1. Political Changes during the Renaissance (1450-1750)

2. Rise of the Nation State
No formal states (countries)existed in 1400 anywhere in the world
Feudal system:
Dominant political system throughout the middle ages in Europe and Asia (Japan)
Prior to the Renaissance Europe was a collection of 350 feudal states
By the 21st century this changed to 40 nation states

3. Causes for Change War, confusion and chaos during 14th and 15th
too much for feudal lords to handle.
Rise of the middle class
more money and power to merchant peasants
meant that the feudal lords were out powered
Political Nation State begins
Divine Right & the monarch became absolute.
Centralization of govt.  A centralized government = more stability (and less free) than a feudal govt. 

4. The Holy Roman Empire (800-1871)
“The Holy Roman Empire - not Holy, not Roman, and not an Empire.” Voltaire
almost 300 semi-sovereign parts, over which an emperor ruled with little authority.
HRE did not establish a centralized govt
Charles I of Spain (V of HRE)
Member of the Habsburg family
King of both Spain and the HRE (along with the Netherlands, Austria, and Naples, and Spanish America)

6. Spain (1469) Major Events of Ferdinand and Isabella: 1474-1516:
Unification of Spain into a nation state
Unification of the kigdoms of Castile and Aragon
The Discovery of the Americas (1492) by Christopher Columbus.
The Reconquista in 1492: The expulsion of the Muslims and Jews from Spain
The Spanish inquisition: forced conversion of Jews to Catholicism
If Jews did not convert they were expelled from Spain

7. England Bakcground Settled by Anglo-Saxons Christianized in about 450
Conquered by Vikings in 700s
Conquered by Normans in 1066 (remember William the Conqueror)
Feudal until 1485
Running feud with France because Normans are French and the English are Anglo

8. England
United in 1485
100 Years War ( ) with France forced consolidation under the power of the king
Henry VII Tudor united England
Changed the laws of Wales to those of England
War for the Roses (sporadic between )
War for the throne: House of Lancaster v. House of York
Lancaster’s win- Henry Tudor assumes the throne as Henry VII

10. France (1461)
Louis XI (1461­83), restored unity and stability to France after Hundred Years' War.
Louis centralized royal power, using bribery, diplomacy, intrigue, treachery, and war.
began absolute monarchy in France,
promoted trade and towns which increased French wealth.
Louis XI the Spider King

12. Russia (1463) Ivan III of Moscow
refused to pay tribute to Mongols in 1455
Russia united behind him
Very barbaric compared to Western Europe
Becomes known as Ivan the Great:

13. Italy not a unified nation until the 19th century.
During the Renaissance ambitious rulers of France (Charles VIII and Francis II) and Spain (Charles V) invaded Italy and kept it from uniting
Niccoló Machiavelli wrote The Prince. Machiavelli was one of the first to call out for Italian unification.

14. Ottoman Empire
Turkish Muslims who conquered Constantinople in 1453 now spread into Eastern Europe
Stopped at Vienna by Charles V
A constant threat to the power of European kings and a threat to the Pope

15. Characteristics of a Nation State
Bureaucratization
Permanent Army
taxes
Representative govt and a king

16. Results
Stable government = possibility for economic, social and political growth rather than constant international war
Increased power and size of government so more people felt its power more directly
Increased competition between states rather than only within states