1. Political Transformation of Western Europe 1200-1500
Chapter 14

2. 13th Century States Had many features of medieval Europe
Hereditary monarchs at the top, followed by powerful nobles
Church still at odds with monarchs
Knights still backbone of fighting force
BUT – All of this coming under scrutiny

3. 2 Military Advancements that Brought Feudal System Under Fire
Improved crossbows – could now pierce helmets and light armor
Rise of professional crossbowmen
Firearms
Knights are not really needed anymore!

4. Church vs. Monarchs
1302 – Pope Boniface VIII declared that the papacy was superior to “every human creature”
King Philip (the Fair) of France sent army to arrest the pope; Boniface already in poor health & dies
Philip creates office of a French pope of Avignon
Led to the Great Western Schism – ( )
Rival popes at Avignon & Rome
Eventually power restored in Rome
This conflict increased power of Monarchs

5. England Incorporated Wales and Ireland
Magna Carta (Great Charter) – (1215) nobles forced King John to sign
limited king’s power
made king subject to English law
confirmed independence of the church
Idea of Due Process

6. Hundred Years War (1337-1453) Battle for the French throne Background:
Princess Isabella of France married King Edward II of England
Isabella’s brothers (kings of France) did not have heirs
Her son, King Edward III of England claimed the French throne in 1337
French courts gave throne to a distant cousin, Philip of Valois, who was French

7. Hundred Years War Technology Italian crossbowmen reinforced French
English longbow could fire more rapidly
Firearms gave English important victory at the Battle of Agincourt (1415)
French use cannons towards end of the war

8. Joan of Arc
Helped with the final stage of the war – The French Reconquest
Believed she was acting on God’s instructions (Voices/Visions from Saints)
Inspired French troops
Captured by English in Paris
They tried her for witchcraft and burned her at the stake

9. New Monarchies After War
Greater centralization of power
“fixed” boundaries
Stronger representative institutions
Parliament in England (House of Lords & House of Commons)
Estates General in France
Increased taxation to pay for standing armies

10. Iberian Reconquest
Spain & Portugal’s fight to free Iberia from Muslim rule
Christian knights
13th century