Chapter 13 The Rise of the Middle Ages Section 4: The Struggle for Power in England and France

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Chapter 13 - The Rise of the Middle AgesSection
4 The Struggle for Powerin England and France
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• The Story Continues
• Kings, nobles, and church leaders sought
• to gain power over one another throughout
• the Middle Ages. King Philip II of France,
• for example, sought to control the election
• of bishops in the French church. We
• warn the canons and monks, Philip
• ordered, to elect someone who will be
• pleasing to God and useful to the realm.
• The struggle for power among these
• groups was a continuing theme in the
• development of medieval Europe.

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I. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

• By 450, Roman rule in Britain ended and
• Germanic tribes moved into the island

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I. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

• The Anglo-Saxons formed several kingdoms
• and divided them into districts called shires

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I. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

• Danes overran much of England until Alfred
• the Great subdued them in 886

Alfred the Great at Winchester
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I. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

• By 1013 the Danes regained control of the
• entire country. King Canute of Denmark
• took the throne in 1016

"Sea, I command you to come no farther!"
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I. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

• By 1042 the Danish line died out Anglo-
• Saxon nobles chose Edward the Confessor
• as king

Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 5 January 1066)
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II. William the Conqueror

• 1066 - Edward died without an heir Duke
• William of Normandy claimed the throne

King William I of England, aka William of
Normandy and William the Bastard, was the
illegitimate son of Duke Robert of Normandy,
France. Though his blood claim to the throne of
England was slim, he set his sights on the land
once governed by his cousin, Edward the
Confessor, and claimed the old king had named him
his heir.
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II. William the Conqueror

• When the Anglo-Saxons denied his claim,
• William defeated them at the Battle of
• Hastings in October 1066

The Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1073-83)
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II. William the Conqueror

• William established a new feudal system
• the king held supreme authority, all English
• lords became vassals of the king

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II. William the Conqueror

• Williams successors made reforms in the
• government and the financial and legal
• systems

William the Conqueror his sons heirs William
Rufus and Henri I, the fourth king is his nephew
Stephen of Blois
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II. William the Conqueror

• When King Henry II attempted to try the
• clergy in royal courts, Thomas Becket, the
• Archbishop of Canterbury, refused and was
• murdered

Murder of Thomas Becket in 1170
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II. William the Conqueror

• 1215 - King John demanded that nobles pay
• more taxes. They revolted and forced him to
• sign the Magna Carta

The Great Charter of English liberty granted by
King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215
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• The Magna Carta
• - protected the liberties of the nobles
• - outlined rights for ordinary citizen
• - held the king to the same law as the people

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III. Parliament and Common Law

• The Parliament grew out of members of the
• middle class meeting with the clergy and
• nobles in a Great Council

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III. Parliament and Common Law

• Common law - a collection of decisions
• made by the courts used as the basis for
• future court verdicts

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IV. Rise of Capetian Kings in France

• 987 - the last Carolingian king died nobles
• chose Hugh Capet as king, beginning
• the Capetians line

Hugh Capet (c. 940 24 October 996)
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IV. Rise of Capetian Kings in France

• The Capetians developed a strong central
• government and tried to unite French
• duchies under a monarch

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IV. Rise of Capetian Kings in France

• Philip the Fair taxed the clergy and
• convened the Estates General

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IV. Rise of Capetian Kings in France

• 1328 - the Capetian dynasty ended without
• achieving unification France remained
• feudal in its political organization