Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church

Three different factions had power during the early Middle Ages:

They clashed repeatedly, trying to increase their power.

The Church

Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church • Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church – – – –

Feudal monarchs had limited power. They ruled by relying on vassal military support. Nobles / Church were as powerful as the king. The nobles / Church had own courts, own taxes, and own armies.

• Kings were crafty, ambitious, and determined to centralize power. – Expanded domain, set up a royal justice system, undermined feudal / Church courts. – Organized bureaucracy, developed tax system / built a standing army. – Strengthened ties with the middle class. – Imposed peace / unity needed for trade.

Strong Monarchs in England • Angles, Saxons, and Vikings invaded and settled. Feudalism developed but rulers kept kingdoms united. • Norman Conquest. – In 1066, The Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor died without an heir- led to a power struggle. – Nobles chose Edward's brother-in-law, Harold of Wessex to rule. – Duke William of Normandy also claimed the English throne.

William The Conqueror • • • •

William raised army / won backing of the Pope. Battle of Hastings, Norman knights beat Harold. Christmas Day 1066, took the crown of England. William The Conqueror – exerted control like other feudal monarchs – granted fiefs to the Church / Norman lords – monitored and built castles where required.

• To learn about his kingdom, "William complete census taken in 1086. – – – –

Domesday Book which listed every castle, field, and pigpen in England. Domesday Book became efficient system of tax collecting. French-speaking nobles dominated but Anglo-Saxon population survived. blending occurred of customs, languages, and traditions.

Increasing royal authority. • Successors strengthened finances and law. Created the royal treasury to collect taxes. Exchequer received fees, fines, and other dues. – Henry II inherited the throne. – He broadened the system of royal justice. – He wrote new laws, follow customs. – He found ways to expand old ideas into law. – Sent out traveling justices to enforce royal laws. The decisions became basis for English common Law, / law that was common-the same-for all people. – People chose royal courts over Nobles / Church. – Royal courts charged fees so king benefited from the growth of royal justice.

Clash with Church and State • Under Henry II, England also developed a jury system. Justices visited an area, local officials collected a jury; or group of men sworn to speak the truth. (Jury in French means sworn on oath.) Juries determined cases to be brought to trial and are the ancestors of today’s grand jury. • A tragic clash. – Extending royal power led to Church dispute. Henry claimed the right to try clergy in royal courts. Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury opposed it. The conflict simmered. Henry’s knights, believing they were doing Henry’s bidding, murdered the archbishop in his own cathedral. Henry denied any part in it. – He eased off attempts to regulate the clergy. Becket, was a martyr and declared a saint.

A dispute arose between Henry and the Church

Henry claimed the right to try clergy in royal courts.

Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, opposed him.

Becket was killed by Henry’s knights

Evolving Traditions of Government • The Magna Carta. – John angered his nobles with heavy-handed taxes and other abuses of power In 1215, barons cornered John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta. King affirmed a long list of feudal rights. Protected themselves, recognized rights of townspeople and the Church. – The Magna Carta contained two basic ideas that shaped government traditions. First, nobles had certain rights. Over time, these rights were extended to all English citizens. Second, the Magna Carta made the monarch obey the law. Became the “Rights of the people”.

Provisions in the Magna Carta formed the basis for both due process of law and the right of habeus corpus. The Great Council of lords and clergy evolved into Parliament in the 1200s.

Development of Parliament. English rulers often called on the Great Council for advice. Eventually, this became Parliament. Parliament gained the crucial "power of the purse." It won the right to approve any new taxes. It checked or limited the power of the monarch.

Royal Successes in France • France was not a unified kingdom – French monarchs had little power over a patchwork of territories ruled by feudal nobles. – The Capetians. – 1087 nobles elected Hugh Capet, the count of Paris, to the vacant throne.

Hugh / heirs slowly increased royal power. –First, they made the throne hereditary, passing it from father to son. –Added lands by playing rival nobles against each other. –They won the support of the Church. –They built an effective bureaucracy. Government officials collected taxes and imposed royal law over the king's domain. Established order, added to their prestige and gained the backing of the new middle class of townspeople.

France • Philip Augustus. – A shrewd and able ruler. He strengthened royal government – During the Albigensian heresy, he suppressed it, added land to his domain.

• Louis IX, grandson of Philip Augustus, pursued religious goals. – He persecuted heretics and Jews and led thousands of French knights in two wars against Muslims. – Louis improved royal government. By his death in 1270, France was an efficient centralized monarchy.

Clash with the pope. • Philip IV extended royal power. He tried to collect new taxes from the French clergy. These efforts led to a clash with Pope Boniface VIII. • After, a Frenchman was elected pope. He moved the papal court to the town of Avignon, ensuring that future French rulers would control religion within their own kingdoms. • The Estates General. Philip rallied French support by setting up the Estates General in 1302. This body had representatives from all three estates, or classes: clergy, nobles, and townspeople. • The Estates General, it did not develop the same role that the English Parliament did. It never gained the power of the purse or otherwise served as a balance to royal power.

Germany • In 936, Duke Otto I of Saxony took the title king of Germany. • Otto I worked closely with the Church. He took an army south into Italy to help the pope put down a rebellion by Roman nobles. In 962, a grateful pope crowned Otto emperor. Otto's successors took the title Holy Roman emperor "holy" because they were crowned by the pope, "Roman" because they saw themselves as heirs to the emperors of ancient Rome. • For German emperors, the challenge was to control nobles. They failed. • Conflict with the Church.

Holy Roman emperors saw themselves as protectors of Italy and the pope. They repeatedly intervened in Italian affairs. A key conflict between emperors and popes rose over who would control appointments to high Church offices. As the Cluny reforms strengthened the Church, popes attempted to end such outside interference.

Two Determined Rulers • Pope Gregory VII, the conflict between emperors and the Church burst into flames. Gregory was one of the greatest medieval popes. He was also among the most controversial. Gregory was determined to make the Church independent of secular rulers. • He banned the practice of lay investiture. Only the pope, said Gregory, had the right to appoint and install bishops in office. • In 1076, Gregory excommunicated Henry, freeing his subjects from their allegiance to the emperor. Henry was forced to make peace with the pope.

Barefoot in the snow. Henry crossed the icy Alps. He presented himself as a repentant sinner. Henry then quickly returned to Germany and subdued his rebellious nobles. Later, he led an army to Rome and forced the pope into exile. Concordat of Worms. -- The struggle over investiture dragged on for almost 50 years. Finally, (the Concordat of Worms). The Church had the sole power to elect and invest bishops with spiritual authority. The emperor, however, had the right to invest them with fiefs. This compromise ended the investiture struggle.

Frederick II. • As Holy Roman emperor, Frederick spent little time in Germany. Like his grandfather, Frederick II also tried but failed to subdue the cities of northern Italy. • Consequences: While in Italy, he gave in to many demands of his German nobles. As a result, they grew increasingly independent. Although the Holy Roman Empire survived, it remained fragmented into many feudal states. The emperors thus lost control of Germany at a time when French and English rulers were building the foundations for stable, unified governments. The German people paid a high price for their emperors ambitions: They would not achieve unity for another 600 years.