THE GROWTH OF MONARCHIES

1. English Monarchya. 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 kingdoms1. Each had their own laws and customs

iii. Danish Vikings invaded in the 800s and conquered many of the kingdoms

iv. Alfred the Great1. The king of

Wessex2. Drove the

Vikings north of London

b. The Norman Conquesti. 1066, the king of England died without an

heir; 2 men will claim the crown1. Harold- An Anglo-Saxon nobleman from

England2. William- Duke of Normandy and distant

relative of the dead king ii. Harold had the support of the Englishmen

and was named the new king1. This will cause William to take the crown by

force

iii. The two armies meet and fought at the Battle of Hastings; William won1. William became

William I of England but he is better known as William the Conqueror

iv. Decisions William made as king1. 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 kingdoma. He wanted to know 3 things

i. Who lived whereii. What they ownediii. 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 system3. Introduced many elements of French culture

into England

c. The English in Francei. Henry II

1. Great grandson of William I2. Married Eleanor of Aquitaine

a. With her they will rule all of England and half of France

Henry II Eleanor of Aquitaine

d. The Magna Cartai. By 1200 the power of the English king

started to worry some nobles1. Feared the king would abuse power and take

away nobles rights

ii. King John1. Crisis reached

its peak under him in 1215

2. 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’ rightsa. Document is called the

Magna Cartab. Restricted the king’s

poweri. 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 Cartai. Set forth ideas of limiting government

and executive powerii. Kings were not above the law

e. Parliamenti. 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 I1. One of the 1st kings to

clarify the role of parliament

2. Parliament under hima. 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 Monarchiesa. France

i. Capetians1. Rose to power in

the mid-900s2. Hugh Capet

a. First to hold power3. Managed to extend

power gradually throughout France

4. By the 1300s the Capetians ruled almost all of modern day France

b. Holy Roman Empirei. Otto the Great

1. Succeed his father as the king of Germany2. Worked to unite Germany3. Helped Pope John XII and was rewarded by

being crowned Emperor of the Romans in 962

4. Territories united under him became known as the Holy Roman Empire

Otto the Great Pope John XII

ii. Role of Holy Roman Emperor1. Made decisions and passed laws with help

of the dukes2. Position was elected

c. Spain and Portugali. Religious Struggles

1. Located on the Iberian peninsula2. Conquered by the Moors in the early 700s3. By 722 Christian rulers began expanding

westward and started fighting the Moors, driving them out of Europe

ii. Reconquista1. The largest of the Christian kingdoms

Castile lead in the Reconquista effort2. 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 marriage1. This union created one of the strongest

countries in Europe