A Practical Approach to

Territorial State Development

In order to create centralized territorial states and make them sovereign (or autonomous), state-builders had to do the following:

1. Increase the royal domain in order to expand their area of control and pay for their services. This involved using the rules of feudalism; e.g., regarding feuding and marriage arrangements.

2. Keep the peace. They had to literally create law and order. The establishment of law, bureaucracy, and territorial armies all play a part in this.

3. Create territorial law, at least over secular matters. To do this, they also established territorial legislatures, which also involved specialization of government as well as a means to win support from their subjects by appearing to involve everyone and to abide by contracts. Territorial law and justice were established.

4. Create bureaucracy to efficiently administer distinct executive, legislative, and judicial matters. This involved bureaucratization, professionalization, and specialization of function. Territorial bureaucracy was established.

5. Promote allegiance or patriotism (loyalty) to this new state through the arts, literature, and education. Territorial culture and education were promoted.

6. Gain control of religion in the territory, the main aspect of culture. This was necessary in order to: a) gain autonomy from the late medieval Roman Church State ; b) promote allegiance and loyalty as in # 5 above. (Religion could be a means of homogenization that rendered a sense of allegiance and cooperation against outside foes easier.) ; c) gain control of the Church's great wealth; d) use the church to educate and disseminate information, including loyalty to the crown. Establish territorial religion.

7. Develop a professional army that can keep the peace and enforce the laws and policies of the state, thus freeing the state from dependence on the nobility. Build a territorial army.

8. Create an efficient tax system, commensurate to supporting the above seven points. (A king's feudal domain was not commensurate to this task!) Develop a territorial tax state.