The imperial idea and monarchies in the end of the Middle Ages // Vestnik St. Petersburg
The article reconstructs a European, almost medieval in its sense, intellectual background for exploring the dynamics of the early modern state formation. Th e first part is seeking to unravel the skeins of argument, distinguishing two processes associated with so called imperial and territorial discourses, while the next part of the article suggests a model for their interaction within different «national» consciousness. Emphasizing collision between imperial and monarchial discourses as a major tool to conceptualize the Late Medieval state building, the author shows how the latter became dominant in the XVIth century political thought. Th is intellectual shift is crucial for understanding not only challenging universal and ethnocentric developments within European political landscape but also such Late Medieval phenomena as a universal monarchy and territorial state. Intellectual resources of the imperial theme remained primary down to appearance of famous works of Dante («De Monarchia», «Convivio»), and exceeded the potential of monarchial polemics. Under Dante influence monarchial discourse gradually adopted previously not shared imperial arguments; within the XIV–XVII centuries political discussions the very meaning of arguments was slowly leveled up and then repeatedly differentiated from their medieval content. Both discourses shared their basic concepts. Imperial discourse remained within its initial frame but was actively absorbing monarchial idea of certain «extension» of the supreme power while monarchial theme intensified royal power components.