Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Citizenship
(1,589 words)

1. Definition

Citizenship designates membership in a state and thus is related to the early modern state-building process. The roots of citizenship, however, lie in the subject-ruler relationship of the early modern period.

The term “nationality” in some cases is synonymous with citizenship; in others, until about 1850, it designated a somewhat reduced form of citizenship (see below, 2.). While English and French both use the word “nationality” (French, nationalité) to indicate citizensh…

Cite this page
Pahlow, Louis, “Citizenship”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_027936>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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