Publisher's Synopsis
Starting with the Muscovite example, the book deals with the phenomena of 'Macht' and 'Herrschaft' in a period of crisis, using historical analogies in Japan, Kashmir, Castile, Carolingian Empire and Constantinople. Across borders and epochs, such key aspects of research are dealt with concerning the pre-modern age, as the practical implementation of autocratic models of rule in different cultures, forms of female participation in power, the influence of ruling elites in phases of political upheaval, and the significance of religious ideas for the legitimation of political and dynastic power. Thus, the idea of the Third Rome, the fates of 'false tsars' or the first crowned Russian tsarina Marina Mniszech get an interdisciplinary reflection.
