Preliminary Programme

State-formation and national identity in the late medieval period have been focused in much of recent research on political and ideological developments of the late Middle Ages. Authors like Wim Blockmans and Marc Boone have stressed the importance of Burgundian state formation in the Low Countries for the process of unification of the various principalities. This movement has often been described as a top-down movement: the prince conquering and unifing his new territories while imposing central institutions and streamlining existing ones. This session wants to tackle some of the issues relating to this process from a bottom-up perspective. How were various social groups involved in the developments (courtiers, local elites, state officials, etc.)? What was the impact in the various principalities? They were organised politically, economically and socially often in a very different way, and the involvement of the social groups in the process of state formation could also differ greatly. This paper will focus the developments in the duchy of Brabant and compare them to the other principalities in the Low Countries (Show less)

State-formation and national identity in the late medieval period have been focused in much of recent research on political and ideological developments of the late Middle Ages. Authors like Wim Blockmans and Marc Boone have stressed the importance of Burgundian state formation in the Low Countries for the process of unification of the various principalities. This movement has often been described as a top-down movement: the prince conquering and unifing his new territories while imposing central institutions and streamlining existing ones. This session wants to tackle some of the issues relating to this process from a bottom-up perspective. How were various social groups involved in the developments (courtiers, local elites, state officials, etc.)? What was the impact in the various principalities? They were organised politically, economically and socially often in a very different way, and the involvement of the social groups in the process of state formation could also differ greatly. This paper will focus the principalities in the eastern parts of the northern Low Countries, in particular the duchy of Guelders. (Show less)

State-formation and national identity in the late medieval period have been focused in much of recent research on political and ideological developments of the late Middle Ages. Authors like Wim Blockmans and Marc Boone have stressed the importance of Burgundian state formation in the Low Countries for the process of unification of the various principalities. This movement has often been described as a top-down movement: the prince conquering and unifing his new territories while imposing central institutions and streamlining existing ones. This session wants to tackle some of the issues relating to this process from a bottom-up perspective. How were various social groups involved in the developments (courtiers, local elites, state officials, etc.)? What was the impact in the various principalities? They were organised politically, economically and socially often in a very different way, and the involvement of the social groups in the process of state formation could also differ greatly. Lastly the international dimension will be investigated. How can the social content of state formation be compared to other regions in Northwestern Europe and in Mediterranean Europe (Show less)