Anisa C ampos

1. Chapter 9, section 1 Growth of royal power in England and France. Anisa Campos

2. Strong monarchs in England. Successful monarchs in France. England France • Duke Williams became king of England after battling Harold, king Edwards brother-in-law, in 1066. • William exerted firm control over his lands. • Like other feudal monarchs, he granted fiefs to the church and his Norman lords, barons, but he kept a large amount of land for himself. • William and later English monarchs built an efficient system of tax collecting. • Williams successors continued to increase royal authority. • In 987, the feudal nobles elected Hugh Capet, the count of Paris, to fill the vacant throne. • They made the throne heredity, passing it from father to son. • Fortunately, the Capetians enjoyed and unbroken succession for 300 years. • They added to their lands by playing rival nobles against each other. • They also won support of the church. • Perhaps the most important, the Capetians built an effective bureaucracy government officials collected taxes and imposed royal law over the kings domain. • By establishing order, they added to their prestige and gained the backing of the new middle class of townspeople.

3. The Magna Carta- • In 1215, a group of rebellious barons cornered King John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, or great charter. • Inside this document the king affirmed a long list of feudal rights. • Besides protecting their own privileges, the barons included a few clauses recognizing the legal rights of townspeople and the church. • among the most significant of these was a clause protecting every freeman from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and other legal actions. • The king also agreed not to raise new taxes without first consulting his great council of lords and clergy. • The Magna Carta contained to very important ideas that in the long run would shape government traditions in England. First it asserted that the nobles had certain rights. • Over time , the rights that has been granted to nobles were extended to all English citizens. • Second, the Magna Carta made it clear that the monarch must obey the law.

4. Development of parliament- • In keeping with the Magna Carta, English rulers often called on the great council for advice. • During the 1200’s , this body evolved into parliament. • Its name comes from the French world parlor, meaning “to talk”. • As parliament acquired a larger role in government, it helped unify England. • Representatives of the “common people” joined with the lords and clergy in parliament. • The “commons” included two knights from each county and representatives of the towns. • Much later, this assembly became known as the model parliament developed into a two-house body: the house of the lords with nobles and high clergy and the house of commons with knights and middle class citizens.

5. Conflict with the church- • King henrys efforts to extend royal power led to a bitter dispute with the church. • King Henry claimed the right to try clergy in royal courts. • Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury fiercely opposed the kings move. • They had a conflict that lasted for years. • In 1170, they murdered the archbishop in his own cathedral. • Henry denied any part inn the attack but, to make peace with the church, he eased his attempts to regulate the clergy. • Becket meantime was honored as a martyr and declared a saint.

6. Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church. Monarchs- Nobles and the church- • Feudal monarchs in Europe stood at the head of society, but had limited power. • They relied on vassals for military support. • They used various means to centralize power. They expanded the royal domain and set up a system of royal justice that undermined feudal or church courts. • Nobles and the church had as much -or more- power as the monarch. • Both nobles and the church had their own courts, collected their own taxes, and fielded their own armies. • They jealously guarded their rights and privileges against any effort by rulers to increase royal authority.