ABSTRACT

In south-western Europe, the transition from pre-modern polities to modern states started in the central decades of the eighteenth century. This article explores why and how the plural, judicial and polycentric practices that structured social and political life before circa 1750 were progressively replaced by more unified, administrative and hierarchical repertoires of practices. The article rethinks the formation of the state through the conflicts over the debt of four municipalities of the former Crown of Aragon in the monarchies of Spain, the Savoy and the Two Sicilies. The global wars of the mid-eighteenth century and the subsequent extraordinary fiscal pressure fuelled local conflicts that led to the collapse of the ancient practices that structured life in common. However, the new social and political arrangements that were born out of the ancient polities and started replacing them were not imposed from above, but rather ideated, negotiated and implemented by a myriad of local actors and corporations. The article asserts that local realities were much more complex and polyhedric than what has traditionally been stated. As in other European regions, in the south-western polities of the Old Continent the modern state also emerged, first and foremost, from below.

摘要

在西南部欧洲，从前现代政体向现代国家的转变始于十八世纪中期。本文探讨了 1750 年左右之前构成社会和政治生活的多元、司法和多中心实践为何以及如何逐渐被更加统一、行政和等级制度的实践所取代。文章通过西班牙、萨伏伊和两西西里君主政体中前阿拉贡王室的四个市镇的债务冲突重新思考了国家的形成。十八世纪中叶的全球战争和随后的巨大财政压力加剧了局部冲突，导致构建共同生活的古老习俗崩溃。然而，从古代政体中诞生并开始取代它们的新的社会和政治安排不是自上而下强加的，而是由无数当地行为者和公司构思、谈判和实施的。文章声称，当地的现实比传统上描述的要复杂得多、多面性得多。与欧洲其他地区一样，在旧大陆西南部的政体中，现代国家也首先是自下而上出现的。