Includes the studies that treat many parts of Europe and deal with different phases in the period between the late middle ages and the nineteenth century. This collection provides a platform to reconsider the relationships between top-down and bottom-up processes in the history of the European state.

Introduction: Empowering Interactions: Looking at Statebuilding from Below, André Holenstein; Part I Southern Europe; Chapter 1 The Construction of Local Political Identity in Lake and River Communities in North-West Italy, Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries, Roberto Leggero; Chapter 2 Models of Government ‘from Below’ in Fifteenth-Century Lombardy. The ‘Capitoli di Dedizione’ to Francesco Sforza, 1447–1450, Giorgio Chittolini; Chapter 3 Models of Government ‘from Below’ in Fifteenth-Century Lombardy. The ‘Capitoli di Dedizione’ to Francesco Sforza, 1447–1450, Bertrand Forclaz; Chapter 4 The Politics of Mercy: Village Petitions and a Noblewoman’s Justice in the Roman Countryside in the Eighteenth Century, Caroline Castiglione; Chapter 5 The Dynamics of Law Formation in Italian Legal Science during the Early Modern Period: the Function of Custom, Roy Garré; Part II Central and Eastern Europe; Chapter 6 Threats from Above on Request from Below: Dynamics of the Territorial Administration of Berne, 1420–1450, Simon Teuscher; Chapter 7 Modes of Reading, Community Practice and the Constitution of Textual Authority in the Thurgau and Graubünden, 1520–1660, Randolph C. Head; Chapter 8 ‘God is high up, the Tsar is far away’. The Nature of Polity and Political Culture in Seventeenth-Century Russia. A Comparative View, Endre Sashalmi; Chapter 9 Communication between Authorities and Subjects in Bohemia, Hungary and the Holy German Empire, 1650–1800: A Comparison of Three Case Studies, Stefan Brakensiek; Chapter 10 Corporate Property, Collective Resources and Statebuilding in Older Swiss History, Daniel Schläppi; Chapter 11 Local Demand for Order and Government Intervention: Social Group Conflicts as Statebuilding Factors in Villages of the Rhine Palatinate, c.1760–1810, Niels Grüne; Chapter 12 Joseph-Samuel Farinet and the ‘Modern’ State: Banditry, Patronage and Resistance in Nineteenth-Century Valais, Sandro Guzzi-Heeb; Part III Northern and Western Europe – and Beyond; Chapter 13 Political Topos or Community Principle? Res Publica as a Source of Legitimacy in the French Peasants’ Revolts of the Late Middle Ages, Vincent Challet; Chapter 14 Statebuilding in Portugal during the Middle Ages: A Royal Endeavour in Partnership with the Local Powers?, Adelaide Millán da Costa; Chapter 15 Informing the Council. Central Institutions and Local Knowledge in the Spanish Empire, Arndt Brendecke; Chapter 16 Peasants and Tax-farmers in Seventeenth- Century Sweden: Local Conflict and Institutional Change, Mats Hallenberg; Chapter 17 Statebuilding with the Participation of the Estates? East Frisia between Territorial Legislation and Communalist Ritual, 1611–1744, Reemda Tieben; Part IV Historiographical and Conceptual Debates; Chapter 18 Citizens and their Rulers, Wim Blockmans; Chapter 19 Concepts and Approaches in Recent Scholarship on Statebuilding – A Critical Review, Peter Blickle; Chapter 20 No Statebuilding from Below! A Critical Commentary, Wolfgang Reinhard; Chapter 21 Statebuilding from Below – Towards a Balanced View, Jon Mathieu; Chapter 22 The Impact of Communication Theory on the Analysis of the Early Modern Statebuilding Processes, Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger; Chapter 23 Empowering Interactions and Intertwining Jurisdictions, Angelo Torre;

'It is the genuine achievement of "Empowering Interactions" to provide perceptive discussion and material for this challenging turn in the studies of state formation.' Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung