 Prior to this the European medieval organization of political authority was based on a vaguely hierarchical religious order.Contrary to popular belief, Westphalia still embodied layered systems of sovereignty, especially within the Holy Roman Empire.More than the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 is thought to reflect an emerging norm that sovereigns had no internal equals within a defined territory and no external superiors as the ultimate authority within the territory's sovereign borders.