Transcript Setting the Stage for the Reformation

Revival of the Monarchy in
Northern Europe
Political Change during the
Renaissance
Politics and the State
 15th Century rulers centralized power
– Many sought to eliminate disorder &
violence within their borders
– All invested royal power with authority and
sense of national purpose
 Charles VII, Louis XI & Francis I of
France
 Henry VII of England
 Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain
France
 Charles VII, 1422-1461 (Joan of Arc)
– Truly gains authority after 1429/1430; begins
recovery of France
– Expelled the English / begins unifying France
– Ushers in a united France with the help of
Jacques Coeur: reorganized the royal council,
finances, etc.
– Creates first royal army
– Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges 1438, begins to
take control of the Church in France – electing
bishops – and keeping revenue from the Pope
France (cont’d)
 Louis XI, 1461-1483, The Spider King
– Invades Burgundy, Anjou, Bar, Maine, Provence
• Burgundy is divided amongst Louis XI and the HRE
Maximilian I
– Laid the groundwork for French absolutism (pg.
300)
 Charles VIII, 1483-1498
– 1494-1495 – marches across Italy to take Naples
– 1495 meets up against League of Venice: France
and Spain continue to fight until 1559.
 Francis I, 1516-1547 (Gallican Church = French
National Catholic Church)
– Concordat of Bologna, 1516: Pope Leo X
formally agrees to let Francis appoint bishops and
abbots – BUT – Francis agrees to let pope collect
annates & recognizes the pope’s superiority over
church councils
Spain
 Finally United through the marriage of Isabella
to Ferdinand (El Catolico - “Most Catholic
Nation”)
– Isabella of Castile (and Spanish Americas) &
Ferdinand of Aragon (Balearic Islands, Sardinia,
Sicily & Naples)
 no common political, judicial or administrative
institutions
 Aristocratic power lessened under I & F
 Church used to strengthen royal authority
– reconquista ends (last Arabs driven out by 1492;
majority of Jews relocated)
– Inquisition established to maintain sense of
“Spainishness”
England
Disorder!
Civil Conflict!
Murder!
The War of the Roses
1455-1485
House of York (white rose) vs.
House of Lancaster (red rose)
 Henry IV, 1399-1413 – Black Death / disorder /
damages trade, agriculture, industry
– Henry V, 1413-1422 – In line to become King of
France BUT dies
– Henry VI, mentally disturbed --- monarchy sinks
– Edward IV – York, took throne in 1461 (-1483)
• Began to reaffirm royal authority
• Reduced royal reliance on Parliament for $
 Richard III, Duke of Gloucester (1483-5)
– Edward’s sons imprisoned & murdered
– Was Richard involved?
 War continues
– Henry Tudor VII (1485-1509) challenges Richard III
• Defeats Richard III at Bosworth in 1485
– Marries Elizabeth of York (Edward IV’s daughter)
England, cont’d
 Henry VII (Tudor)
– Gained throne by force
– Came to control the Parliament
– Used the royal council to his advantage,
Star Chamber (royal court dealing with legal
issues w/o jury; court of appeals)
– Won the support of many by promoting
economic stability in England
– Avoided expensive civil wars, passed laws
against “livery and maintenance.”
– Diplomacy, Diplomacy, Diplomacy
England (conclusion)
 Henry VII (cont’d)
- 1501 marries his son to Catherine of
Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain
- 1509 – Henry dies
England is at peace – (after 200 years)
Economically stable
Monarchy has regained prestige
Holy Roman Empire
 Over 300 different German states
– princely states
• Saxony, Brandenburg, Bavaria
– ecclesiastical states
• bishoprics, abbacies
Also
known as
the
Hanseatic
League
– free imperial states
• 65 states, combined do not equal large territory
BUT they dominated financial & commercial life
Holy Roman Emperor
 elective office – reaffirmed local liberties of
states
 after Golden Bull, 1356 – seven electors
– Count of Palatine; Duke of Saxony; Margrave of
Brandenburg; King of Bohemia
– Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, and Trier
 1438 – Habsburg family dominates the throne
in HRE (also Austria and by 1516 Spain)
– Habsburgs rule in Spain until 1700
– Over HRE until its dissolution in 1806
– In Austria until 1916
Habsburgs – European
Dynasty
 Maximilian I (1493-1519)
– administrative “circles”, Imperial Chamber,
Imperial Council and Reichstag BUT…
– strategic use of royal marriages
• he marries Mary of Burgundy (France &
Netherlands)
• their son, Philip, marries Joanna heiress of
Castile & Spanish America, Aragon & its
Mediterranean & Italian possessions
• their son, Charles, inherits all this PLUS is
elected Holy Roman Emperor, 1519
Habsburg Brothers
 Charles V (a.k.a. Charles I) – most powerful
ruler of his time
 Ferdinand (his brother) elected King of
Bohemia and Hungary
– attempt to protect areas from the Turks, who had
been moving into Europe from Constantinople
since 1453
 “Universal Monarchy”
– Threat to balance of power and other nation’s
independence
– France especially worried