User:Faslu007/sandbox

Rise of national states in Europe
The rise of national state in the early part of the 16th century is a most significant historical phenomenon in modern European history. A look at the political map of Europe in the year 1500 distinctly shows the emergence of national states like England, France, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden  and Hungary. It was different from a narrow medieval city states such as Venice or Genoa. It was the national state much bigger than the city states but not so vast as an empire. It did not exist in ancient times; it evolved slowly and dimly through the middle age and became the unit of modern state-system of Europe. The rise of the national state was the result of the growth of national consciousness-national patriotism among the people of Europe. The crusade had played the significant part to stimulate national feeling. The different peoples of Europe who took part in the crusades became proud of their own nationality and scornful of others. However the rise of national patriotism was responsible for the rise of the national literature. In the middle age and up to 16th century, Greek and Latin were the predominant literary languages of all European nationalities. But with the new renaissance spirit and the innovation of printing which rendered possible the spread of national literature among the masses, vernacular literature received great stimulus and encouragement. England was the first national state in Europe. It has some unique features to become the first one in this vein.

Factors aided for the rise of national state in Europe

a)	Effect of crusades; medieval Europe was feudal in character and in many a country shared political power with nobles, however the crusade began king and nobles valiantly to save Christianity. Their contact with Byzantine empire on the one hand and oriental despots on the other, gave them idea of absolute monarchy. Again the crusaders understood the concept of single nationality. They were surprised to find that there were no feudal lord challenging the might of the king or the church interfering in state matters in oriental countries      One of the effects of the crusades was the destruction of nobility. Many powerful nobles who participated in the crusades, perished ,and this made it easy for the European monarchs to establish royal absolutism. The final failure of the crusades caused a great set back to the glory of the catholic church. Besides this travelers, crusaders , merchants who spent some time in the oriental countries came back with the ideas which were distinctly secular. Merchants found the church an obstacle to progress. therefore they felt that the church should be controlled by the state.

