PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 8

The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
By: Maurice Keen
Chapter 8: The Twelfth-Century Revolution in Government
Presented By: Rebecca Boe

-Revival of city life and commerce in the eleventh and twelfth century gave new importance to money, as a medium of exchange. Development of a systematic approach was taking place in the schools. These two things made possible an advance in the range and methods of government.

-Shift in the balance of power:
*Past: Local lord held power. (Feudal State: A system of rights and duties between lords and their vassals – those who are protected. In return for a piece of land, the vassals had to perform military duties and pay certain rents and dues. Peasants worked on the vassals land in return for protection)
*Present Time: Due to a new promising government (rulers personal intervention necessary less often – king, or a noble) a ruler was now able to govern over more land, which meant they had more money to build castles and pay men to defend them

Ways a ruler could extend resources:
*Easier to gain land through marriage, then by sword.
*Take over land of a vassal who died without heirs.

-In the twelfth century, Sicily had the most highly developed government in Latin Christendom.
*Sicily inherited an administration whose framework was Byzantine, based on the practices of the late Roman Empire.

*Roger II claimed himself King in 1130 - Omni competence of royal authority – power was not fragmented (he held all the power) – multi-racial composition of Rogers kingdom contributed to his exceptional power (Greek, Norman, and Arab alike).

-Another highly organized government was the Norman kingdom of England. (Normans were descendents of the Vikings who had settled in northern France).
*Domesday Book was produced in 1085 – William the Conqueror decided to find out who owned land and property and how much tax they should pay on it. (His officials toured England recording the names of landowners, their holdings, and how much their possessions were worth).

*Financial administration saw an important advance during the reign of Henry I (1100-35) The king’s treasury was organized into a rudimentary government accounting department, the Exchequer. Through the sheriffs the king had an annual account of all that was due to him and all he paid out, and a means of checking the activities of officials whom he seldom met.

*Henry II reign (1154-89) – people expected him to provide justice. Welfare was left to the church and family. Royal authority began to become something more meaningful to a wide range of people (began to shape a common law of all of the land).

*Henry gained land in France through family ties, which caused tension with the King of France. Henry’s successors, Richard and John, had to strain at their resources to keep their land.

*John stretched his royal right beyond reason to keep land (lost most of his land) – 1215 his subjects forced him to seal a Great Charter (Magna Carta), which put limits over his rights. The growth of royal power ended by forcing the king to acknowledge boundaries on their power.

-The French monarchy went from having very little power to having a great deal of power long before the signing of the Magna Carta.

-Louis VI (1108-37) focused on getting rid of the rich near Paris, who were illegally charging his citizens. (Possibly through tolls or taxing). This idea was wide spread and also carried out in other areas by Count Geoffrey and Count Charles. Due to Louis actions he guaranteed his successors money and men for defending themselves.

-The French monarch now thought through their decisions more carefully before they acted. Louis grandson decided to model their decision making process after the English Kings.

-Phillips land, France, was divided into districts, each which was supervised by a bailli (a person who was responsible for taxing the people, listening to complaints, and discussed with the Kings council any matters of great difficulty).

-The Kings court eventually became the Parliament of Paris, the highest court in France.

-Phillip forcefully gained control over the King of England’s land in the areas of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine – this doubles his land and made him more powerful.
(Phillip was able to gain this control because court systems were able to decide things more quickly and the other powerful rulers in the area were absent at the time)

-Phillip defeated Johns armies, during Johns attempt to save his land. Phillip
power was now secure, but he still was not a good of a ruler as the King of England.

-At the time, the Church was the most efficient form of government. (Similar to the bailli’s) Traveling legates would hear cases in the Pope’s name from the surrounding areas. (Go back to Pope with any cases that they could not resolve)

-Case hearings were not efficient enough with the Legates – small groups made up of local church members were appointed to solve the cases.

-The Pope felt it was to time consuming to hear all cases (getting to petty) so he decided he and his officials would only hear cases in the areas of: marriage, breach of oath, questions of legitimacy, testamentary disposition, and church endowments.

- The Church felt that all people should follow their laws – no boarders (All mighty power). Although they did not have the man power to enforce their laws, the church had the moral authority needed to enforce laws (going to hell).

- Rome was turbulent at the time (people were uprising). The Pope often had to move elsewhere to avoid death. While in hiding they had to depend on militaries provided by princes. Even though they were under threat, people still found them popular because they were recruiting for the Crusades.

- An emperor, Henry IV, challenged the aristocratic authority (rich ruling) – in 1077 Rudolf of Swabia was elected as an anti king by the people. (People started moving to their community and now all of a sudden Henry told them they must start reporting to him – people were upset and wanted to know why all of a sudden things were changing – Though Henry was greedy)

-Henry V died childless, which beginning a period of time when hereditary succession was not in existence. The empire was not able to build up because there was no family to pass power to. (No connection between the people and the leader)

-Empire lost power in Germany and Italy.

-1183 Treaty of Constance was signed by Barbosa (Rest of Europe’s Magna Carta) – Gave the cities a greater independence.