Download April 16th and 17th

Royal Power Notes

The student will demonstrate
knowledge of social,
economic, and political
changes and cultural
achievements in the late
medieval period by
 Describing the emergence of
nation-states and distinctive
political developments in each
 Identify patterns of crisis and
recovery related to the Black
Death

Questions
 How did European nation-states
expand their territories and
consolidate their power?
 How did the Black Death alter
economic and social institutions in
much of Asia and then in Europe?
Had Domesday Book
compiled  1086 census,
listed every castle, field,
and pigpen in England (tax
collecting system)

▪ Called that because no one could
escape
▪ Helped William plan taxes
▪ Created a royal exchequer, or
treasury



Battle of Hastings 
William the Conqueror
defeated Harold and
assumed the crown of
England
Led the Norman conquest
United England
Exerted firm control over
his lands




Granted fiefs to the church
and his Norman lords
Monitored the building of
castles
Required every vassal to
swear first allegiance to
him

Broadened system of royal
justice

▪ Had Thomas a Becket
beheaded
▪ Was archbishop of Canterbury
▪ Henry had to back down from
challenging the church
 Reigned from 1154- 1189 A.D.
 Energetic and well-educated
 Increased criminal cases heard by
King


Common Law  decisions of
royal courts, law that was the
same for all people
Jury System  a group of men
sworn to speak the truth,
determined which cases should
be brought to trial

Established early jury system, group of
men sworn to speak the truth
Tried to limit role of church

Married Eleanor of Aquitaine
 Dowry included French lands
Henry’s son King John was
clever, but greedy and
cruel
 Lost war against Philip II

 Lost land in France and
battled with Pope over
Canterbury
▪ gave up English lands in Anjou
and Normandy

Nobles resented growing
power of the King
 Rebellion occurred

Signed Magna Carta
(1215)
 Nobles had certain rights 
overtime these rights were
extended to all English
citizens
 The monarch must obey the
law
▪ Basis of the right known as “due
process of law”
▪ King Edward I, representative
government was developed
 Called the English Parliament
▪ Granted taxes and passed laws
▪ Usually made of two knights from
every county

843 A.D. Carolingian Empire
was divided into three sections

Frankish lands, were mainly
France

987 A.D. the last Carolingian
king died
 Kings afterwards had little power
 Dukes were more powerful
 Royal domain only included Paris,

Hugh Capet 987 C.E.
 Count of Paris who increased royal
power and built an effective
bureaucracy
▪ Government officials collected
taxes
▪ Imposed royal law
▪ Backed middle class townspeople
 Made the throne hereditary and
won the support of the Church
called Ile-de-France
 Added to French royal
lands

King Phillip Augustus
(Phillip II)
 Reigned from 1180- 1223
 Turning point for French
monarchy
 Waged war against England
▪ Reclaimed much of Normandy
as well as parts of Anjou
▪ Expanded territory and wealth,
as well as power
 By 1300 France was largest
and best governed state in
Europe
▪ Paid middle-classmen to
government positions instead
of appointing nobility
 Granted charters for new
towns, organized a standing
army and created a national
tax
 By 1233 Philip was the most
powerful ruler in Europe

 Isabella ended Muslim
1469 Isabella of Castile
married Ferdinand of
Aragon
policy of religious
toleration
▪ Supports the Inquisition
▪ Court to accuse people of
heresy
▪ Jews and Muslims
attacked and burned at
the stake
▪ Isabella expelled Jews in
1492 and Muslims that
didn’t convert by 1502
 Created a unified state
▪ Combined forces to finally
expel the Muslims
 1492 completed the
Reconquista with the
capture of Granada

The Spanish Empire
expanded under Charles V

Until 1480 Mongols
dominated the Rus
 Ivan refused to pay tribute to
Mongols

Wanted to create a seat of
Christian power
 Overthrew Mongols
▪ Created centralized
government
Increased Russia's
landholdings
 Established absolute
rule in Russia (Czar)

Black Death – Bubonic
Plague
 Disease spread by fleas on
rats

 Spread from Asia to Europe
(trade routes)

Fleas jumped from rats to
infest the clothes and
packs of traders traveling
west
 Took four years to reach all
parts of Europe
Unsanitary conditions in
towns and homes
guaranteed the disease
would spread
 Symptoms – swelling,
black bruises, heavy
sweats, & convulsive
coughing

 People spat blood and stank
terribly (rotting flesh)

Economic
 Town populations fell
▪ Trade declined
 Workers were scare
 Farmland abandoned
 Serfs unpaid
▪ Manorial system crumbled
 Peasant revolts against nobility in
England, France, Italy, and
Belgium

Social
 Pessimistic outlooks
▪ Some people turned to magic and
witchcraft for cures
 Massive migration

Religious
 Church lost prestige
▪ Clergy took advantage of performing
funerals
 Christians blamed the Jews for the
plague
 Some saw the plague as God’s
punishment – beat themselves
with whips to show repentance for
their sins
The Hundred Years’ War
Edward III (English King)
claimed the French
throne in 1337
 The became known as
the “Hundred Years
War” because it was
fought on and off from
1337- 1453 C.E.
 Fought mainly on
French soil


At first, England won a
string of victories

 English Victory in 1347 C.E.
 they owed their success to
 Again English longbows
the longbow
prevailed
 The French King and his son
were captured and held for
ransom
▪ discharged three arrows at a
time and its arrows pierced all
but the heaviest armor

1st victory at the Battle of
Crecy August 26, 1346 C.E.
 English archers and
footsoldiers destroyed the
arrogant French knights
Poitiers

Agincourt
 1415 C.E. English Victory
 6000 English versus 20-
30,000 French
 Success of longbow key

It looked like England
would win the war
 French and English had
signed a treaty allowing
Henry V to inherit French
crown

In 1429 C.E. Joan of Arc
convinced the French King
to let her lead his army
against the English
 Battle of Orleans

Unified French troops/
nation

The English captured Joan
of Arc, tried her for
witchcraft, and burned
her at the stake

French viewed Joan as a
martyr (strengthened
their cause)
 French went on the
offensive after Joan’s death
– used the cannon (new
weapon) to attack the
English

France – created a growing
sense of nationalism in
France and allowed French
Kings to expand their power

England – forced the
English Kings to rely heavily
on Parliament to fund the
war (England lost its French
lands – what remained)
 “Power of the purse”
 End of the Middle Ages

The student will demonstrate
knowledge of social,
economic, and political
changes and cultural
achievements in the late
medieval period by
 Describing the emergence of
nation-states and distinctive
political developments in each
 Identify patterns of crisis and
recovery related to the Black
Death

Questions
 How did European nation-states
expand their territories and
consolidate their power?
 How did the Black Death alter
economic and social institutions in
much of Asia and then in Europe?