POLITICS WITHOUT SOVEREIGNTY

THE JURIDICO-POLITICAL ORDER OF MEDIEVAL CHRISTENDOM

Abstract

The article offers a concise review of the legal and political order of medieval Christianitas (eleventh to fifteenth centuries) through six categories: Feudalism, Universal Law (ius commune and custom), Universal Community (corpus christianum), Universal Emperor, Universal Church, and the Lightness of Political Power. It shows how these dimensions articulated a plurality of powers, overlapping competences, and jurisdictional remedies that enabled coordination and conflict resolution without a single sovereign center. On this basis, the article contrasts that configuration with the prevailing sovereign model, defined by normative concentration and a monopoly of coercion, to open a comparative framework and draw preliminary lessons useful for new proposals of political organization. The aim is to offer descriptive and analytical criteria that contribute to the contemporary debate on the statist model.