This document discusses the concept of sovereignty through history. It explores how sovereignty was viewed in medieval times, when power was seen as derived from God and overlapping between religious and political authorities. It then examines how sovereignty became more centered in the modern state after the Peace of Westphalia. Theories of both unitary and limited sovereignty are covered. The document questions how sovereignty is defined today and whether states have responsibilities beyond maintaining power.

1. Sovereignty in Historical Context
Natalie Smolenski
SVP Business Development
Learning Machine
@NSmolenski
www.nataliesmolenski.com
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
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2. Animating Question
What Is
Sovereignty?
A theory about the nature and derivation of
power in human societies.
Theories of sovereignty are usually used to
account for state power.
However, states are not the only actors who
exercise sovereignty.
Homage of Edward I to Philip IV from Jean Fouquet’s Les Grandes
Chroniques de France
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3. Animating Question
What Is
Sovereignty?
Most states claim their sovereignty derives from
transcendental ideals like God(s), Justice, Law, or “the
will of the people.”
Accordingly, sovereignty is characterized by both
identity and difference between the source of power and
the instrument that wields that power.
This overlap and tension has given rise to violent
political contestation throughout human history.
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4. Mediaeval Political Theology
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5. – Paul, Letter to the Romans, 13:1 (NIV)
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities,
for there is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God.”
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6. – The Norman Anonymous, c. 1100
“He said ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s,’ and did not say ‘unto Tiberius the things that
are Tiberius’. Render to the power (potestas), not to the
person. The person is worth nothing, but the power is
just. Iniquitous is Tiberius, but good is the Caesar.”
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7. All Power Derives from God
● Norman Anonymous: 11th-12th century cleric.
● Power is a property of the NATURE of a thing.
● As all power comes from God, the powerful partake of the
NATURE of God. Office is irrelevant.
● Human kings are deified by the “grace” of the sacraments.
Power is conferred liturgically.
● Kings have dual NATURE: human and divine.
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8. The Investiture Struggle
● Sparked by Pope Gregory VII’s
insistence on the pope’s sole
right to appoint bishops.
● Dictatus papae (The Papal Dictation) (1075)
● Triggered 50-year conflict
between the papacy and kings,
particularly Holy Roman
Emperor Henry IV.
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9. The Investiture Struggle
● Resolved by Concordat of
Worms, 1122 CE:
● Emperors may no longer
appoint bishops, but they
preside over elections, make
appointments in case of
disputes, & invest bishops with
power “by the lance”.
● Bishops carry military
obligation (fealty) to Kings.

10. Introduction of Roman Law
● Justinian: Roman Emperor
(r. 527 - 565)
● Corpus Juris Civilis: Rewriting of Roman Law
completed under his decree.
● Rediscovered by Western Europe
during 11th century.
● Foundation documents of the Western
legal tradition.
● “Not the Prince rules, but Justice though
the Prince.”
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11. Introduction of Roman Law
● Gratian: Canon lawyer
from Bologna. (12th
Century)
● Decretum Gratiani
● Sources: Roman law, the
Bible, Church Fathers,
papal decretals, acts of
church councils and
synods.
● Foundation of Canon Law
until 1918
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12. Sovereign: Above & Subject to Law
● John of Salisbury (1120 - 1180):
English philosopher and Bishop of
Chartres. Wrote Policraticus (1159):
● “The Prince is the Image of Justice.”
● The Prince is both:
● Legibus solutus (above the Law) - as “persona
publica”
● Legibus alligatus (serf of the Law) - as “persona
voluntans”
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13. Sovereign: Above & Subject to Law
● Frederik II: Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1212-1250)
● Liber Augustalis: collection of Sicilian Constitutions
written by Bologna-trained jurist Petrus de
Vinea (1231)
● Revives foundational narrative of conferring
sovereignty onto the Prince by Roman Quirites
(citizens): lex regia
● Emperor = lex animata (the Living Law). Father and
son of Justice (as Christ is to Mary).
● Frederick declares himself free from laws but
bound by Reason (Ratio).
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14. Law Is Sovereign, But Can’t Bind the King
● Henry of Bracton (1210-1268)
● On the Laws and Customs of England
● The King is bound by
Natural/Divine Law, but this also
confers upon him extraordinary
rights and powers.
● Bracton uses example of Quirites to
stress constitutionality of King’s
power.
