Composite monarchy
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A composite monarchy (or composite state) is a historical category, introduced by
A medieval example of a composite monarchy was the
The 17th-century Spanish jurist Juan de Solórzano Pereira distinguished a state whose components were aeque principaliter (equally important) from an "accessory" union in which a newly acquired territory was subsumed under the laws of an already existing one, such as when New Spain was incorporated into the Crown of Castile, or when Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England.[9]
History
Composite monarchies were common during the early 15th century to the early to mid 18th century in Europe. A composite monarchy involved the unification of several diverse local territories under one ruler. There are two types of composite monarchy proposed by
Most of Europe during the early modern period was governed under arrangements that can be described as composite monarchies. Diversity in arrangements was essential to ensure the unity of composite kingdoms, as they were often very diverse. Composite monarchies in the early modern period united diverse territories; while in some cases the unification of territories led to the establishment of nation-states in the modern world, in other cases composite territories did not become a unified nation state. Even in the most unified composite kingdom at the time, France, a majority of subjects did not speak the French language.[13] This demonstrates the extent of diversity even in places considered homogeneous. The Ottoman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, the Kingdom of France, and the early modern predecessors of the United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, and the Kingdom of Ireland) are prominent examples of composite rule.[14]
Examples
Ottoman Empire
Remnants of the Byzantine Empire from Eastern Europe were united under Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II by 1453, and the empire incorporated a vast collection of territories surrounding the Mediterranean. The Ottoman Sultan had succeeded in “superimposing” the Byzantine empire with Ottoman Rule.[15] Ottoman lands contained a wide variety of cultural, legal and religious traditions.
The Ottomans maintained an aeque principali empire where local customs and traditional practices were perpetuated. In many cases, the Ottomans allowed subject peoples including Christians and Jews to have their own communities where their own particular laws and customs were retained and integrated into the broader Ottoman system; which often included separate legal codes for each territory.[16] This approach is similar to the approaches of other composite monarchies except that the Ottoman territories included a more diverse population. Unlike most European examples, the Ottoman ruling class included a wide variety of people and cultural traditions.[citation needed] Entrance to the Ottoman ruling class was not exclusively by birth, but many other cultural and linguistic traditions were included as long as they were Muslim and had deep knowledge of the Ottoman court ways.[17][18]
The Ottoman Empire's most striking difference with other composite monarchies in Europe was that it allowed religious freedom to a greater extent than the Europeans did. The Ottomans did not require that their subjects adhere to the religion of the monarch, a requirement that usually was a major part of composite kingdoms.[19] The Ottoman Empire was diverse relatively to Europe and some historians[who?] argue there were minor restrictions on the freedom of minority groups. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Hungarians, Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, guildsmen, and bureaucrats were free to work and live throughout the empire without major hassle.[20] However, others[who?] argue the forced abduction of children for the Ottoman military in the Janissary Corps or the practice of forced relocation of ethnic minorities betray a less positive policy in the Ottoman Empire towards internal polities, particularly those considered suitable for these measures by the Ottoman court.
Spanish Monarchy
Early modern Spain was an example of a composite monarchy based on the aeque principali approach. The Spanish approach involved separate administrative and taxation arrangements for each territory. Composite monarchy in Spain started with the
Throughout much of the early modern period, each Spanish realm retained its own
Monarchical rule in early modern Spain was a balancing act, as the monarch attempted to preserve unity and loyalty among each part, which required placating local interests. The approach toward governing each of the Spanish territories was to negotiate to determine the needs of different societal groups within the territory and then to govern based on the consensus achieved.[24] Composite rule in Spain involved consultation and negotiation between central state officials and each territory individually, often resulting in different agreements and laws for each territory. The composite and diverse nature of monarchical rule in Spain also included the diversity of social classes and the bargaining power that they had versus the central government. Diversity of social classes further complicated Spanish composite rule. The central government had to take into account not only peculiarities in local customs and institutions but also local variations in social structure and the interests of the social structure. In the case of the practice of hoarding in Barcelona, the interests of the Guilds and artisan estate differed from the interests of the clergy and nobility.[25] These differing interests also required resolution from the monarch and his central administrators.
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon was itself a composite monarchy, being an aeque principali union of states (Kingdom of Aragon, Principality of Catalonia, Kingdom of Valencia and Kingdom of Majorca) which developed different laws, tax and monetary systems, governments and parliaments from each other, and were not united politically except at the level of the king, who had to deal separately with their different Courts, vow them loyalty and request their financial help. In the Principality of Catalonia, the Catalan Courts had legislative power, and laws could only be made and repealed by mutual consent of King and Courts.[26] In 1519, the Catalan Courts met in Barcelona to recognize the first unified monarch of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, Charles I, and to discuss the granting of financial assistance to the King.[27]
Although the King had no legislative power, he had the privilege to request papal bulls, and used that privilege to undermine the strength of local elites when it seemed convenient. For example, in the case of the petitions of papal bulls against hoarding to favor popular classes, the King took opposed decisions regarding the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon: "In 1582 he favoured the demands of Catalonia’s elites over those of Barcelona’s artisans, but under different circumstances he took the opposite stance in Aragon.",[28] due to worsening relations between the Spanish monarchy and the Aragonese nobility, which was accused of "protecting bandits".
