This book aims to investigate, from a comparative point of view, the forms of political articulation and social organisation in Western Europe during the early middle ages with the intention of contributing to the debates on social complexity that have been taking place in recent years in the field of social theory. The book is divided into two different but complementary areas. In the first part, ?Rethinking Central Authority?, the essays offer a general framing of the problems linked to the study of power and its relations with the spaces over which central authority (from León to Italy) exercised its power. The second part, ?Interpreting Local Strength?, focuses on the study of some specific examples which, from local tales to the use of communal goods, show the ways in which authority was exercised in different areas of Western Europe. Finally, the chapter that closes the book will try to bring together in its conclusions the main arguments that articulate the whole volume.