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15. – Henry of Bracton (13th Century)
“[What has pleased the Prince is Law]—that is, not what
has been rashly presumed by the [personal] will of the
king, but what has been rightly defined by the consilium of his
magnates, by the king’s authorization, and after
deliberation and conference concerning it…”
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16. 13th Century Baronial Wars
● Unpopular English Kings: John; his son, Henry III; and his
son, Edward I; faced multiple rebellions from Barons.
● Grievances included Baronial indebtedness, lack of due
process, onerous and arbitrary taxation, growing Royal
monopoly on forest use; and perceived Royal encroachment
on the rights of the Church and cities.
● Magna Carta drafted to enshrine Baronial rights vis-a-vis King
and end Baronial Wars.
● Council of Barons becomes English Parliament, established
to approve extra-feudal taxes.
● Cases could not be brought against the King, but could be
brought against His officers.
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17. Split: Feudal vs. Fiscal
● FEUDAL: King’s private property
● FISCAL: property of the State (public,
communal, semi-holy)
● Barons confine their disputes to the
fiscal-domanial sphere.
● The “fisc” becomes “the
Crown”—abstracted notion of Kingship that
cannot die. It is the res publica—the “public thing.”
Its property is inalienable.
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18. Sovereign: Property-Owning (Collective) Subject
● “Corpus Republicae mysticum,” the mystic body
politic, based on “corpus Ecclesiae mysticum”—the
mystic body of the Church, an eternal community.
● Church property = res sacrae. It is eternal and belongs to
no one/God (res nullius). It may never be alienated.
● State property = res publicae/res quasi-sacrae. It is eternal and
belongs to no one/the fisc (res nullius). It may never be
alienated.
● Decretum of Gratian: “Hoc tollit fiscus, quod non accipit Christus.” “What is not
received by Christ (the Church) is exacted by the
fiscus (the State).”
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19. Is Sovereignty Unitary or Plural?
● Medieval notions of sovereignty were often totalizing,
yet plural. Led to constant conflict.
● Sovereign medieval entities included:
● Competing Churches which claimed universal
sovereignty over the course of human salvation.
● Emperors and kings who claimed sovereignty within
their territorial jurisdictions and also laid claim to
salvific roles.
● Cities, neighborhoods, and families considered
sovereign in different ways.
● Different religious & economic groups living under
the same King or Emperor able to formulate and
practice their own laws.

20. Modern Sovereignty
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21. Sovereignty: Modern Definitions
● Merriam Webster, 2018:
● a : supreme power especially over a body politic
● b : freedom from external control : AUTONOMY
● c : controlling influence
● Oxford Public International Law:
● Supreme authority within a territory.
● Principles:
● Territorial jurisdiction
● Immunity
● Non-intervention
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22. Is Sovereignty Unitary or Plural?
● Modern notions of sovereignty can be described as more unitary than mediaeval notions: States
(notionally) have full sovereignty within their territorial jurisdictions.
● Largely derived from Peace of Westphalia, which ended the horrific 30 Years War in 1648.
● Even if State power is divided, it is divided within a single political regime. This has afforded the
State historically unprecedented power.
● Modern theorists of the unitary (state) sovereign:
● Jean Bodin
● Thomas Hobbes
● Niccolò Machiavelli
● Jean-Jacques Rousseau
● Carl Schmitt
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23. What Limits the Unitary Sovereign?
● Niccolò Macchiavelli (1469 - 1527)
● Sovereignty is a good in and of itself. It
means an independent and
self-determining political entity.
● Sovereignty is limited by inevitable ill fortune and
by the power of other sovereigns. Only Fortuna and
power can check power.
● Sovereigns must establish their
independence as quickly as they can and
maintain it for as long as they can. Most
sovereignty comes to an end.
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24. What Limits the Unitary Sovereign?
● Hugo Grotius (1583 - 1645)
● Sovereignty is limited by Natural Law, a set of
general moral principles to which all
people assent. This includes a right to
self-defense, to punish those who have
done one wrong, and to reward those who
have treated one well. Draws on Roman
notions of ius naturale and ius gentium to formulate
the first expressions of international law
that don’t rely explicitly on Christian moral
and legal precepts. Draws parallels
between individual and national
sovereignty.
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25. What Limits the Unitary Sovereign?
● John Locke (1632 - 1704)
● Sovereignty is self-limiting, because it is based on a
two-way social contract. Humans are social and enter
into social contracts with one another by and
within the Law of Nature. Sovereign people
“deed” some of their natural rights (which they
continue to retain) to a Sovereign, who rules by
their consent. If that Sovereign is unjust, the
people may take back their rights and appeal to
Heaven for a new ruler. The Sovereign, in turn,
models themselves on God, who has limitless
power but binds himself only to will and do
what is good. In this way, both parties to the
social contract self-limit their sovereignty.
