Rise of European Monarchies

Invasions, settlements, and influence of migratory groups

• Invasions by Angles, Saxons, Magyars, and Vikings disrupted the social, economic, and political order of Europe.

Areas of settlement

• Angles and Saxons migrated from continental Europe to England.

• Magyars migrated from Central Asia to Hungary.

• Vikings migrated from Scandinavia to Russia.

Influence of the Angles, Saxons, Magyars, and Vikings

• Manors with castles provided protection from invaders, reinforcing the feudal system.

• Invasions disrupted trade, towns declined, and the feudal system was strengthened.

So,

• How did invasions by the Angles, Saxons, Magyars, and Vikings influence the development of Europe?

• European monarchies consolidated power and began forming nation-states in the late medieval period.

• During the early medieval period, kings were rulers only in name--they had very little power

• in the 1100’s, many monarchs in Europe began building powerful states with powerful governments

Medieval England

• England was repeatedly invaded by Germanic tribes from the 400’s until the 1000’s–Angles, Saxons, and Jutes–Danes, Vikings

• one king was able to help England defend itself from Viking invasion in the 800’s--King Alfred the Great (871-899)

• Alfred was an active learner, founding schools and hiring translators to translate books

• Alfred also commissioned a history of England to be created--Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

King Alfred

• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was continuously updated for 250 years

• England did not fare so well after Alfred’s death--his successors were very weak

• 1066: England will be invaded and change hands after King Edward dies– after Edward’s death, three (3) persons in

Europe lay claim to the English throne

Norman Invasion

• William the Conqueror, leader of the Norman Conquest, united most of England.

• William, Duke of Normandy was one man who claimed to be the next king of England– he was a cousin to King Edward and a vassal to the king

of France• William assembled a large force of men (6,000) and

set sail for England• Harold Godwinson was another claiming the

throne

Norman Invasion

• Harold and William fought over the throne at the Battle of Hastings in 1066– William wins the battle and the throne– he becomes King William I of England– he will also be called William the Conqueror

• *Although king of England, William still

wants to keep the loyalty of his Norman vassals back in France

• to keep their loyalty, he gives them land that once belong to Anglo-Saxon churches and nobles

• William also sets up a new system of tax collection

• to get an accurate estimate of how much tax he could collect, he commissioned a census to count every person, farm, town, farm animal, etc. in England--a 1st for Europe--Doomsday Book

*1066: The Year of Conquest & Making of England: 6th Edition

William the Conqueror

• William will start a new dynasty of rulers in England

• Henry I (1100-1135): William’s grandson– Henry I greatly increases the power of the monarch– he created a system of royal courts--he was known as

the “Lion of Justice”• Henry II (1154-1189): he was the grandson of

Henry I– he will continue to improve on the judicial system

• Henry II establishes common law--law that applied to everyone

• Common law had its beginnings during the reign of Henry II.

• he set up a grand jury to meet with judges– this grand jury gave names to judges of suspected

criminals• he also created a petit jury used to find the guilt

or innocence of a person who was on trial• he will restructure England’s military• he will improve England’s tax system

• Henry ran into problems with the Catholic Church in

England• Henry had appointed one of his friends-Thomas

Beckett--as archbishop of Canterbury– Henry does this as a way to get a powerful friend into the

Church• Eventually, Henry II will order his friend to be

murdered– Beckett does not back Henry when Henry tries to keep

others from taking the throne--thus Beckett is murdered

• The rulers that followed Henry were not as strong

as he• his sons--Richard I and John– John loses English land to the French– John does many things that anger the people--raising

taxes– 1215--the angry English force John to sign the Magna

Carta– the Magna Carta was a charter that placed limits on

the king’s power

• What the Magna Carta did:1.) the king could not raise taxes without the

consent of the Great Council2.) outlawed imprisonment without a fair trial

by one’s peers

• Another important facet of English government will arise in

the late 1100 and early 1200’s--Parliament• the rise of Parliament was hinged on the rising middle class in

