Middle Ages 11: The Pulsating Body -- The Medieval World View
Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong
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The Personal Power to Rule
The mediaeval attitude that power is personal, it depends on the recognition of particular individuals as having certain powers by virtue of who they are. Building institutions into larger institutions can be very effective at maintaining a cohesive society through time. The holy roman empire was not simply a unitary state with a single ruler; instead there were many different people in charge and you have this complicated pyramid where different people have different powers. You again see power gets more tenuous as you move up the scale. In a similar way, again, property mimicked politics and vice versa, right?
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