Constructing and Representing Territory in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe

Abstract

Over the past few decades, geographers, sociologists, and political scientists have shown an increasing interest in the layered meanings of the concept of territory in specific historical and geographical settings. 1Taking 'territory' to mean the relationship between people, power and space, this volume sets out to explore the methodological challenges faced by historians studying the development, government, perception, and representation of territory in different city-states, principalities, kingdoms, and empires in late medieval and early modern Europe.Indeed, one of the most intriguing questions raised by scholars, such as the political theorist and geographer Stuart Elden, is to what extent the concept of territory can be used as an analytical tool to study the spatial dimensions of power relations between (political or other) actors in historical periods prior to the cartographic innovations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 2Remarkably enough, though the term 'territory' is often used by medieval and early modern historians, they rarely clarify what exactly they mean by the concept.In research on the centralising ambitions of kings, princes, and lords in late medieval and early modern Europe, for instance, 'territory' is commonly used to designate an enclosed geographical area ruled by a central government.In other instances, however, historians use the term as a synonym for designations of geographical entities such as region or area, or even as a label for a substate.1 Especially in the field of geography the number of publications is vast, including a dedicated journal called Territory, Politics, Governance, published by the Regional Studies Association since 2013.For a concise overview of most recent publications by geographers on territory and territoriality, see Antonsich, 'Territory and Territoriality'. 2 Elden, The Birth.

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