England– this middle class made their money from business, not farming

• the king of England--Henry III--added knights and townspeople to the Great Council, eventually called Parliament

• Parliament soon included members from the clergy, nobles, and townspeople--making Parliament almost a direct representation of the English people

• In the 15th century (1400’s) Parliament will

have been divided into two houses or chambers:

1.) House of Lords: -nobles and clergy

2.) House of Commons: -knights and townspeople

Henry II

Richard I

John

France

• France will also develop a very strong monarchy during the Medieval Period

• France’s government, however, will not be like the representative government that had been created in England

• French lands will break up during the time

period before the 1000’s• each of these lands was ruled by different

lords who were independent of each other• 987: Hugh Capet will seize the throne of

France

• the dynasty created by Capet would last for 300 years

• this dynasty greatly strengthened the French monarchy by slowly making the French lords come under the kings’ control

• Hugh Capet established the French throne in Paris, and his dynasty gradually expanded their control over most of France.

Hugh Capet

• 1100’s: As the French monarchs became more powerful, the number of French towns increase

• 1108: King Louis VI becomes king– he will use the French townspeople to help

strengthen the royal government– he gave townspeople and members of the clergy

high positions in his court

• Louis VI also gave towns the right to govern themselves--making the towns no longer under feudal obligations

• the townspeople were now loyal to the king, not the feudal lords

• 1180: Phillip II (1180-1223) becomes king of

France & doubles its size– he does this through marriage and by retaking land

from England• he will also take land away from feudal lords• he appoints local officials who are loyal to the

king– both of the above greatly weaken the power of the

feudal lords

Philip II

• 1226: Louis IX becomes king of France• he will pass certain laws that further weaken the

feudal lords– royal courts had power over the feudal courts– only the king had the right to mint coins– he banned private wars and certain weapons

• Louis IX was also very religious– he was made a saint in 1297– he was a very moral and chivalrous king

• Phillip IV (aka. Phillip the Fair) also

strengthened the power of the French king– he gained even more territory for France by

defeating both Flanders and England– he began taxing the clergy– he created the Estates-General--composed of

nobles, clergy, and townspeople• French kings will have almost absolute power

in France

Holy Roman Empire

• France and England were becoming very strong states during the Middle Ages

• the HRE (modern day Germany), however, still stayed very weak

• the HRE was heavily entangled in the politics of the Pope and Italy

• In the 1000 and 1100, German kings posed real

threats to the Pope’s power • King Otto I will try to take over parts of Italy• 961: Otto is able to take over Lombardy, a province

in Italy• 962: Pope John XII will ask Otto for help in fighting

the Romans who were against the pope• in return for Otto’s help, Pope John made Otto

Emperor of the Romans--Holy Roman Emperor

• With this new title, Otto and his followers had certain powers– they could approve or disapprove the election of

popes• the problem with this new power was that the

HRE could depose popes while the pope had the right to depose kings--a struggle over who had real power will develop between the HRE and popes

• Holy Roman Emperors had troubles developing a strong German state because the powerful German princes would not relinquish their power

• Many civil wars break out in the HRE• These wars weaken the power of the

Emperors in the HRE

• 1073: a major dispute occurred between the HRE and the pope• Henry IV was HRE and the pope was Pope Gregory VII• Pope Gregory outlaws lay investiture--the process of lay kings

appointing the clergy– Gregory wanted to free the Church from secular control

• Henry IV refused to follow the pope because he needed to have power over the bishops to keep power over the feudal lords

• upon this, Pope Gregory excommunicated and deposed Henry• Gregory also tries to get the German nobles to select another

ruler

• Henry will give in to the Pope and traveled to Rome

to repent (1077)• the struggle between the HRE and the pope will

continue until the early 1100’s• 1122: the HRE and Pope reach a compromise in the

city of Worms, Germany– This meeting stated that the HRE was allowed to name

bishops and give bishops land– The Pope, however, had the power to refuse to approve

unworthy candidates for bishopship