England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland
The early modern predecessors of the United Kingdom (England and Wales, Ireland and later including Scotland) included both an accessory union and aeque principali union.
The union between England and Wales was an accessory union. English rules and laws were granted to Wales in the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543,[10] and Wales was thus absorbed into the Kingdom of England.
The
The Kingdoms of England and Ireland were united with Scotland in a personal union from 1603 (
To this day, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (the majority of Ireland broke away as the Irish Free State in 1922, which later became the modern Republic of Ireland) remain separate legal jurisdictions within the UK.
There are also three
See also
References
- ^ Hayton & Kelly 2010, p. 3.
- ^ Koenigsberger 1978, p. 191.
- ^ Elliott 1992.
- ISBN 9780192568144.
- ^ Elliott 1992, p. 50.
- ^ Srodecki, Kersken & Petrauskas 2023.
- ^ a b Elliott 1992, p. 51.
- ISBN 9780300240719.
- ^ a b c Elliott 1992, p. 52.
- ^ a b Elliott 1992, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Elliott 1992, pp. 48–71.
- ^ L. Corteguera,"Popular Politics in Composite Monarchies: Barcelona Aritsans and the Campaign for a Papal Bull Against Hoarding (1580-5)" in Social History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2001, pages 22-39
- ^ D.Goffman, Stroop, C., "Empire As Composite: The Ottoman Polity and the Typology of Dominion." In Imperialisms: Historical and Literary Investigations, 1500-1900. Eds. Balachandra Rajan and Elizabeth Sauer. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. p. 140.
- ^ Some examples of composite monarchies are provided in this article however the "See also" section contains links which will provide more information.
- ^ D. Goffman and C. Stroop, "Empire As Composite: The Ottoman Polity and the Typology of Dominion." In Imperialisms: Historical and Literary Investigations, 1500-1900. Eds. Balachandra Rajan and Elizabeth Sauer. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. p. 132-3.
- ^ D. Goffman and C. Stroop, "Empire As Composite, p. 137
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ D. Goffman and C. Stroop, "Empire As Composite", pp. 140-1
- ^ D. Goffman and C. Stroop, "Empire As Composite"
- ^ D. Goffman and C. Stroop, "Empire As Composite"p. 136.
- ^ A. Irigoin and R. Grafe, "Bargaining for Absolutism: A Spanish Path to Nation-State and Empire Building". in Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 88, No. 2, 2008, pg. 176-7.
- JSTOR 3715757.
- ^ Irigoin and Grafe "Bargaining for Absolutism", ibid.
- ^ A. Irigoin and R. Grafe, "Bargaining for Absolutism: A Spanish Path to Nation-State and Empire Building". in Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 88, No. 2, 2008, pg. 205.
- ^ L. Corteguera,"Popular Politics in Composite Monarchies: Barcelona Artisans and the Campaign for a Papal Bull Against Hoarding (1580-5)" in Social History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2001, pg. 33
- OCLC 759581255.
- ISBN 9780230362406
- ^ L. Corteguera,"Popular Politics in Composite Monarchies: Barcelona Artisans and the Campaign for a Papal Bull Against Hoarding (1580-5)" in Social History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2001, p. 38-9.
- ^ Elliott 1992, p. 67.
Sources
- Corteguera L.,"Popular Politics in Composite Monarchies: Barcelona Artisans and the Campaign for a Papal Bull Against Hoarding (1580-5)" in Social History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 2001, pp. 22–39.
- Elliott, J. H. (1992). "A Europe of Composite Monarchies". Past & Present. 137 (The Cultural and Political Construction of Europe): 48–71. .
- Encyclopædia Britannica "Classical Ottoman society and administration"
- Goffman, D., and Stroop, C., "Empire As Composite: The Ottoman Polity and the Typology of Dominion." In Imperialisms: Historical and Literary Investigations, 1500–1900. Eds. Balachandra Rajan and Elizabeth Sauer. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,2004. p. 129-145.
- Hayton, D. W.; Kelly, James (2010). "The Irish Parliament in European Context: A Representative Institution in a Composite State". In D. W. Hayton; James Kelly; John Bergin (eds.). The Eighteenth-Century Composite State: Representative Institutions in Ireland and Europe, 1689–1800. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 3–20. ISBN 9780230231597.
- Irigoin A., Grafe R., "Bargaining for Absolutism: A Spanish Path to Nation-State and Empire Building" in Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 88, No. 2, 2008. pp. 173–209
- Koenigsberger, H. G. (1978). "Monarchies and Parliaments in Early Modern Europe: Dominium Regale or Dominium Politicum et Regale". Theory and Society. 5 (1): 191–217. S2CID 141470545.
- Koenigsberger, H. G. (2007). "Composite States, Representative Institutions and the American Revolution". Historical Research. 62 (148): 135–53. .
- Srodecki, Paul; Kersken, Norbert; Petrauskas, Rimvydas, eds. (2023). Unions and Divisions: New Forms of Rule in Medieval and Renaissance Europe (First ed.). London and New York, NY: ISBN 978-1-032-05750-7.
Further reading
- Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge. Iberian Colonial Science. Isis. Philadelphia: March 2005, Volume 96, Issue 1: University of Chicago. Pg 64.
- Koenigsberger, H. G. (1986). Politicians and Virtuosi: Essays in Early Modern History. London: A&C Black.