High Middle Ages- part I:The Growth of Royal

PowerHonors Western Civilization

Mrs. Civitella

I. Growth of Royal PowerDuring the Early Middle Ages- 500-

1300 A.D.:

Feudal Power Church PowerLords offered protection

Owned huge amounts of land

Nobles ruled their own courts

Church courts heard cases involving clergy and Canon Law

Coined their own money

Coined their own money

Had their own army

Could raise armies

II. Trade led to an increase in Royal power

A. Feudal warfare disrupted tradeB. The new middle class (merchants

living in trading cities) preferred powerful kings who encouraged trade:

1. Reduced tolls on trade routes2. Reduced sales taxes3. Kings established royal courts4. Royal courts administered uniform laws

throughout the country

III. Trade benefited kings

• Wealthier towns could be more heavily taxed

• Paid soldiers were hired for royal armies(lessened the dependence on feudal lords

for military protection of the kingdom)Monarchs took advantage of

political, economic, and social changes to centralize power

IV. The Anglo-SaxonsA. The Norman Conquest1. 1066 Anglo-Saxon Edward the Confessor

died without an heir to the throne2. Three rival kings all claimed rights to

the throne3. One of the claimants was William, the

Duke of Normandya) A cousin of the Edwardb) Descendant of the Vikings (tough)c) Vassal of the French kingd) Held a feudal stronghold in northwestern

France

Battle of Hastings

4. Gathering a force of several hundred boats and some 6,000 soldiers, he invaded England in 1066 A.D.

5. He had the backing of the Pope6. William defeated Harold, the king

chosen by the Anglo-Saxon nobles, on Christmas Day 1066

7. The victory gave William the English crown and the title William the Conqueror

V. The Growth of Royal Power

A. William I was very involved in the decisions of his kingdom1) He took Anglo-Saxon lands and kept

some for himself2) Gave some land to his Norman (French)

vassals in return for military service3) Gave some land to the Church4) He required every vassal to swear

allegiance to him (instead of a feudal lord)

Growth of royal power continued

5) In 1086, William had a complete census taken to determine taxable wealth

6) This was the first census of western Europe taken since Roman times

7) Every person, manor, and farm animal was counted

8) The census data was recorded in the Domesday Book

VI. A blending of English and French culture

1. William I’s court and nobles were French-speaking

2. England’s population remained largely Anglo-Saxon

3. Over the next 300 years Norman French and Anglo-Saxon ways blended to form a new English culture

4. William’s heirs increase royal power

a) Henry I, William’s son (ruled 1100-1135) created the royal exchequer, or treasury to efficiently collect taxes

b) Henry I expanded the power of royal courts by sending circuit judges into the countryside

c) In each town, a circuit judge ordered juries to report on crimes and disputes

a) The jurors made their decisions based on whatever facts were generally known

b) Eventually two types of juries developed:

1. grand jury- decided what cases would be brought to trial

2. trial jury- gave verdicts on the cases

5. Henry II established an early jury system

VII. Common Law and dependence on the King

A. Any free man could bring a case before a royal court

B. These court decisions became the basis for common law

C. Accepted legal principles were applied to everyone throughout England

D. Royal courts increased the people’s dependence on the King

E. Fees and fines of the court increased the treasury of the King

VIII. Henry II vs.

Thomas Becket

A. Henry II came into power in England in 1154B. In 1162 Henry II made Thomas Becket the

Archbishop of CanterburyC. Becket had been a long-time advisor and friend to

the KingD. Prior to Henry’s reforms, members of the clergy

who were accused of a crime could claim “benefit of the clergy” and were tried in Church courts

