The New Monarchs
Chapter 13
Part 7
The New Monarchs
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Many of basic institutions of the modern state
were created in the High Middle Ages:
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Sheriffs, inquests, juries, circuit judges, professional
bureaucrats, representative assemblies…
But the creation of the nation-state depended on
a strong monarchy
Centralization began after the
Hundred Years’ War (15th C.)
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Biggest problems of the monarchs
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Most important: power struggle with the
nobility
Power struggle with the Church was also
problematic
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Monarchs needed to curb the power
of the Nobility
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Monarchs needed to reduce violence & establish
order (both were important to the middle class)
Monarchs will rely more heavily on the middle
class as government officials
The Nobility will be replaced by the middle class
who will be loyal to the monarch because their
new positions were all due to the king.
The nobles’ positions were inherited and not
generally “given” to them by the king
The monarchs and the Nobility
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To curb the power of the nobles monarchs had
to be tough, cynical, and ruthless
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Machiavelli: Deal with things as they are; not as
they ought to be
People are ungrateful, barbaric, dishonest, stupid
In the Middle Ages the ideal ruler was just, kind
and merciful, fair…not any more
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France
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Was fragmented after the Hundred Years’ War
Remember, in France, it was a Civil War too
Problems with Burgundy, etc
Nobles were vying for the king’s power
Monarch unwilling to share power so no
assemblies
BUT lack of widespread authority = tough to
enforce the law in out-lying areas
Centralization began with
Charles VII (1422-1461)
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Defeated Burgundy in 1477
Expanded trade
Reorganized the Royal Council (advisors) by
packing it with middle class rather than nobles
Creation of a permanent standing army
Expanded state control over the Church
The Galician Church
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The Pragmatic Sanction of the Bourges:
Reaffirmed that the state was more powerful
than the Church in France.
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Gave the crown power over Church
appointments (Bishops) and gave the crown the
authority to tax Church lands in France
Louis XI (the Spider King)
1461-1483
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Was ruthless in dealing with uncooperative
nobility
Promoted new industries
Encouraged skilled craftsmen to come to France
Made trade agreements with other countries
Increased taxes and improved army
Brought Brittany under French control through
the marriage of his son, Charles to Anne of
Brittany
Charles VIII 1483-1498
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1494-1498 Invaded Italy at the request of
Ludivico the Moor (Milan)
Louis XII 1498-1515
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Also married Anne of Brittany
Entered into The League of Cambrai prior to
the invasion of Italy which began the HapsburgValois War
Francis I 1515-1545
was the biggest enemy of Charles V
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Fought the Hapsburgs throughout his reign
1516 The Concordat of Balogna with Pope
Leo X:
Rescinded earlier Pragmatic Sanction of the
Bourges.
Pope could receive first year’s income of NEW
bishops and abbots but crown could select new
bishops and abbots (even more power to the
state over the Church)
England
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100 Years’ War 1337-1453
War of the Roses 1455-1485
Many nobles died due to above
So a little easier to remove their influence from
court
Nobles now controlled by The Star Chamber
The Tudors
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England small, weak & unimportant country
BUT Growth of a strong monarchy under
Henry VII (the founder of the dynasty)
Developed standard government procedures for
law, taxation
Tried to avoid foreign wars to decrease
dependence on Parliament
Henry VII
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Created the Royal Council
Made up of mostly middle class
Had wide powers: judicial, executive, legislative
The Star Chamber was an off-shoot of the RC
Had secret sessions
Used torture to discourage the ambitions of the
nobility
England
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Had no standing army or professional
bureaucrats
Relied on Justices of the Peace for local control
The crown was supported by upper middle class
because its policies favored them.
Security and order is what the upper middle
class wanted and got
England
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Henry VII encouraged the cloth industry
Built up the merchant marine
Peace with Scotland with marriage of daughter,
Margaret
Crushed an Irish rebellion
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Country was in good shape for son, Henry VIII
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Spain
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Spain shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal
Was divided into 4 kingdoms: Castile, Aragon,
Navarre, Grenada
1469 Marriage Ferdinand to Isabella
consolidating Castile and Aragon
By 1492 they had conquered the other two and
had driven the Moors out of Grenada
The Reconquista
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For centuries the Christians wanted religious
homogeny in Spain
The Reconquista: Jews and Muslims were
strongly encouraged to convert or leave (or die)
Control of the Spanish Church
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Spanish Pope, Alexander VI gave the crown
power to appoint bishops in Spain and in
Spanish overseas territories
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Revenue from Church lands went to establish a
permanent standing army
The Jews in Spain
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Jews had earlier been expelled from England
and France
Was much resentment in Spain
Jews were the Doctors, Bankers, wealthy
Most had converted during the Reconquista
BUT were still not trusted by the bulk of the
population
After the Reconquista
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Converts were called Conversos or Marranos
About 200,000 Jews in Spain
If the New Christians were protected by the
crown, the crown would lose popular support
Popular belief that the conversions were false
and that the Jews continued to practice their old
religion
1480 The Inquisition
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To gain support of the majority of the
population
Was sanctioned by Pope Sixtus IV
Was used against Jews, Muslims and later,
Protestants
No reformation in Spain
Church had been reformed by Cisneros
(Dominican humanist & author of the Polyglot)
Centralization of
Ferdinand and Isabella
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Began to build overseas empire
Mesta government organization to encourage
sheep ranching
Hermandad alliance of groups in cities and
towns
Were police force and tribunals
 Ruthlessly repressed violence and kept order
 Opposed to the nobility
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The Royal Council
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Aristocrats were excluded
Members were middle class
BUT in Spain, not much of a middle class due to
their expulsion
The HRE
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1356 The Golden Bull 7 German electors were
given the right to name the HRE
BUT after 1452 the HRE was controlled by the
Hapsburgs
The Empire was made up of 300+ sovereign
states
The HRE had little power as over time, one
after another had traded powers for votes