“What pleases the prince has the force of law.”

Justinian Code

New Monarchies after 1450

100 Years’ War weakened monarchs Monarchy was the one institution that could unite nations

European governments began to reconstruct themselves

Beginnings of the modern state

Wealthy middle class merchants and bankers purchased government offices and titles to form a new administrative class

Kings partially excluded nobles from power

Kings built new bureaucracies and armies

France

Charles VII…A) Expelled the English from France by 1453B) Levied new taxesC) approved the Pragmatic Sanction of BourgesD) created a standing army

Louis XI…A) continued military centralization at the expense of the nobilityB) supported economic growth and diversificationC) expanded the French state

Louis XI Charles VII

England

And here I prophesy: this brawl today,Grown to this faction in the Temple garden,Shall send, between the Red Rose and the White,A thousand souls to death and deadly night."  — Warwick, Henry VI, Part One

War of the Roses

Battle of Bosworth Field (1485)

Henry VII…A) did not rely on Parliament to raise revenueB) established a royal councilC) effectively used the Court of the Star Chamber to deal with political enemiesD) used Justices of the Peace to maintain order at the local level

Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille

Spain

Faced the challenge of disunity

Even marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella failed to unite the country

Hermandades kept local order Royal Council would bolster the power of the crown

“Catholic Kings of Spain” could establish a national church

Reconquista was completed in 1492 Inquisition was established to ensure religious conformity

Jews would be purged Spain only achieved unification in 1580

Holy Roman Empire NOT a new monarchy! Real power held by the nobles decentralized state

Charles V elected 1519 Grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand, was already King of Spain

Also controlled the Netherlands, parts of Italy, New World and Pacific colonies

Holy Roman

Empire in 1580

Northern Humanism

Northern Humanists Called for a return of the apostolic church

Focused on writings of the early church

Pushed for new translations that were error free

Stressed Greek and Hebrew, to be able to read the originals themselves

Moveable Type Printing Press

Invented 1453, Johannes Gutenberg

Humanism in Germany

Many large cities and universities

Close proximity to Italy encouraged travelers between them

Pro-German in outlook Famous humanists: Peter Luder, Rudolf Agricola, Conrad Celtis, Mutian

French Humanism

King Francis I patronized humanists

Royal library ( Bibliothèque Nationale) founded

Trilingual (Hebrew, Greek, Latin) college founded to study sacred languages

French Humanism

Guillaume Budé top classical scholar of France

Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples especially interested in religious reform

Humanism in the Netherlands

Lay people live together and practice lay piety – Bretheren of the Common Life

Set up humanist schools

Desiderius Erasmus

Erasmus “ Prince of Humanists”

Called for religious reform through a return to the apostolic church and reading of the church classics

Translated many church classics

Works include Praise of Folly and Julius Excluded

Humanism in England

John Colet was critical of church abuses

Sir Thomas More’s Utopia