Political developments in medieval Europe

Between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, the European territory underwent several
changes in the political sphere that, years later, would mark the beginning of a new stage
in its history.
The king's power
As you saw, between the tenth and eleventh centuries, the king was only a nobler and
power was nominal, his authority was divided between the dukes, counts, feudal lords
and clergy. In their lordships, the authority of the emperor or king was very weak; the
power of the nobles, however, was absolute. The only privileges that the monarchs were
counted arbitration in disputes between the nobles and the administration of general
affairs of the kingdom. However, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, with the rise
of cities and the urban bourgeoisie kings they gained new ways to consolidate their
authority through partnerships with urban patrician, consisting of large traders and
merchants who provided them with capital to form own armies, which allowed them to
impose feudal lords obedience to the king.
The first parliaments
The first parliaments were created during the thirteenth century, and were composed of
nobles, clergy and members of the municipalities. Parliaments were derived from the
Royal Council was a group of nobles and clergy to advise the king on political and
economic issues. The kings added the participation of cities to disempower the nobles.
Parliaments were summoned by the king at their convenience and were responsible for
approving taxes and war budgets. In return, the king listened to their demands and were
discussed in the Council. The name of the parliaments varied from one country to
another: in the Iberian Peninsula Cortes, in the Holy Roman Empire, Diet, in France,
General States and in England, Parliament called.
In a system of monarchical government, the Kings need to consult the decisions,
because otherwise nobody will obey them. In the feudal system that was developed in
England since the Norman invasion of 1066, the laws of the Crown could not have been
imposed without the support of the nobility and clergy. Therefore, the English monarchs
constituted great advice trained by the nobility and senior clergy of those receiving
advice. These great tips evolved in the Parliament of England, especially summoned
when the king needed to get money through taxes.

European kingdoms
Between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, Europe went from having multiple feudal
territories

to

great

kingdoms.

The

most

important

kingdoms

were:

1. England. In 1066, William of Normandy invaded and conquered England and the AngloSaxon nobility stripped of their lands, which distributed among his vassals: the Norman
warriors. To keep under control the native population while their vassals, the king
appointed local agents called sheriffs under its direct control. A mid-twelfth century,
came to the throne the Plantagenet dynasty, with vast territories in France.
2. France. After the fall of the Carolingian Empire, the Capetian dynasty took the Crown
and remained in power until the thirteenth century. Capetos pressured militarily to prevail
over the feudal lords.
3. The Holy Roman Empire. As we saw earlier, the emperor was elected and his authority
was nominal. The different principalities remained in continuous purges and during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the emperor's power was further weakened by its
struggles against other nations and against the papacy.
4. The Italian peninsula. It was divided into three zones, the north was part of the Holy
Roman Empire, the Papal States (the Vatican and surrounding areas) in the center and
south kingdom of Sicily, which was separated in the thirteenth century, Naples.
5. The Iberian peninsula. Since the eighth century, most of the territory was occupied by
Muslims. Christian redoubts were organized into small kingdoms and maintained a slow
but continuous struggle with them to regain territory. Between the eleventh and thirteenth
centuries, the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Leon, Navarre, Portugal and Catalonia were
formed.
6.

Area

of

the

Baltic

Sea.

Denmark,

Sweden

and

Norway

were

formed.

7. Eastern Europe. the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Kiev and Moscow principality
formed.