b)	The impact of renaissance; at least three factors during the period of renaissance encouraged the growth of royal absolutism, firstly, the laws of Justinian came to be translated and gained great currency. According to the laws of Justinian ( the famous Byzantine empire of the middle ages), the king of the land was the source of the law and justice. They said that of the king willed, he could change laws. In a way, a national monarch was considered above the constitution and law. The study of the laws of Justinian gave rise to the theory of divine right of kings. Machiavelli’s II Principe (the prince), more than any other work, advocated the rule of one strong man so that the state might enjoy security and prosperity. He said that monarchy- national monarchy- was the most lasting and suitable form of government compared with other forms of government of his times. His work had profound influence on the monarchs of the 16th century. He expressed his presentment at the temporal power exercised by the Pop, and naturally the church imposed its ban on the reading of his book, Similarly, Jean Badin’s writings (The State) Argued that the sovereignty vests with the state and the king should enjoy unrestrained powers. Geographical exploration during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were undertaken at the initiative of the rulers of Europe. Successful exploration redounded to the credit and glory of these rulers, and the superstitions propagated by the catholic church about the earth, its size and its place in the solar system were rejected. These explorations gave distinct adventures to the European rulers to show that church was all wrong about its theological explanations regarding several phenomenon. c)	Reformation weakened the church; Crusades and the reformation movement weakened the position of the Pop and the catholic church. The crusades led by the Pope didn’t succeed and they badly affected the catholic church. Similarly reformation movement further weakened the church and resulted in religious conflicts during the 16th century. The catholic church depended upon the catholic kings such as Philip II of Spain and the Charles V (staunch Catholics) for support to the cause of Catholicism. Dependency upon European  monarchy indicated its weakness and this was taken advantage of by rulers the king Henry VIII TO reject the supremacy of the Pop d)	The rise of middle class;  the rise of the middle class in Europe proved to be the turning point. Its support weighed heavily in favour of the king in his fight against the powerful catholic church. it was disenchanted with the church because of its superstitious beliefs. The church considered usury and acquisition of wealth by individuals Christians as against Christian religion and morals. The middle class imbibed secular spirit more easily because they lived in towns and cities which were visited by traders and merchants who brought new ideas it desired effective maintenance of law and order as a priori condition for their progress and prosperity which can be ensured only by a strong king. No wonder, therefore, the middle class all ways supported absolute monarchy so long as it helped their interests. e)	Determined monarchs; the 16th century Europe produced strong willed monarchs. In England king Henry VIII, emerged as a ,monarch who didn’t tolerate any opposition to his rule from either the noble or the church. He carried on his fight against the catholic church and severd the English connection. He became its supreme head. Similarly francis I of France was a strong willed monarchs. Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor faced a large number of problems affecting his empire boldly. Phillip II of Spain may be considered as another typical royal despot who championed the cause of Catholicism. Sixteenth century Europe  may be described as the age of royal despotism. Spain as National state        Spain was one of the powerful state n Europe which achieved national unity before the end the 16th century. In the 8th century it had suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of Moors. But soon, the Christian powers managed to stem the tide of Muslim aggression and push the Moors southward toward the sea. Thus arose  the number of Christian state which were combined and consolidated in course of time through inter-marriages and other dynastic policies of ruling families. As a result of this, by the close of 13th century, there were three important states in the Peninsula, viz. Aragon on the east, Castile in the middle and Portugal on the west. Besides these there were two less important states-the Christian kingdom of Navarre in the extreme north and the Muslim kingdom of Granada in the extreme south. The rise of Spain into a strong national state was due to the fortunate marriage of Ferdinand, king of Aragon, with Isabella, the queen of Castile in 1492. In the same year Granada was conquered from the Moors. This marked the final disappearance of a power which had exercised alien rule over Spain for about eight centuries. The struggle against the Moors strengthened the national spirit of the Spaniards and gave them a national character. The discovery of the new world by Columbus in 1492 gave considerable addition to the dominion to of Spain. Ferdinand also defeated the French in Italy and compelled France to recognize his right in Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. All these elevated Spain to a place among the foremost nations of Europe and secured a commanding position for her. With the unification of Spain she started on a career of territorial expansion, the foundation for this was laid by Ferdinand (1479-1516). He completed the unification of Spain by acquiring the border Kingdom of Navarre.he entered into marriage alliances with other European powers mainly with the object of counteracting the rising power of France. He used his daughters as instruments of foreign policy. These marriage alliances increased Spanish influence in foreign courts. He suppressed the power of nobles. In short Ferdinand was the creator of modern Spain. His achievements, the immense wealth which flowed to Spain from her colonies, and the prestige brought by her arms and diplomacy exalted Spain to a position of      unprecedented importance throughout  the 16th century.

Portugal as National state Portugal had become a strong unified national state by 1500. Many factors contributed to this. She had a line of able rulers. The series of geographical discoveries made under the patronage of the Portuguese King Henry the Navigator, increased the power and  prestige of Portugal and united the Portuguese by a spirit of national patriotism. The Portuguese language which was of Lain origin, and the rich literature which cherished, were a strong factor of national unity. In Portugal nationalism was wedded to monarchial absolutism and the parliament known as Cortes ceased to play any significant part on the political life of Portugal after 1521.

