ABSTRACT
Two of the many virtues of Jaeger’s work are particularly noteworthy. The first is his critique of the driving forces that gave rise to the civilising process in the West. Elias argued that this process was the result of competition at court between exceptional men who sought the monarch’s favour and attention. According to Jaeger, however, the major factor that precipitated a civilising process in the mediaeval West was a new alliance between the apparatus of government and an education system. Scaglione’s second main point was that Jaeger had focused almost exclusively on the Germanic world, ignoring what was happening at other courts in places such as England, Italy and Francia – or West Francia if one prefers, which encompassed territories such as the incipient France, Flanders, Anjou, Aquitaine and Provence. As an international and pan-European institution, the Church also played a decisive role in this process and could be included among the public powers.
