Vassalage => territorial fragmentation => reunification of the kingdom under royal control

BUT: (Reynolds) this vision of the past is more that of 19th C. nationalists than that of medieval kings and emperors
a. kingdoms were not just territories, but also communities of people (gens, natio => nation)
b. peoples were units of custom and law, not necessarily of the same language

i.e. Stephen of Hungary (d.1038) maintained that a kingdom of one language and one custom would be weak and fragile => diversity of languages and customs enriched the kingdom

1324: Marsilio of Padua "The Defender of Peace":
    - different regions with different languages, names, and customs should have separate governments
    - the secular state, not the Church, was the superior authority in Christian society

===>>> between 1 and 2 the community of the realm => turned into a secular state by means of centralization

1. Methods of centralization:

Centralization = concentration of central (royal) power, supported by townsmen, free peasants, knights, rural nobles, and Church, aiming at territorial re - unification and imposition of royal government

Methods:
    - king as judge => royal justice as state justice
    - king allied with social orders => general assemblies
    - royal representatives in the provinces, trained in universities
    - new army (infantry, fire arms)

2. Stages of medieval monarchy:

10-13 C: vassalage monarchy (king as suzerain)
13-16 C: centralized monarchy (king supported by social orders)
16-18 C: absolute monarchy (king as unique ruler)

3. Centralization in France:

- decline of the Carolingian empire => principalities (Normandy, Anjou, Burgundy, Provence)
987: last Carolingian ruler, Louis V, dies without heir => duke Hugh Capet elected king of France
    - royal domain supported centralization, though king were dominated by powerful lords
    - few territorial acquisitions
    - Capetian kings had first to subdue their own vassals on their domain

i.e. Philip I - defeated by his powerful vassal, Hugh of Le Puiset

Louis VI (1108-1137):
    - elaborate ceremonial of coronation at Reims (see the statues on the facade)
    - defeated Hugh II of Le Puiset and Thomas of Marle => imposition  of royal authority in Ile-de-France
    - defeated by Henry I of England and failed to establish control over Champagne and Flanders

* Paris - became the permanent capital and the royal domain took advantage of the trade network established between Champagne and Flanders

* 1066: William, duke of Normandy => became king of England, though still a vassal of the French king (1)
   1127: Henry I's daughter, Matilda, became heir to the throne and married Count Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou => 1152: Henry II, Count of Anjou, became king of England and acquired Poitou and Acquitaine through marriage with Eleanor (2)

1+2 => centralization in France involved war with England

Louis VII (1137-1180):
    - the first king of France - involved in a crusade (all his 4 followers were)
    - introduced the practice of attendance at the royal court of the important vassals
    - relied on assistants raised from humble origins
i.e. Suger, abbot of St-Denis, became regent of France during his participation in the Second Crusade
    - St. Denis: became the royal shrine, where the royal flag (oriflamme) was deposited => St. Denis, the patron saint of the Capetian dynasty => the abbey became a symbol of the French kingdom (Suger - the first author to speak about France, not the kingdom of the Franks)

Philip II Augustus (1180-1223):
- took advantage of King Richard I's participation in the Third Crusade => conquered Normandy (1204) and Anjou (1206)
* king John's attack on Poitou => Poitevin lords appealed to the court of Philip => John failed to appear at Philip's court => John deprived of his fief (Normandy) as an absentee vassal
> 1213: John organized a large coalition of forces against Philip => July 27, 1214
Bouvines: French armies crushed the coalition => John forced to accept the compromise of Magna Charta
    => French intervention in Flanders
Institutions:

- Philip introduced the hereditary succession to the throne (primogeniture principle)
- growth of government activity => division between secretariat, justice, and finances
- introduced regional officials (bailiffs)=> salaried and regulated officials replaced the royal officials controlled by noble families
- reorganized royal finances => French kings now tapped the economic boom in agriculture and trade (taxed the fairs)

Louis IX (1226-1270):

- unified the currency (TOURNOIS)
- introduced a unique, royal judicial system
- took advantage of the Albigensian crusade to impose his authority over the south => the extinction of the family of the counts of Toulouse => Louis created a great principality for his brother (Alphonse de Poitiers) => at his death, the county of Toulouse was incorporated into the royal domain
- died while crusading in North Africa => canonized by Pope Boniface VIII (1297) => the cult of St. Louis developed under his successor Philip IV
- Louis introduced the royal commissioners, whose task was to check on the activities of royal officials

Philip IV the Fair (1285-1314):

- faced a constant financial crises => search for money led the king to:
    - impose taxes on the clergy => conflict with Boniface VIII
    - persecute the Jews, spoils their assets => 1306: expulsion of the Jews
    - attack the Templars for confiscation of their property (1307) => Pope Clement V transferred Templar assets to the Hospitallers (1312)

=> need of increased taxes => Philip summoned for the first time the general assembly (Estates General, 1302)

1328: the extinction of the Capetian line => election of Philip VI of Valois, a cousin of Philip IV's => central power challenged by rival claimants
    > Philip's daughter Isabella had married Edward II of England => Edward III had a claim to the French throne => Philip VI declared usurper => the Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

England

Specific features:

- after the Norman conquest => 1/7 of the entire territory is royal property => English kings were strong from the beginning
- centralization in England is more institutional than territorial

Vassalage monarchy:

1066: William, duke of Normandy became king of England
1086: William required all vassals to take an oath of allegiance to the king => no other supreme lord except the king
- imposed the law of the forest => which preserved large tracts for the royal hunt
1086: William replaced the Anglo-Saxon clergy with his own men
- ordered a large scale survey of his kingdom => to impose taxes more efficiently

Henry I (1100-1135):

- professionalization of the royal administration => beginnings of royal archives
- first attempts to codify English common law (Laws of Henry I)

Henry II Plantagenet (1154-1189)
- transformed codified common law into royal justice
- began the conquest of Ireland (1167) => constant need of army => introduced the regular official practice of redeeming military obligations (payments of fees, rather than military service ) => increased use of mercenaries instead of vassals
- attempted to restore royal control over the Church => by requiring bishops to do homage to the king before consecration (big opposition)
- established matrimonial alliances across Europe, from Spain to Germany and Sicily

Richard I (1189-1199):
- in need for money for the Third Crusade => introduced heavy taxation

John (1199-1216)

faced problems:
1. raised the taxes => for a war fund => but: lost Normandy and Anjou
2. Conflict with the Pope => John refusal to accept the papal candidate to Canterbury => the Church property was taxed and/or confiscated => Pope Innocent III excommunicated John
    * John accepted the papal candidate (1213) - but: had to pay compensations to the pope

3. London - was dominated by supporters of the baronial opposition against the king

===> 1+2+3 = alliance between barons and townspeople against the king

1215: John obliged to sign the Magna Charta:
    - protect church and lay vassals against royal abuses
    - taxation imposed only by "common counsel" of the kingdom
=> the king admitted being subject to the law => the Magna Charta marks the beginning of the limitations to royal power (constitutional monarchy)

Henry III (1216-1276)

Edward I (1272-1307):

- attempted to recuperate the royal rights => requested all landlords with privileges from the crown to prove the grant with documents
- defeated the Welsh and campaigned against Scotland
- employed biannual meetings of representatives of all the counties => emergence of the Parliament

** by the late 13 early 14 C. => many knights involved in trade with wool or in the emerging textile industry (new barons)

Parliament --- House of Commons (new nobility + townspeople)

                 --- House of Lords (high nobility + clergy)