Europe in 1300

On Political Geography

Despite the nice lines you will see on maps, there were few such clear boundaries in 1300 or even in 1500.

This operated on two levels. First, except where there was a body of water—river, lake or sea—it was difficult to mark political boundaries in the physical world. This meant there was always room for disputes about where exactly those boundaries lay.

More importantly, in modern times there's a tight correspondence between political boundaries and legal boundaries. Law and nation go together. Not so in the Middle Ages. There were numerous jurisdictions, many of which overlapped.

Any one physical point might be subject to a local manorial lord, a bishop, a count, a king, and/or an emperor. It might also be subject to a city or a guild, a monastery, and so on. Property might be subject to one set, but the people on the property be subject to a slightly different set.

Moreover, the various public authorities did not have contiguous jurisdictions. A great lord might hold lands in a variety of places. Moreover, he might very well have claims to more lands and jurisdictions and be in varying stages of dispute. The obvious example here are the claims of the English kings to places in France.

The result was a sea of authority that one swam through. Much was claimed; much less was actually effected. What mattered most was not which color you were on a map; what mattered was people—where your loyalties and obligations lay, and who was loyal or obliged to you. We'll see this play out over and over again.