Power and Persuasion

The transformation of the myriad of medieval kingdoms, principalities, local lordships, city-‘states’ and peasant ‘republics’ into ‘modern’ states, claiming some measure of sovereignty, remains one of the core themes of European history, because it goes to the very heart of how we see Europe in our own time. Some 20 leading experts cast new light on various aspects of this process, such as political communication, foreign diplomacy, dynastic self-representation, political economy, national identities, and military resources. The articles are a tribute to the prominent medieval historian, Wim Blockmans, on the occasion of his retirement as professor of medieval history at Leiden University and rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (nias) at Wassenaar.