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26. What Limits the Unitary Sovereign?
● Baron de Montesqueue (1632 - 1704)
● Sovereignty doesn’t have to be, but should
be, limited by the separation of powers. Without
the separation of powers, there is no
effective check on the abuse of
sovereign power. He proposed the
separation of powers into three
branches: executive, legislative, and
judicial. He based his model on the
Constitution of the Roman Republic
and the nascent British constitutional
system.
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27. Self-Limiting Sovereignty: Constitutionalism
● Constitutionalism: representatives of a Sovereign entity
develop a framework for governance.
● The Constitution can be considered Sovereign in that the
powers and responsibilities of State actors derive from it and
are in principle limited by it.
● Alternatively, the authority from which a constitution derives
its legitimacy (i.e. “Heaven;” “the people;” “the governed”)
may be what is considered Sovereign.
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28. Absolute Sovereignty: Constitutionalism
● Constitutionalism is often mistakenly equated with self-limiting sovereignty.
● In fact, Constitutions can define the exercise of power by the State or particular State actors
in ways that refuse to bind the ruler to the law: i.e. “Bractonian” constitutionalism.
● Constitutions may also do away with the separation of powers: i.e. the “Enabling Act,” a
constitutional amendment that allowed the Executive Branch to make laws bypassing
Parliament under Nazi Germany.
● The doctrine of the “State of Exception” allows State actors to suspend Constitutional
limits to their power, ostensibly when extraordinary measures are required to preserve the
existence or integrity of the State.
● What begin as “states of exception” frequently become new norms and laws, establishing
enduring extra-constitutional rule by powerful State actors.
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29. Questioning Sovereignty Today
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30. Sovereignty: Power Alone, or Also Responsibility?
● Does Sovereignty carry a moral imperative in addition to the
characteristic of autonomous authority over a jurisdiction?
● Is the Sovereign obligated to provide for the common good?
● Sovereignty as responsibility for the common good doesn’t get
enshrined in Peace of Westphalia, but persists in political theory,
national constitutions, religious traditions, and non-religious
ethical thought.
● Connected to justice and just war doctrines in Christianity and
Islam.
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31. Contingent Sovereignty
● Today, some humanitarian interventionists argue that heads of State
can “default” on their sovereignty if they egregiously and
consistently violate human rights (a 20th-century evolution of
Natural Law). This approach has been called “contingent
sovereignty.”
● Yet the United Nations Charter doesn’t allow for humanitarian
exceptions to the principle of non-intervention.
● The Security Council is allowed to intervene only if a nation makes a
threat to the peace of other nations. But even then, the targeted
nation retains a right to self defense.
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32. Contingent Sovereignty Raises Questions
● Who arbitrates whether the Sovereign has failed to secure the
public good? On what basis?
● Who arbitrates whether the Sovereign has violated Law,
Justice, or Reason? On what basis?
● What measures may be taken against the Sovereign?
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33. The Next Chapter
Takeaways
A Sovereign body politic may endure indefinitely
without either a constitution or separation of
powers.
Limitations to unitary power are not necessary
for statecraft.
However, a Sovereign who violates what subjects
or others believe to be the source of its
power—God(s), Law, Reason, Justice—may find
its sovereignty challenged. “God the Geometer”

34. The Next Chapter
Next Questions
If not necessarily through governance vehicles
like a constitution or separation of powers, on
what basis does a sovereign state cohere?
What implications does this coherence have
for the sovereignty of non-state actors?
“God the Geometer”
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35. Principles of Sovereign Cohesion
● 1. War
● Hegel: War tests whether the State can hold as a sovereign collective. Sovereignty is only
meaningful if it is recognized, and War is the vehicle for that recognition.
● 2. Property
● The Fisc / Crown / Commonwealth names the collective body of territory, real estate,
reserves, and balance sheet that defines the body politic.
● 3. Currency
● The existence and functioning of the State must be financed. The State finances itself largely
through taxation. Taxes must be paid in a legally recognized form of currency. The value of
currency has a direct impact on the purchasing power of the State. Hence, most sovereign
states mint their own currencies.
● Historically, war has been the primary State activity financed by taxation.
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36. Connect to follow the evolution of this project
Thank you
Natalie Smolenski
SVP Business Development
Learning Machine
@NSmolenski
www.nataliesmolenski.com
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