Understanding Political Conceptions in the Later Middle Ages: The French Imperial Candidatures and the Idea of the Nation-State

Abstract

There is general agreement that a turning point was reached in terms of medieval views of how political structures ought to be organized in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. This period, it is suggested, witnessed enthusiasm for concepts of universalism decline and the emergence in western Europe of the idea of the autonomous “nation-state.” This article examines how a series of attempts by the Capetian rulers of France to obtain control of the western Empire in this period should be understood. Traditionally, these French imperial candidatures are explained in the context of an emerging French state: they are considered an opportunistic attempt to gain land and influence during the period of imperial weakness that followed the death of the Emperor Frederick II. In reassessing why the candidatures took place and establishing, in particular, their connection with Capetian views of the crusade movement, this article highlights a need to question the generally accepted narrative of state formation.