THE GROWTH OF MONARCHIES

1. English Monarchy a. Anglo-Saxon England i. Rulers were descendents of the Angles and Saxons who invaded the island in the 400s ii. England was divided into 7 kingdoms 1. Each had their own laws and customs iii. Danish Vikings invaded in the 800s and conquered many of the kingdoms

iv. Alfred the Great 1. The king of Wessex 2. Drove the Vikings north of London

b. The Norman Conquest i. 1066, the king of England died without an heir; 2 men will claim the crown 1. Harold- An Anglo-Saxon nobleman from England 2. William- Duke of Normandy and distant relative of the dead king ii. Harold had the support of the Englishmen and was named the new king 1. This will cause William to take the crown by force

iii. The two armies meet and fought at the Battle of Hastings; William won 1. William became William I of England but he is better known as William the Conqueror

iv. Decisions William made as king 1. Claimed all land in England as his personal property and divided it into fiefs and redistributed it among his Norman soldiers a. He basically creates a new nobility

2. Ordered a survey to be taken of his kingdom a. He wanted to know 3 things i. Who lived where ii. What they owned iii. What they could afford to pay in taxes b. Results of the surveys were recorded in the Doomsday Book i. William will use this to create a central tax system 3. Introduced many elements of French culture into England

c. The English in France i. Henry II 1. Great grandson of William I 2. Married Eleanor of Aquitaine a. With her they will rule all of England and half of France

Henry IIEleanor of Aquitaine

d. The Magna Carta i. By 1200 the power of the English king started to worry some nobles 1. Feared the king would abuse power and take away nobles rights

ii. King John 1. Crisis reached its peak under him in He tried to raise money with a new tax on the nobility a. The nobles refused to pay and took up arms

3. Will be forced to accept a document outlining the nobles’ rights a. Document is called the Magna Carta b. Restricted the king’s power i. The king had to obtain the nobles consent before raising taxes ii. King could not arrest and punish people without cause iii. Could not seize property without following proper procedures

c. Importance of the Magna Carta i. Set forth ideas of limiting government and executive power ii. Kings were not above the law

e. Parliament i. As part of an agreement that ended a rebellion in the 1260s, the king agreed to meet with the nobility, the clergy and the middle class to discuss issues facing the country 1. Became known as Parliament

ii. Edward I 1. One of the 1 st kings to clarify the role of parliament 2. Parliament under him a. Included nobles, clergy, and representatives from every county and town in England b. Had the power to create new taxes c. Advised the king on law making and other matters of royal policy 3. Strengthened England’s central government and reformed its systems of law

2. Other Monarchies a. France i. Capetians 1. Rose to power in the mid-900s 2. Hugh Capet a. First to hold power 3. Managed to extend power gradually throughout France 4. By the 1300s the Capetians ruled almost all of modern day France

b. Holy Roman Empire i. Otto the Great 1. Succeed his father as the king of Germany 2. Worked to unite Germany 3. Helped Pope John XII and was rewarded by being crowned Emperor of the Romans in Territories united under him became known as the Holy Roman Empire

Otto the GreatPope John XII

ii. Role of Holy Roman Emperor 1. Made decisions and passed laws with help of the dukes 2. Position was elected

c. Spain and Portugal i. Religious Struggles 1. Located on the Iberian peninsula 2. Conquered by the Moors in the early 700s 3. By 722 Christian rulers began expanding westward and started fighting the Moors, driving them out of Europe

ii. Reconquista 1. The largest of the Christian kingdoms Castile lead in the Reconquista effort 2. Castile’s victory of recapturing the city of Toledo inspired the kingdoms of Aragon and Portugal to join in the effort 3. The Moors will be completely driven out by 1492

iii. Aragon and Castile were united in a royal marriage 1. This union created one of the strongest countries in Europe