To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth: Legal Imagination and International Power 13001870 [Paperback]

A critical history of European sovereignty and property rights as the foundation of the international order in 13001870.The book demonstrates the vital role of played by legal imagination in the history of European State-formation in 13001870. After lawyers had learned to connect sovereignty with property rights at home, both ideas would eventually expand and lay the groundwork for the modern international order and global capitalism.The book demonstrates the vital role of played by legal imagination in the history of European State-formation in 13001870. After lawyers had learned to connect sovereignty with property rights at home, both ideas would eventually expand and lay the groundwork for the modern international order and global capitalism.To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth?shows the vital role played by legal imagination in the formation of the international order during 13001870. It discusses how European statehood arose during early modernity as a locally specific combination of ideas about sovereign power and property rights, and how those ideas expanded to structure the formation of European empires and consolidate modern international relations. By connecting the development of legal thinking with the history of political thought and by showing the gradual rise of economic analysis into predominance, the author argues that legal ideas from different European legal systems - Spanish, French, English and German - have played a prominent role in the history of global power. This history has emerged in imaginative ways to combine public and private power, sovereignty and property. The book will appeal to readers crossing conventional limits between international law, international relations, history of political thought, jurisprudence and legal history.Introduction; 1. Legal Imagination in a Christian World  Ruling France, c. 1300; 2. The Political Philosophy of jus gentium  the Expansion of Spain, 15241559; 3. Italian Lessons  ius gentium and Reasol³J