What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”? Why do we call independent countries “states” endowed with “sovereignty”? Why do historians and philosophers speak of “state formation” and clashes between “church and state”? How did these concepts come about, and what do they mean in international law and political theory? The answer runs from absolutist royal courts through the French Revolution and the Weimar republic of Germany; after centuries of struggle and democratization, the concept of “the state” has formed to fill the vacuum left behind by the Crown. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: Christiansborg, the parliamentary palace of Denmark. Recent NPR segment in which I am quoted – https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960631333/covid-19-deaths-draw-comparisons-to-other-tragic-death-tolls Introductory episode of “God Save America,” on religion in the US – https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction