Power and State in Medieval Europe

An emphasis on the variety of a status of the power was a common feature of medieval political thinking. However, this fact has been sometimes overlooked. Therefore, how was the power being exercised in the Early Middle Ages? How were the political entities organised? Can we really consider these as unified kingdoms and principalities? Is it correct to perceive them in the same manner as modern states? The studies published in this issue of Forum Historiae are attempting to address such questions. Our aim is to join a discourse concerning the political entities functioning, power manifestations and a position of the sovereign in the Middle Ages. Such a discourse has been ongoing within the West European medieval studies for a long time and has also been still more and more frequently approached by historians of the neighbouring countries. Besides, the objective is to fill a gap within the Slovak medieval studies which seldom address the topics presented in this issue.