Political Science I / The Formation of the Modern State
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which are true of authority in medieval Europe before the modern state?

Hints
  1. Three describe overlapping authority; one describes the modern arrangement.
  2. Territorial exclusivity is what the modern state introduced.
Show the answer
  • A. Obligations attached to persons and functions rather than to territory
  • B. There was no supreme authority within a bounded space
  • D. A single person could owe duties to a lord, a bishop, a town and an emperor at once
Why

The fourth describes exactly what came later. The medieval arrangement had authority in abundance and sovereignty nowhere, and the modern innovation is not more power but its consolidation into one authority over one bounded space.

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