The Idea of Democracy and Its Embodiment in the Middle Ages

In mass consciousness the dark Middle Ages is still represented as an epoch of undivided domination of monarchic regimes, whereas besides the well-known medieval city-states which inherited the traditions of antique democracy, in the Middle Ages there were many institutions where elements of democratic organization can be seen, especially if we understand democracy in an expanded sense, as a principle of power distribution in opposition to the concentration of power in one hand. Such elements can be seen in feudal liberties, in various forms of church institutions, in the election of heads of universal powers (popes and emperors), in the practice of political formations and city corporations, and finally in the theory of separation of powers, which in the Middle Ages prescribed a combination of powers, and was later elaborated by Montesquieu and other thinkers. Ultimately, many of these ideas have survived to our time and are embodied in today’s experience.