E. Church punishments were much less severe than those of feudal or royal courts

F. In 1162 Henry declared that everyone, even clergy, must be tried for crimes in royal courts

Henry II vs. Thomas Becket

G. Becket protested and claimed that clergy were not subject to royal laws and royal courts

H. Becket excommunicated one of Henry’s vassals

I. This meant that the vassal could no longer serve in the royal army

J. This put the Church and the King in direct conflict with one another

• In 1170 Henry ordered four of his knights to execute Becket

• They assassinated Becket in Canterbury Cathedral after he finished mass

• The assassination backfired on Henry• The English people were upheld that

Becket was murdered • He became a martyr

IX. Becket the Martyr

• The Church made Thomas Becket as saint

• Miracles were said to have taken place at his tomb

• Canterbury Cathedral became a major pilgrimage and tourist site in England

• Henry backed down on the issue of clergy being tried in royal courts

X. King John and the Magna Carta

A. John (Henry II’s youngest son) reigned from 1190-1220

B. He inherited a huge debtC. John believed that the nobles in

England were plotting against himD. In 1204 John lost the region of

Normandy to FranceE. He spent much of his reign trying to

get it back

XI The Magna Carta

A. John put enormous taxes on the English people in an attempt to get out of debt and fight the war

B. He alienated the Church by not accepting the Pope’s nominee for archbishop of Canterbury

C. Pope Innocent III placed all of England under an interdict- no one in the country could receive any sacraments

D. In 1214, the nobles revolted and forced John to sign the Magna Cart “Great Charter”

Magna Carta significance

A. Spelled out the rights of the nobilityB. Stated that the king was subject to

the same rules of law as the nobilityC. The foundation for all constitutional

governmentD. Written on parchment in LatinE. Copies were sent to churches

throughout England

F. Four times a year, the sheriffs had it read aloud in the county courts

G. After John’s death in 1216, the Magna Carta was modified and reissued

XII. The development of Parliament

A. The new middle class (those engaged in business, craftsmanship, or trade) began to play an increasing role in European society

B. Henry III added townspeople (called Burgesses) to the Great Council that advised the king

C. In 1295, Edward called representatitives from the clergy, nobility and burgesses into session

Parliament continued

D. This new legislative body was called the Model Parliament

D. By 1400, Parliament had divided into two chambers:

1. House of Lords- nobles and clergy2. House of Commons- knights and

burgesses

Separation of powers

F. Eventually Parliament would be given the “power of the purse”, meaning the right to approve any new taxes

G. The “power of the purse” allowed Parliament to provide an important check on royal power

XII. Monarchs in France

A. In 987, the Capetians (ruling family in France) made the throne hereditary

B. Won support of the Catholic ChurchC. Built an efficient system of government

agencies to carry out the King’s policy called a bureaucracy

1. collected taxes2. enforced royal law

XIII. The Estates General

A. Philip IV established a legislature in France in 1302

B. The Estates General had three types of representatives:

1. first estate- clergy2. second estate- nobles & the middle

class3. third estate- peasants and unskilled

laborers

XIV. The Holy Roman Empire

A. Unlike England and France, Germany remained divided because of disputes between the emperor, the pope, and powerful German nobles

B. In 1122, the pope and the emperor reached a settlement about choosing bishops

The Holy Roman Empire vs. the Church

1. The emperor could appoint bishops and give them land

2. The pope could reject a candidate that they found unworthy

C. During the 1100s and 1200s Holy Roman emperors tried to gain control of Italy

D. The pope and his Italian nobles defeated the Germans

In 284, emperor Diocletian divided the empire into two parts to make it easier to govern. He kept control of the wealthier eastern part but appointed a co-emperor to rule the western provinces

XV. The Byzantine Empire

A. After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A. D., the western region of the Roman Empire fell leading to the “dark ages”

B. The eastern part of the empire did not fall, it became known as the Byzantine Empire

C. The capital was Constantinople (named for the Roman Emperor Constantine

Byzantine Empire 395-1453 A.D.

D. Strengths of the Empire:1) Efficient government2) Loyal, well-trained army3) Strong economy (trade flourished)4) Constantinople became the center of

world commerce (trade)

The Byzantine Empire

E. Fall of the Byzantine Empire1) Civil wars over succession

weakened the empire2) Late in the eleventh century, Seljuk

Turks (Muslims) invaded Byzantium3) The Byzantine Empire seeks help

from the Roman Catholic Church leading to the crusades

4) By 1453, the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople and changed the name of the capital from Constantinople to Istanbul