The Growth of European Kingdoms
5th century: Angles and Saxons invaded the island
Late 800s: King Alfred the Great united various kingdoms
England ruled by Anglo-Saxon kings
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Normandy: area of what today is NW France
The Growth of European Kingdoms
October, 1066: William of Normandy invaded Britain
Portrait of William the Conqueror
-aka: William I
William defeated King Harold at the
Battle of Hastings
William became the king of England
His kingdom included western
France, southern 2/3’s Britain, and
eastern ½ of Ireland
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Norman knights received fiefs from William I
-all knights swore an oath of loyalty directly to William I
-this allowed William I to be the overlord of ALL fiefs in
his kingdom
The mixing of the Anglo-Saxons and Normans created a new
English culture
Normans took over the existing Anglo-Saxon political posts
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Norman horseman at the Battle of Hastings
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William’s elite cavalry
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The Battle of Hastings by Frank W Wilkin, restored to glory.
English Heritage / Conservation Department
The Growth of European Kingdoms
A reconstruction drawing of the first stage of the Battle of Hastings.
English Heritage / drawing by Peter Dunn
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Picture by Tom Lovelle-The Battle of Hastings
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Domesday Book: William’s census of England
-completed in 1086
-Europe’s first census since Roman times
-William used the census to help develop his system of
taxation and royal courts
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Henry II: English ruler from 1154 to 1189
-expanded the power of the monarchy
-expanded power of royal courts (criminal and property cases)
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Common Law: a uniform system of law based on court
decisions and on customs and usage
-replaced law codes which varied from place to place
within the English kingdom
VERSUS
Henry II claimed he had the right to try and punish
clergymen in the royal courts
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Thomas á Becket: archbishop of Canterbury
-highest ranking official in England
Claimed that only church
courts could try clerics
Henry II publicly
expressed his desire to be
rid of Becket
The Growth of European Kingdoms
-four knights murdered Becket at the Cathedral of
Canterbury
There was much public outrage, and Henry
was forced to back down against the
Church
The Church later named Becket a saint
murdered in 1170, canonized 1173
The Growth of European Kingdoms
King John: became king of England in 1199
-nobles had become outraged at the ongoing growth of
the king’s power
-John began losing popularity as he argued with the
pope about who should become new archbishop of
Canterbury
-pope placed England under excommunication
-John also lost a series of military conflicts
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1215: nobles rebelled at Runnymeade
-they forced John to sign the
Magna Carta (Great Charter)
The Growth of European Kingdoms
The Magna Carta was a feudal contract,
only in writing
Strengthened the idea that a monarch’s power was not
absolute and that there were ‘mutual obligations’
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Edward I: ruled from 1272 to 1307
Rhuddlan Castle --In the town, Denbighshire, northeast Wales, one of
Edward’s first castles
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Beaumaris Castle
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Edward’s last
castle
The Growth of European Kingdoms
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Edward I known as a great military leader, very good at
castles and sieges
-during his reign, the English
Parliament emerged
-a form of representative government
-two knights from each county, two people from every
town, and all nobles and bishops
The Growth of European Kingdoms
-this assembly eventually developed into two separate
houses:
1. House of Lords—nobles and church lords
2. House of Commons—knights and townspeople
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Why do historians consider 1066 a turning
point in history?
This was the date of William of Normandy’s victory at
Hastings.
This was the beginning of a reorganization of English
government
The Growth of European Kingdoms
After the death of Charlemagne, the Carolingian Empire
was divided into three major sections
-Louis V (Louis the Do Nothing)
-the last Carolingian king
-died in 987
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Hugh Capet: chosen by French nobles as the new king
-began the Capetian Dynasty of French kings
-Capetians had very little ‘real’ power
-they only controlled a small area of land
around Paris )—Ile de France
-the Capetians were the ‘formal overlords’ of the other
French lords
-but in reality, many
other French dukes
(lesser lords) were
more powerful
The Growth of European Kingdoms
King Philip II Augustus: king of France 1180 to 1223
Waged war against the English possessions of Normandy,
Maine, Anjou, and Aquitaine
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Philip II Augustus gained control of most of these territories
for France
-he expanded the power of the French monarchy and
income as well as territory
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Louis IX: king of France from 1214 to 1270
-the Church named him
a saint in 1297
-became king at age 12
-Louis IX worked at
unifying all French
lands and was an
effective diplomat
(peacefully resolved
territorial disputes with
neighbors)
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Louis IX protected vassals from oppression and forced lords
to fulfill their obligations
-he largely eliminated feuds between French nobles
-he encouraged ‘written law’ so all knew what was expected
-he reformed taxation, and the court system
-virtually eliminated trial by
combat and replaced it with
court trials
-he founded a hospital
named Quinze-Vingts to
care for the sick, poor,
and blind
The crowning of Saint Louis
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Philip IV (Philip the Fair): French king from 1285 to 1314
-light hair and good looks
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Philip IV expanded the French bureaucracy
-expelled Jews from France after taking all of their
possessions
-removed one eye and threatened to remove the
other if they didn’t give up their claims
French government most efficient in Europe under his rule
1302: Philip IV calls for a meeting of the Estates-General to
swear allegiance to their king
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Three classes of the Estates-General:
1. First Estate: clergy
2. Second Estate: nobles
3. Third Estate: townspeople and peasants
French Parliament, although very limited in power
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Why was the reign of King Philip II
Augustus important to the growth of the
French monarchy?
