How Medieval and Early Modern Monarchies Cheated Death

Posted on by Andrej Kokkonen

By Andrej Kokkonen & Anders Sundell "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” wrote Benjamin Franklin. Taxes have certainly received considerable attention in the study of historical political economy. War made the state, states made war, and to make war, states need money. But Franklin’s other certainty, death, … Continue reading How Medieval and Early Modern Monarchies Cheated Death

Tilly Goes to Church: The Medieval and Religious Origins of the European State

Posted on by Anna Grzymala-Busse

How did the state arise in Europe? The canonical answer is Charles Tilly’s: “war made the state and the state made war.” The starting point is the fragmentation of territorial political authority in Europe after the collapse of the Carolingian empire in 888, and the ambitions of rulers in the early modern (1500-1700) era. To … Continue reading Tilly Goes to Church: The Medieval and Religious Origins of the European State