The Clash of Legitimacies: The State-Building Process in Late Medieval Lombardy

The Clash of Legitimacies pursues a new interpretation of state formation by examining the case study of Lombardy between 1100 and 1500. Since the late twentieth century, historians have understood this period to be the key phase in the genesis of the modern state. However, the advent of the state did not extinguish the traditional values and principles of political cohabitation that had been developed by urban communes, rural communities, rural lords, and political factions since the twelfth century. On the contrary, they remained as vital as ever, continuing to inspire the actions of wide sectors of society and not infrequently conflicting with one another, and with the new ideals put forward by the prince or the dominant city. In a nutshell, to the question on what does obedience to a superior power rest , all the political players expressed positions that were not only different, but often founded on heterogeneous and mutually incompatible principles of political culture. The resulting volume sits between political and intellectual history, focusing in turn on ideas and their application.