as Protestant states. Expansion of the court into a major centre of government. Expansion of control over the regions – attempt to create legal and political uniformity

Kings and rebels Most rebellions are regional/ national – opposition to central control, officials, courtiers. Aristocratic-led but with significant elements of popular participation. Richelieu in France faces urban and peasant rebellions, as well as noble unrest. Rebels adopt rhetoric of legal and political conservatism – but often reality is more radical.

Religious rebellions Most explosive rebellions occur when a region has a different religious identity to its prince. Radical doctrines in both Reformation (e.g. Calvinism) and Counter-Reformation suggest that heretic ruler can be resisted or even overthrown. Clash between the ideology of the European Reformations (Catholic and Protestant) and the ideology of the Divine Right of Kings.