France as national state It was towards the end of the 12th century that France began to become a national state. When Philip Augustus became king of France, he was hardly more powerful than some of his feudal barons, and the king of England possessed more territory in France than the king of France did himself possess. But before he died in 1233 he extended his authority to the remotest part of France. For the first time in the history of France the king was more powerful than any of his feudal subjects. Then followed a process of national consolidation and monarchical absolutism in France for the next three centuries. One after another the feudal nobles were reduced to submission and their territories were incorporated into the royal domain. Louis IX who due to his goodness and justice, was known as St.Louis, encourage the town as an anti feudal force and secured their loyalty and support. One f the strongest factor which contributed to the national consolidation in France was the Hundred Years’ War between England and France (1337-1453). It led to a remarkable outburst of national feeling in France which was symbolised by the heroic achievement of John of Arc, the peasant girl of Domremy, in driving away the English from the French soil. The English were deprived of all French possession except Calais which remained in their hands till 1558. The hundred Years war promoted not only the growth of national feeling bit also the growth of autocracy. A strong national monarchy was established in France as a result of the war. In 1422 Charles VII king of France build up a standing army of professional soldiers. His successor Louis XI as a builder of autocracy he was one of the greatest of the French monarchs. He was a crafty and cunning ruler, he reduced the power of feudal lords. He defeated the Duke of Burgandy and made the the Duchy of Burgandy a part of France. Louis was aided by the feudal custom of escheat, according to which feudal estate reverted to the crown on the failure of male heirs. Thus on the death of Duke of Anjou, he annexed the territories of Anjou, Maine and Provence. Charles VIII the son of Louis XI added Brittany to the kingdom of France by virtue of his marriage with the heiress of France. With this the unification of France was practically completed. In 1500 France was a real national monarchy, with a national literature and real national patriotism centered around the king. England as a national state- first national state I Europe Under the Tudors, (1485-1603) nationalism was wedded absolute monarchy and the result was that the England forged ahead as a strong nation state under the umbrella of Tudor absolutism. The first Tudor monarch Henry VII (1485-1509), laid the foundation for this and the superstructure was built by his successors Henry VIII and Elizabeth. He repressed the feudal nobles and strengthened the royal power in many ways. He made use of a special court called Court of Star Chamber to try cases of nobles which ordinary courts of law were unable to deal with, and this court was an effective instrument of king to suppress the pretension of the nobles. He fostered trade and industry, enlarged the navy and patronized maritime enterprise. He encouraged the new middle class which was growing rich and influential by trade and industry and enlisted their wholehearted support and loyalty for strengthening royal power. By dynastic marriages and diplomacy, rather than by war, he won prestige abroad. His daughter Margret was married to James IV king Scotland, and this led to the union of the crowns of England and Scotland in 1603. His son and successor Henry VIII was both domestic tyrant and public tyrant public tyrant. He deserves to be called as the architect of the modern parliament. He made the monarch well knitted with parliament. The reign of Henry is also memorable for the founding of the English Royal Navy which rendered great service in strengthening the power of Britain as nation state. Henry built ships for use in commerce as well as in war. Henry VIII was succeeded by his son Edward VI in whose brief reign (1547-1553) doctrinal reformation was introduced in England. On his death in 1553 Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, came to the throne. Her reign (1553-1558) was a period of catholic reaction characterised by fierce persecution of the Protestants. Her marriage with Philip II king of Spain, dragged England into war with France which resulted in the loss of Calais, the only remaining possession of England in the continent of Europe. On the whole, the reigns of the Edward VI and Mary were periods of the confusion in English history. But the accession of the Elizabeth, the half sister of Mary, heralded a new epoch in English history. She ruled England for 45 years; it was a memorable period in many respects. She restored social economic and religious confidence by her wise policy and efficient administration. The greatest problem which confronted her at the time of her accession was the religious problem her religious settlement was essentially a compromise. It rejected the some of the basic doctrines of the Catholic Church, and totally rejected the papal authority. She established a national church which came to be known in history as the Anglican Church. Elizabeth’s foreign policy was a glorious success. The victory in the Spanish Armada (1588) heralded an age of naval supremacy and maritime expansion for the British nation. The Elizabeth’s age was golden age for literature especially drama and poetry, the works of national poets like Shakespeare and Ben Jonson brought eternal glory for the England. The Tudor monarchy was a national monarchy in the fullest sense. It symbolised the national aspiration and achievement of the English. Rise of Sweden The Scandinavian people who lived in north western part of Europe built three kingdoms, namely Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the middle ages. In the course of time the Scandinavian began to emigrate in all directions and tried to colonise many parts of the northern and southern Europe. In 1397, the kingdom of Denmark, Sweden and Norway became politically united by the union of Calmar. However this was not liked by the Swedes and after staging a series of revolts, Sweden became an independent national state. The guiding spirit behind these national revolts was Gustavus Vasa. Fortunately the spread of reformation in Sweden assumed the form of nationalism. The massacre of the Swedish nobles at the Stockholm by the Danish king led to a nationalist revolt and resulted in the independence of Sweden as a national state under Gustavus Vasa.