AP European History
AP European History
During the second half of the fifteenth century, Europe saw the rise of a new group of monarchs called the new monarchs. These rulers were skilled in diplomacy and were quite crafty, employing new methods of control over their realms. The new monarchs used many of the tactics of the Italian rulers during the Renaissance to try to obtain more power and more territory. For example, these regents often limited the power of the nobility and brought the church under their own control to increase royal authority in their lands. The best examples of these new monarchies were in England, France, and Spain.
After suffering defeat in the Hundred Years’ War, England struggled to rebuild its economy. Unfortunately for England, the end of the war brought with it more than just economic hardship. The War of the Roses erupted in the 1450s between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. This civil unrest pined aristocratic families against one another for some thirty years before Henry Tudor (1457-1509, king 1485-1509) defeated Richard III (1452-1485, king 1483-1485) and established what was to become the Tudor dynasty. One of Henry’s most famous, if not infamous, accomplishments was the establishment of the Star Chamber. The Star Chamber was a court that was established to control the nobles. It used no jury, and torture was commonplace.
Although France technically won the Hundred Years’ War, it too was left devastated. The economy was in ruins, farmland was destroyed, and many French lives were lost. France did, however, emerge from the war with a new sense of nationalism. King Charles VII (1403-1461, king 1422-1461) took advantage of this new national feeling. He began to take administrative power away from the Estates-General and secured more power for the monarchy by increasing its control over the church in France. His successor, Louis XI (1423-1483, king 1461-1483), also known as the Spider, permanently imposed the taille, an annual tax on property, thereby securing an annual source of income for the crown. Many historians give Louis XI credit for establishing the national state.
In 1469, with the marriage of Isabella of Casti1e (1451-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) in Spain, two dynasties were united. Although they worked together, the two kingdoms maintained their own identities. Ferdinand and Isabella worked to strengthen royal authority and the Spanish army. They renewed a system of town-based organizations, called hermandades, which were to help control the lawlessness among the aristocracy. One of the major events during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella was the Inquisition. The Inquisition, among other things, served as a political and religious tool to monitor the conversos, the Muslims and Jews who had converted to Catholicism. Ultimately, both the Muslims and Jews were driven from Spain. In addition to controlling domestic policy, the royal couple promoted and sponsored voyages of exploration, which eventually took Spain into its Golden Age.