Conflict and order in early modern Alsace seen from a court case of the Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg（1682‐1719）

In the research during the past half century on early modern Europe, historians have been able to discuss particularities of the state free from the stereotyped ideas of modernization. Such a tendency has promoted a reconsideration of early modern Alsace on the basis of a new understanding of the absolute monarchy in France. However, considering only its relation to France after the transfer of Alsace in the 17th century, without consideration of a possible continuing relationship with the Holy Roman Empire thereafter, would prevent a full understanding of Alsace’s regional order. Although recent research has begun to take both relationships into account, there are still few case studies, let alone even one systematic treatment. It is for these reasons that the present article attempts to describe that order, by examining the diverse powers active around Alsace, based on a court case of the Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg.<br> 　The author begins with a brief overview of Alsatian history, followed by an analysis of the above court case, leading to three characteristic features of conflicts and their resolution in the region. First, regional powers considered the superior court in Alsace founded by the French monarch not to be the only means by which to resolve their conflicts, but one of several choices for resolution. Secondly, they could use various means for resolution as vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of France simultaneously. On the other hand, thirdly, this plurality of legal means came with a risk of causing greater conflicts among several courts, at worst causing conflict between the Emperor and the King. Attempts to avoid such risk and settle out of the court did involve the temporary abandonment of available legal means, but adopting such an expedient alternative enhanced local autonomy as a result.<br> 　Contrary to accepting conventional images of Alsace as a province unified by the establishment of French sovereignty all over the region, the author takes a step beyond even the recent understanding of the Empire and France as a coexistent system, by depicting a regional order based on the flexible resolutions of conflict transcending regional and national frameworks. This result leads to the possibility of depicting the political order in early modern Europe as a whole without having to treat it in terms of power relations between states or of conventional theories of the state.