ABSTRACT
One can only begin to speak properly of European history once the term Europe ceased to be merely a geographic concept and came to refer to something new: a structural unity. But at what point can one begin to speak of “European” structures? This is not an easy question to answer, as it is a matter of viewpoint where and in which combination of criteria one chooses to identify the essential, determining circumstance within the thousand-year process that began with the dissolution of the ancient world and led to modern Europe.
