History Commons^™

8. The National State In Spain, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

The third national state and strong monarchy to be established by the end of the fifteenth century was in Spain. Separated from the rest of the Continent by the lofty and forbidding Pyrenees, Spanish culture developed in relative isolation from the main currents of Europe. The Iberian peninsula had a semi-arid climate, poor soil, and a scarcity of mineral resources. Only when they exploited the mines of Mexico and Peru, or those European lands gained through inheritance or marriage, were Spanish kings wealthy. The country' s poverty obstructed the rise of commerce and industry, limited the cosmopolitanism that accompanied them …

7. The Making Of France As A National State, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

The west Frankish kingdom of Charles the Bald, which he had received in 843 as his portion of his grandfather's great empire, is geographically the genesis of modern France. In the century of disorder and confusion following the partition of Charlemagne's realm into three kingdoms, government fell into the hands of powerful vassals. From the first, therefore, great lords in France exercised the functions of independent rulers. In 987 they chose one of the weaker of their number, Hugh Capet (987-996), to be king. He and his successors faced two great problems in establishing nationhood in France: how to recover …

5. The Rise Of National Feeling, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

In the centuries under review in this chapter the self-sufficient manor, the feudal aristocracy, and the cultural isolation of Europe fell before the forces of economic change. In much the same way and for many of the same reasons the political institutions and practices of feudalism succumbed to the joint attacks or monarchs and the middle class. Even in its day of glory feudalism had within itself certain weaknesses. It had never been able to maintain more than a modicum of order, and indeed under the chivalric code the proper occupation of the knight was warfare. To the interminable civil …

3. The Decline Of The Manor, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

The development of towns into commercial centers was soon accompanied by the decline of the old manorial system of agriculture and serfdom. Changes were taking place in methods of agricultural production, systems of land holding, and the quantity of land under cultivation. These changes came about as it became increasingly apparent that population growth was creating demands for the products of the soil which the old agricultural methods no longer could meet. [excerpt]

1. The Revival Of Commerce, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

Throughout the Middle Ages, and indeed until quite recent times, Europe's economy was primarily agrarian. From the eleventh century onward however, commerce followed by manufacturing and urbanization, became increasingly characteristic of Western Europe's society. But the old made way for the new so slowly that the shift may be clearly discerned only through the lengthened perspective of the years. [excerpt]

6. England: A Case Study In Successful Monarchism, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

England led the way to national consolidation and a strong monarchy for a number of reasons. The geographical advantages have already been briefly mentioned. Of some importance were the Anglo-Saxon precedents in force between the seventh and eleventh centuries. Roman Civilization was never much more than a thin veneer in England and with the withdrawal of the Romans this veneer wore away. In its place rose Saxon England, and despite the partially successful invasions of the British Isles by the Northmen a degree of cultural homogeneity developed. In fact, these invasions promoted the levying of a royal tax known as …

9. The Holy Roman Empire: A Monarchial Failure, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

Royal efforts to create national states and strong monarchies during the later Middle Ages succeeded in England, France, and Spain for different reasons and under different circumstances. In two of the great geographical subdivisions of central Europe the monarchs were not so successful. Eventual unification of Germany and Italy was delayed until the nineteenth century and may be explained by a number of factors, some beyond the control of individual kings and others based on weaknesses in the character of the monarchs themselves.

The political destinies of Germany and Italy became inextricably interwoven with the creation of the Holy Roman …

4. The Rise Of Capitalism, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

It will be seen from the foregoing that some of the spirit and practices of modern capitalism were already apparent as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries. European thought was becoming more secular with the development of a mercantile culture which stressed the production of goods for profit in contrast with the former emphasis on production for use. Medieval man began exploiting opportunities for more effective production and is distribution of the products of farm, mine, and shop. From this search evolved the economic system we call capitalism. In its rudimentary form this institution was not unknown during the …

2. The Rise Of Towns And Town Life, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

Towns as centers of a population devoted to commercial activity or as communities endowed with legal entity hardly existed anywhere in medieval Europe before the eleventh century. Some towns had survived the disorder of the Dark Ages, since societies require meeting places for religious purposes, to administer justice, and to muster military forces. These early centers were often located in old Roman towns where bishops resided, along well-established trade routes over which a trickle of commerce still passed, or on high ground which afforded some defensive advantage against the lawless bands of rovers or foreign invaders. Many early town were …

10. The Political Thought Of Machiavelli, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section V: The Rise of Capitalism and the National State to 1500

The national state in Western Europe was a new institution, without precedent in the European World. Its rise and almost immediate conflict with the Church challenged political theorists to reexamine the assumptions of a universal church in a universal empire upon which the theory of the two swords was based. These assumptions were so generally accepted that they were not easily abandoned. In the fourteenth century Marsiglia of Padua, for all his disinterest in the two swords, had arrived at his conclusions without denying either the existence of a universal church or the validity of the traditional morality. Other writers …