He waged war against England and gained control of
the French territories of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and
Aquitaine
This increased income and power for the French
monarchy
The Growth of European Kingdoms
10th century: Saxon dukes become kings of Eastern
Frankish Kingdom
-this area will become known as Germany
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Otto I: crowned Emperor of the Romans in 962
-Otto agreed to protect the pope and his lands around
Rome
-new German leaders attempted to rule both Germany
and Italy
The Growth of European Kingdoms
-the purple is Otto’s
Empire
-although he didn’t
control the Italian
peninsula, he protected
Rome from the
Byzantine’s (orange) as
well as the Muslims
(green)
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Frederick I: Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190
In 1154, Frederick helped the
pope who was under revolt
Pope rewarded him by crowning
him Holy Roman Emperor in 1155
Frederick considered Italy to be
the center of a great ‘holy empire’
Frederick in a 13th century Chronicle
Frederick ends up going against
pope and tries to conquer northern
Italy
1176: Lombards and other northern
Italian states unite with pope to
defeat Frederick’s army and drive
him back north across the Alps
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Frederick II: Holy Roman
Emperor from 1220 to 1250
-also from Hohenstausen family
-he also wanted to establish a unified
Italian and Germanic kingdom
-tried to centralize Italian states, but
they resisted and wanted to maintain
their autonomies
-pope was able to unify with
northern Italian states and defeat
Frederick II’s army as well
Frederick II (left) meets al-Kamil (right)—from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_R
oman_Emperor
As these Hohenstausen kings
focused on trying to unite Italy,
Germany became controlled by
strong local lords who established
their own independent kingdoms
-these nobles began to ignore the
emperor, which weakened the
German monarchy
-the Holy Roman Emperor lost
power
-as a result, both Germany and
Italy maintain highly powerful
and independent states
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 What is the origin of the term Holy Roman
Empire?
German kings received the title of Roman Emperor
from the pope, but they considered Italy as the center
of a “holy empire,” hence the name
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Slavs: central European group which split into 3 main
factions
Belarussians
Wends
Czechs
Slovaks
Croatians
Poles
Yugoslavs
Bosnians
Macedonians Russians
Ukrainians
Serbs
Slovenes
Rusyns
1. Western Slavs:
-Czechs in Poland and
Bohemia
-accepted Roman
Catholicism
-Hungarians (nonSlavic) also accepted
Catholicism
2. Eastern Slavs:
-settled in Belorussia,
Ukraine, Russia
-accepted Eastern
Orthodox Christianity
-were converted by
Byzantine missionaries
Cyril and Methodius
around 863
-their culture focused on
Byzantium rather than
Rome
3. Southern Slavs:
-Croats, Serbs, Bulgarians
-Croats accepted
Catholicism (Rome)
-Serbs and Bulgarians
became Orthodox
(Byzantium)
-separated these cultures
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 From where did the Slavic peoples
originate?
From central Europe
The Growth of European Kingdoms
8th century: Slavs of Ukraine and Russia were overcome
by Swedish Vikings
The Growth of European Kingdoms
The Slavs in these areas called the Viking plunderers the Rus
Oleg: Viking ruler who moved capital from Novgorod to Kiev
-Viking ruler from 879 to 912
-created the Kievan Rus
-united the Eastern Slavs of what is today Belarus and
Ukraine
-his successors extended the territory of Kievan Rus
-controlled the area between Baltic and Black Seas and
Danube and Volga Rivers
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Kievan Rus about 900 AD
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Kievan Rus about 1000 AD
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Vikings married Slavic women, created a new culture
Vladimir I: Kievan ruler who married Byzantine
emperor’s sister (Basil II’s sister, Anna)
-before this time, Vladimir was pagan, and had
taken several wives
-officially accepted Orthodox Christianity in 988
-gave up other wives, destroyed pagan
statues
-Kievan Rus prospered until mid-11th century
-civil wars and Mongol invasions ended the
state
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Alexander
Nevsky: Russian
ruler who defeated
an invading
German army in
1242
-Mongols
rewarded Nevsky
by naming him
‘high prince of
Moscow’
-his descendants became princes of Moscow, and strongest
rulers of the area which will become Russia
The Growth of European Kingdoms
This icon depicts St.
Alexander Nevsky
along with St. Titus and
St. Polycarpus
He was canonized Saint
Alexander locally in
1380, recognized by the
Russian Church in 1547
The Growth of European Kingdoms
How was the Viking ruling class
gradually assimilated into the Slavic
population?
Many of them married Slavic women
The Growth of European Kingdoms
Common law:
A uniform system of law that developed in England based
on court decisions and customs and usage rather than on
written law codes
This replaced law codes that varied from place to place
Magna Carta:
Estate:
The “Great Charter” of rights which King John was forced
to sign by the English nobles at Runnymeade in 1215
One of the three classes into which French society was divided
before the revolution
1st estate—the clergy
2nd estate—the nobles
3rd estate—the townspeople
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Know the following names and events from the
power point:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
William of Normandy
Battle of Hastings
Henry II
Thomas à Becket
Edward I
Capetian dynasty
Philip II Augustus
Otto I
Slavs
Hungarians
Mongols
Alexander Nevsky
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Explain what Henry II accomplished when
he expanded the power of the royal courts
in England.
He expanded the king’s power and helped to create
common law
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Unified national monarchies did not
develop in Germany and Italy as they did
in France and England in the High Middle
Ages. Explain why this did not happen.
The German kings spent much time in Italy which
allowed independent kingdoms to be established
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Fill in the following chart to show the
achievements of each listed ruler:
Monarch/Country
Achievements
Henry II (England)
Strengthened royal courts
John (England)
Signed the Magna Carta
Edward I (England)
Development of English Parliament
Philip II Augustus
(France)
Regained territory from the English
Philip IV (France)
Established the Estates-General, first French
Parliament
The Growth of European
Kingdoms
 Examine the photograph of the medieval
castle shown on page 294 of the textbook.
Identify at least three major architectural
elements that helped inhabitants of the
castle to defend themselves against attack.
Turrets, moat, gated windows…