The Rise of States France, England, and Germany

Political Revival 11 th Century a new political stability began Rulers in France, England, and Germany worked to reduce private warfare and civil anarchy In the 10 th 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 9 th 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 13 th the House of Lords (Bishops and Nobles) and the House of Commons developed (Knights and burghers) –By the 14 th, 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 ( ) begins to subdue the barons in his duchy Philip Augustus ( ) 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 ( ) 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 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