MedievalWorlds.Empires: Elements of Cohesion and Signs of Decay, pp. 79-88, 2015/12/01
medieval worlds 2 (2015)
In recent years, there has been considerable debate on whether the term ›nation‹ can be applied to kingdoms or states of the Latin West. Nationalist movements are indeed a modern phenomenon, and medieval kingdoms and polities differed from modern states in many organisational and administrative respects. But, as argued here, the medieval kingdoms were independent states and shared key features of what are now called nation-states, creating allegiances notionally defined by custom, law, and descent. Thus, this contribution addresses the words and concepts that framed these allegiances, and their changes over time.
Keywords: nations; states; tribes; political organisation; medieval Europe
