Borders and Polities: The evolution of political communities in Northern Europe, 1400–1700

The concept of the nation-state has strictly defined and structured the modern world according to criteria which badly fit the religious, ethnic, cultural and political pluralism of border areas in the early modern period. Challenging the modern understanding of nation-states as clearly mapped legal, economic and territorial entities, defined by fixed and often morally-charged categories, we propose the exploration of late medieval and early modern borders in Northern Europe. This region, and in particular around the North Sea and Baltic, frequently displayed processes of political coordination and consolidation, as much as disintegration, differentiation, and decentralization. All this resulted in a highly dynamic mixture of polities with expanding and contracting territorial claims, as well as wars, unions, and the formation of completely new political entities, often with only a temporary existence.

The non-territorial, symbolic and functional qualities of borders are particularly relevant to the study of medieval and early modern borders and border regions. These often lacked specific markers but could sharply divide allegiances, religious communities and legal systems; they were also ritually constructed, and regularly re-defined during periods of crisis. The incorporation of communities and the integration of local and regional borders reflected constant flux and a complex layering and division of authorities within the conceptual unity of Christendom. The fifteenth to seventeenth centuries are typically understood to be a period marked by political and religious convulsion and upheaval, but an ongoing development of political thought and governmental process also served to shape and refresh relations and boundaries between polities.
Students interested in the history of border communities, however defined, are encouraged to apply for PhD topics which will be supervised by specialists in the history and culture of Northern Europe including the British Isles (esp. the Scottish-English border areas) and Ireland, Poland-Lithuania, the Prussian-Polish borders, and the border of the Holy Roman Empire with its East Central European neighbours. Students would be well placed in a research community defined by several interdisciplinary research centres and seminars (e.g. the Centre for Early Modern Studies, the Centre for Scandinavian Studies and the Research Institute for Scottish and Irish Studies).