Compare and contrast the monarchies of Spain, England, and France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. The process of centralization in Europe took different paths in different areas. Centralization in Spain depended largely on the unification of the kingdoms of Spain under the additional religious (Catholic) unification. The administrative structure needed for that was already in place, with the church having conducted Inquisitions for several hundred years. Bringing the nobility to a position of dependence on the will of the sovereigns was always a critical factor. In England, by contrast, there had been a series of confrontations between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions, which were finally won by Henry VII Tudor in 1485, who then set about centralizing his authority by alternately bribing and repressing the English nobility. England was a somewhat different case and it was harder to impose a centralized monarchy because of two factors: the Magna Carta signed by King John in 1215, which imposed limitations on the power of the king; and the existence of Parliament, which had the right of taxation within England and therefore limited the king's activities. France developed a centralized monarchy under Francis I, who insisted on using the Parisian dialect to create a common language, consolidated territory as nobility passed away, and refined his relationship with the pope. Power was further consolidated with the end of the wars with the Habsburgs, but disagreement on the matter by the nobles led to Henry II's untimely death.