Transcript The Rise of States

The Rise of States
France, England, and
Germany
Political Revival
11th Century a new political stability began
Rulers in France, England, and Germany
worked to reduce private warfare and civil
anarchy
In the 10th Century Charlemagne’s descendents
continued to hold the royal title in the West
Frankish kingdom
– They did not exercise control over the feudal lords
England
After Roman Legions left England Angles and
Saxons invaded and set up several kingdoms
In the 9th it was conquered by Normans but The
Saxon Alfred the Great remained to hold off the
Normans
In 911 AD the West Frankish King (Charles the
Simple) officially recognized a Viking ruler, Rollo
and gave him more land from France
– In turn Rollo gave allegiance to Charles and agreed to
hold the region as a barrier against future Viking
attacks
This left a difficult situation for the Anglo-Saxons
Duke William I
Descendent of Rollo
Under his control rebellious lords ignored ducal
authority, built private castles, and engaged in
private warfare
Beginning in 1060, he united the Norman nobility
under threat of external aggression from the
counts of Blois and Maine
Defended his frontier with a circle of castles
Made feudalism work as a system of
government
Executed vassals who defaulted on their
obligations
1066
In 1066 the Normans who had settled in France
defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of
Hastings under the command of William the
Conqueror, Duke of Normandy
He kept 1/6 of the territory for himself and left
the rest to his nobles but he made sure that
nobody got powerful enough to oppose him
Henry I came to power in 1100 and began to
make legal reforms- common law
– Consolidate a mixture of Anglo-Saxon law, Feudal
law, church law, and commercial law
Henry II continued these legal reforms (trial by
jury)
King John
John was engaged in a losing battle with France and
coerced his vassals into giving him more and more
money
– Threatened them with unfair punishments without trials
– The barons rebelled
Magna Carta was signed in 1215
– Limited the actions of the king regarding his vassals
– Germanic tradition of a Kings consulting his barons for advice
– By the 13th the House of Lords (Bishops and Nobles) and the
House of Commons developed (Knights and burghers)
– By the 14th, Parliament was in place
France
Northern France had strong feudal
elements
Southern territories used Roman Law
Five counties dominated northern France
– Anjou, Blois-Chartres, Brittany, Flanders, and
Normandy
Capetian Dynasty
In 987, when the last of the Carolingian rulers
died, nobles assembled to choose a successor
Hugh Capet was selected
– Soon after his coronation he crowned his son to
ensure succession and prevent disputes after his
death
Saved France from further division
By hanging onto their lands they laid the
foundation for later political stability
Consolidation of France
Louis VI (1108-1137) begins to subdue the barons in his
duchy
Philip Augustus (1180- 1223) makes the biggest strides
– He struck at King John of England who had more territory as a
feudal lord in France than Phillip did
William the Conqueror’s great-grandson Henry Plantagenet (Henry
II) married Eleanor of Aquitaine (formerly married to Louis VII of
France). Henry and Eleanor had 8 kid. John and Richard were 2 of
them.
– In seizing this property he tripled the size of France
Louis IX (1226-1270) began to take legal control and
centralize the power of the monarch
Phillip IV established the Estates General (did not limit
monarchy)
France was unified but regional loyalty persisted
Germany
After the destruction of the Carolingian Empire,
German territories were broken into large
duchies
German dukes elected one of their own as king
but he had little authority outside of his duchy
Otto the Great tried to control the dukes
In 961 he entered Italy to protect the Pope and
in 962 the pope crowned him (alla
Charlemagne) Emperor of the Romans (later the
Holy Roman Emperor)
Revival of the Empire
History of Medieval Germany is tied with Italy
and the pope
Otto and his successors wanted to dominate
Italy and the pope
This put the empire in a struggle with the papacy
who ended up siding with the German dukes
German intervention in Italian politics was a
main reason why it didn’t achieve unity
Otto’s descendents will end up in better disputes
with the papacy
King Otto 936-973
Lead the Germans in a crushing defeat on the Magyars
Made Otto a great hero to the Germans
– Demonstrated that he could be a successor to
Charlemagne
– Selected Aachen as the site of his coronation to symbolize
his intention to continue the tradition of Charlemagne
– Relied on the church to halt feudal anarchy
– Got financial support and the bulk of his army from
ecclesiastical lands
– Coronated by the Pope in 962
– Filled a power vacuum in northern Italy and brought peace
among the great aristocratic families