Problems of the Formation of Early Modern States (Mid-XV – Mid-XVII Centuries): Modern View

Abstract

The “long 16th century”, usually identified with the time interval between the mid-15th and mid-17th centuries, is traditionally considered to be the time of formation of the so-called "centralized states". These political formations are understood as a qualitatively new phenomenon in the history of state and law compared to their medieval predecessors, and this new quality lies in the centralization of political power, the creation of a single legal field and the monopolization of violence in the hands of the supreme power, embodied in the image of the monarch. However, today this image of a strong state is being revised and adjusted. The author draws attention to modern trends in the consideration of political and legal processes in the Early Modern period. At the same time, the author points out the contradictory nature of the processes of formation and development of political and legal structures and institutions in the time under review, which were built on the interaction and opposition of binary categories – centralization/decentralization, law/custom, etc. This inconsistency was associated, according to the author, with the institutional weakness of early modern states. The limited administrative resource that power possessed and the need, therefore, to take into account the opinion of society determined the main characteristic of the development of political entities and the structure of the Early Modern period – evolution.