The New Monarchs 15th Century Characteristics of the New Monarchies
They offered the institution of monarchy as a guarantee of law and order. They proclaimed that hereditary monarchy was the legitimate form of public power all should accept this without resistance. They enlisted the support of the middle class in the towns tired of the local power of feudal nobles. They would have to get their monarchies sufficiently organized & their finances into reliable order. They would break down the mass of feudal, inherited, customary, or common law in which the rights of the feudal classes were entrenched. The kings would MAKE law, enact it by his own authority, regardless of previous custom or historic liberties What pleases the prince has the force of law The New Monarch made use of Roman law
They incorporated the will and welfare of the people They enlisted the support of the merchants and middle class They went a long ways in establishing European Nation-States -The Inventions of Gunpowder , the pike and longbow made it possible for Kings to be less dependent on Knights on horseback -Now, Kings could hire mercenaries to supplement their armies.They did not have to give concessions to the powerful nobles. England stability under the Tudors
France consolidation of power. Spain unification by marriage. HR Empire different model: the cost of decentralization. After the Hundred Years War, England was troubled by the War of the Roses 1455-1487
The War was over different families wanting to take the throne One was the House of Lancaster, and the other York.Both had legitimate claims to the throne England: Civil War and a New Monarchy
The House of Lancaster (red rose) verses the House ofYork (white rose) Many aristocratic families brought into conflict Henry Tudor, Duke of Richmond, defeated the last Yorkish king, Richard III, and established the new Tudor dynasty The Tudors of England England: Civil War and a New Monarchy
The first Tudor King, Henry VII reduced dissension and established strong monarchy Abolished private armies of the aristocrats Special commissions to trusted nobles raised armies for special campaigns then were disbanded Established the Court of Star Chamber which did not use juries and permitted torture to extract confessions, but he held ultimate authority Henry VII finally gained power
Henry VII finally gained power.He married Elizabeth of York, and the houses were united England: Civil War and a New Monarchy
Henry VIImanaged the monarchy well Extracted resources from traditional sources Use diplomacy to avoid wars Kept taxes low Henrys policies left England with stable, prosperous government and gained status for the monarchy itself Over time, the Star Chamber became a symbol of absolute authority Henry VII always felt uneasy about his claim to the throne
His son, Henry VIII, knew that it was necessary that he, too, have a son to prevent civil war This is whyhis son, Henry VIII, would end up with six wives, in his effort to gain a sonsomething we will learn about shortly France in the 15c 16c The Valois Dynasty The Valois dynasty which ruled France during the 14th 15th Centuries The Hundred Years War allowed this dynasty to establish its power, consolidated during the reign of Philip IV ( ) The Growth of the French Monarchy
The Hundred Years War had left France prostrate Depopulation, desolate farmlands, ruined commerce, unruly nobles, etc. The war also engendered a sense of loyalty--the understanding of a common enemy The war permitted strengthening the kings authority Charles VII was able to secure permission for a royal army from the Estates-General The Growth of the French Monarchy
King Charles VII The Estates-General also permitted a taille, annual taxusually from land or other property Ensured certain amount of power King Louis XI ( ), (known as the spider for his wily ways) With force, cunning, and diplomacy, he brought order to France Louis XI Son of Charles VII King 1461 1483
As a young man he spent much of his time organising a series of rebellions against his father, Charles VII one of the most effective kings of France Louis XI The Reign of Louis XI 1461 1483 unpopular man, ruthless & efficient ruler Brought the Church, nobles & merchants to heel Smashed the Dukes of Burgundy Left a strong, united, nationalistic France that possessed a strong central government He subdued the nobles and made their territories part of France When Cardinal Balue defied Louis, he was sentenced to live in a cage Charles VIII (1470-1498) 1491 was on throne under a regency
1494 invaded Italy & briefly occupied Naples Driven out through a strenuous Italian effort France attempted to invade Italy in the next half century France by 1500 Had become a strong nation. Flourishing economy staffed by noble & middle class bureaucrats Iberian Peninsula: Spain & Portugal Reminder: Spain conquered by Muslim Invaders
In the early 700s AD Muslim invaders called Moors- from North Africa Reconquista Almost immediately, Christian kings began taking back territory in the Iberian Peninsula. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain The Unification of Spain
After the conquest of the Iberian Penisnsula from the Muslims, the peninsula was divided into several smaller states, the largest which was Aragon and Castile Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were married in a dynastic (not political) union The two states maintained their own parliaments 1469 Marriage of King Ferdinand (Aragon) & Queen Isabella (Castile)
The Unification of Spain
