5 - Strong Aristocracies in Strong States

Summary

Political scientists and historians generally consider the early modern period as the era when sovereign states appeared. Older scholarship has associated state growth with the obsolescence and defeat of the aristocracy. However, the nobility remained fundamental to the political system despite the establishment of bureaucracies and standing armies. Although the period saw a number of rebellions by nobles, kings and nobles continued to depend on each other. Far from being opposed to royal order the nobility complemented the rule of kings. Although the nobility adapted to growing state structures, this period strengthens the connection between formalization of elite families and the formalization of political institutions. This chapter shows how international politics was also dynastic politics. The internal wars of succession of the Middle Ages became international wars of succession. The chapter maps different forms of succession and their corresponding wars.