The New Monarchs is a concept developed by European

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

during the first half of the 20th century to characterize 15th-century European rulers who unified their respective nations, creating stable and centralized governments. This centralization allowed for an era of worldwide

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

and conquest in the 16th century, and paved the way for rapid economic growth in Europe. Many historians argue the

Military Revolution The Military Revolution is the theory that a series of radical changes in military strategy and tactics during the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in major lasting changes in governments and society. The theory was introduced by Michael Roberts ...

made possible, and indeed made necessary, formation of strong central governments in order to maximize military strength that could enable conquest and prevent being conquered.

Examples

The best examples of New Monarchs are, chronologically: *

John I of Portugal John I ( WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in 1383–85 crisi ...

— terminated the political anarchy and began the Portuguese period of discoveries *

John II of Portugal John II (; ; 3 May 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince (), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for reestablishing the power of the Portuguese monarchy, reinvigo ...

crushed the power of the Nobility, establishing the preeminence of the Crown *

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

— ended civil disputes *

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

— united

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as it recovered from the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

and

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

— They never combined their territory. Each always ruled their own lands independently, weakened the power of the nobility, completed the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

, reformed the state finances, the law, the church, and the army and began the age of Spanish exploration. They also outlawed all religions except Catholicism. *

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henr ...

— ended the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

and pacified

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, th ...

resistance by marrying

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII of England, Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King E ...

Achievements

The achievements of the New Monarchs: *Limiting the power of the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

*Creating efficient, centralized systems of

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

ation *Maintaining a standing

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

loyal to the monarch *Encouraging some sense of national identity (but by no means

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

yet) *Fostering

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

, both internally and externally *Enforcing religious unity within their countries While

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

ruled two centuries after the New Monarchs, he is sometimes considered the New Monarch of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, accomplishing for his country very much what the New Monarchs did for theirs. After the New Monarchs, the Absolutist Monarchs gained sway, to be followed by the

Enlightened Absolutism Enlightened absolutism, also called enlightened despotism, refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhanc ...

History

New Monarchies, which were very powerful centralized governments with unified inhabitants, began to emerge in the mid-15th century. Factors responsible for this advance were the vast demographic and economic growth. Before these New Monarchies were formed, there were many changes the new monarchs had to make: including weakening powerful rivals, increasing revenue, unifying the country, and strengthening the power of the king and his bureaucracy. Two countries successful in strengthening themselves were France and England. England was headed by Henry VII and his son Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty; France was headed by Louis XI, Louis XII and Francis I of the Valois dynasty.

Causes

Many factors were responsible for the New Monarchies' rise from the years 1450-1550. First, there was a huge increase in population of 50%; thus there were more people paying the king's taxes. This led economic growth, as the increase in demand stimulated the economy. People began taking bigger risks and forming partnerships, enabling large sums of money to be invested. People became wealthier, resulting in a greater consumption of goods and luxuries, making merchants and traders wealthy. Merchants were then paying larger amounts in tariffs, increasing the king's revenue. To create and sustain a new monarchy kings had to introduce many changes. In the early 15th century there was political fragmentation, as some countries were not unified and there were many separate rulers governing small areas. At that time the nobility and the church rose to be the thriving powers. The king had to make changes to unify and strengthen his monarchy. He would have to weaken his rivals, the church and nobility, and transfer the authority to himself. He would also have to increase his funding by either increasing taxes, or selling government offices. Many kings did both.

Actions taken

The rulers of England and France both had to weaken their rivals, the church and nobility, in order to centralise power to the crown. In England, Henry VII came to power by decisively winning the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

, fought between his mother's family, the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...

, and their rivals, the

House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York ...

. The Lancastrian and Tudor forces defeated the powerful House of York, led by Henry Tudor (later Henry VII), whose descent from the House of Lancaster gave him legitimacy among the Lancastrian army. Henry then ascended to the throne after the Battle of Bosworth Field, and unified the two warring houses in his marriage to Elizabeth of York, thereby weakening the potential for opposition from the strongest noble families on both sides of the conflict, and making it much easier to centralise power away from the nobility. Moreover, so many nobles had died during the Wars of the Roses that Henry VII came to the throne with a total of 73 peers in England, and a further 16 in Ireland, so there was a lack of power among the wider nobility to challenge his rule even if they had wanted to. Henry VII hired the

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

, the class below nobility, to serve as Justices of Peace, who enforce the king's law and collect taxes; this weakened the power of nobility and made sure the king's laws were followed. He also increased the power of his royal court, the Star Chamber, giving them cases that previously went to nobility: thus increasing his own power over the judicial system. France had more difficulty in weakening its nobles and centralising power. Before the mid-1400s the aristocrats were very powerful, serving as independent rulers with their own laws and courts. Frances I sold offices in government, many of which come with a title. This increased the number of men in the class of nobles enabling Frances to dilute the aristocracy with men loyal to him. These two countries had very separate methods of dealing with the problem of the church and its power. Henry VIII, under the advice of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

, decided to break off from the

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and start his own religion, the

Anglican church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. Francis I, on the other hand, decided on a more simplistic approach and forces the pope to sign the

Concordat of Bologna The Concordat of Bologna (1516) was an agreement between King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X that Francis negotiated in the wake of his victory at Marignano in September 1515. The groundwork was laid in a series of personal meetings of king a ...

in 1516, which gave the king power to appoint whomever he wants for bishops and other religious positions and lessened the power of the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. Both kings needed to increase revenue. France needed more capital than England because of its permanent army of 15,000 soldiers, which cost half of the king's revenue. Both countries improved tax collection by preventing people from evading taxes. Henry VII concocted numerous schemes to increase his revenue. Since he needed Parliament's consent to could increase taxes, he increased fines for criminals. This had the dual effect of decreasing crime and increasing his treasury. Furthermore, he sold monopolies, which fetched large sums because those in possession could sell their products at any price, without fear of competition. France had a slightly different way of doing things; Frances I sold positions of government, and centralized tax collection under one agency. With one agency heading the collection, fewer people were able to evade taxes. France also instituted new taxes.

Results

Though stabilizing New Monarchies was not easy, it proved to be very worthwhile. After Henry VIII and Francis I, wars began for England and France, England's northern rising and France's civil war. Both countries are able to pull through because of the strength invested during the New Monarchies. Additionally the strength formed during England's New Monarchies helped withstand the fragile reigns of Edward and Mary, who followed after

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

References

Sources

* *{{cite book , last1=Parker , first1=Geoffrey , title=The Military Revolution, 1500-1800: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West , date=1996