Ferdinand and Isabella worked to build a strong central government for both states They reorganized the military and created and built the best army in Europe by the 16th century They achieved permission from the pope to select the most important church officials They realized the importance of the Churchs power War against the Moors Between 1482 and 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand waged the Granada War to conquer all of Spain and unite it as one Christian kingdom In 1492, they succeeded in defeating the last Moorish King, Boabdil The Unification of Spain
Ferdinand and Isabella received permission to institute the Inquisition in Spain Converts were effected, but not Jews or Muslims Thus, they expelled all Jew and Muslims The two Most Catholic monarchs had achieved absolute religious orthodoxyto be Spanish was to be Catholic Uniformity policy was enforced by the Inquisition Paying for the war The Granada War was very expensive (it lasted 10 years) Much of it was paid for by confiscating the property of Spanish Jews Jews in Spain Jews in Spain held considerable power
Jews in the courts of all the kings of Spain and Portugal In fact, Ferdinand and Isabellas marriage was arranged by a mutual Jewish friend. Many early bankers were Jewish because Christians were prohibited from usury (charging interest on loans). But banks are critical, without them businesses cant get started. These same bankers helped finance the war against the Moors Their goal was to create a Pure Catholic Spain
A Spain without Jews or Muslims Proving a lapse of faith
Any traditionally Jewish rituals or behaviors could be considered a lapse of faith. Examples: not eating pork Not working Friday night-Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath, Christian Sabbath is Sunday) Eating traditionally Jewish food (Kosher) The Spanish Inquisition Who Led the Inquisition
Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor Inquisition methods Under Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, the Inquisition sought to find these heretics To get these heretics to confess, inquisitors would employ threats and torture Thousands were tortured, imprisoned for life and/or burned at the stake in auto de fe (Act of Faith) Holy Roman Empire Germanic peoples
Ecclesiastical city-states(Church lands), principalities, fiefs, free towns, counties, duchies Succession to role of Holy Roman Emperor was left to 7 princes/ electors (votes) States relatively stable but the empire as whole was becoming powerless Holy Roman Empire (cont.)
Boundaries shifted according to marriages, war, inheritance No Papal authority in the Empire Arms manufacturer of the world Big commercial centre: agric., mineral ores, industrial Ports- north, west Eventually replaced Italians as international bankers The Habsburg Dynasty The Holy Roman Empire: The Success of the Habsburgs
The Holy Roman Empire failed to develop a strong monarchy The Empire remained in the hands of the Habsburg dynasty The Habsburgs instituted dynastic marriages Through marriages, the Hapsburgs gained international power Rulers of France feared they would be surrounded by the Hapsburgs The Holy Roman Empire: The Success of the Habsburgs
Much was expected of Maximilian I He had strong opposition from German princes Through a series of marriages and untimely deaths, Charles V, Maximilians grandson, became heir to the Habsburg, Burgundian, and Spanish lines, making him the leading monarch of his age Empire of Charles V Ferdinand and Isabella were his maternal grandparents
Charles Vs mother was Crazy Juana, who kept her husbands body with her for years after he died The Emperor Years of Genetic inbreeding produced a misshapen jaw that would be known as the Hapsburg Jaw Charles also faced the emerging Protestant Reformation The Struggle for Strong Monarchy in Eastern Europe
The rulers of Eastern Europe had many obstacles in the way of control Different ethnic and religious groups could not get along Much of the problem with Poland until the later 15th century revolved around disagreements between crown and the landed nobles Hungary became one of the most significant countries in Europe under King Matthias Corvinus The Struggle for Strong Monarchy in Eastern Europe
King Mathias Broke the power of the wealthy lords Patronized the humanist culture Brought Italian scholars and artists to his capital Since the 13th century, Russia had been under the domination of the Mongols Ivan III ( ) was able to take advantage of dissention within the Mongols to through off their yoke by 1480 The Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire
Eastern Europe was increasingly threatened by the Ottoman Empire The Byzantine Empire had served as a buffer between the Muslim Middle East and the Latin West for centuries The Empire was weakened by the sack of Constantinople in 1204 The threat of the Ottomans finally doomed the Byzantine Empire The Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire
The Ottoman Turks moved quickly through the lands of the Seljuk Turks and the Byzantine Empire Bypassing Constantinople, they moved through Bulgaria and into the lands of the Serbians At the battle of Kosovo, Ottoman forces defeated the Serbs, both leaders dying in battle The Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire
Battle of Kosovo (1389) became a battlefield long remembered and revered by the Serbs Not until 1480 were Bosnia, Albania, and the rest of Serbia added to the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans The Ottoman Turks completed the demise of the Byzantine Empire by defeating the army at Constantinople The Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire
The Turks began to pressure the West By the end of the 15th century, they were threatening Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and Poland The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, became their bitter enemy in the 16th century