History

Feudal monarchies definition rise Characteristics and causes

Feudal Monarchies

The evolution and evolution of time give way to situations, movements and governments from the historical point of view, for which we will deal with talking about feudal monarchies as a new concept that derives from the Feudal System or Means of Production.

This concept is important for what it meant and that is that feudal monarchies were a new way of structuring society regarding the relationships that derive from the possession or possession of land. The so-called servants or workers of the land provided various types of services for the king . The feudal lords acted as intermediaries between the king and the subjects and the latter never had direct contact with the king. So this role-play and character play was very meaningful.

To seize total power, the kings ceded part of the local power and lands to those who allied with them in protection of the Nation of groups, as was the case of the Vikings and the Saxons , who intended to destroy and devastate the territories and cities in search of of dominion in medieval times, for which with the passage of time the lands or fiefdoms ceded at first, happened to be inherited, giving rise to the loss of power and also of wealth. Feudal monarchies definition

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When and where did feudal monarchies arise?

Feudal monarchies are a kind of government that developed during the Middle Ages in Western Europe, specifically between the 11th and 13th centuries . During the Middle Ages the feudal lords held power, for which the power that the king had was extremely weak, although they were established by the feudal lord as one of the main ones still under equality, but gradually the kings were obtaining more power due to the presence of evils such as famine, peasant revolts, epidemics and conflicts between the feudal lords themselves.

These conjunctures or conditions that were used by the kings increased their power, which put the feudal lords at a disadvantage, thus managing to invigorate or strengthen themselves by centralizing power in the hands of the king, or what is the same in the monarch. This last word stands out since the Monarchy arises as a system of government where power is held by the king and for the time it was legitimized by the clergy who was his counterpart or with whom he shared power during that time, for representing the main religious authorities, since he also had their own particular interests and thus closely watched them.

As we can see, there is a substantial change between the authority previously exercised by the king in the group of feudal lords to a hereditary authority or monarchy, because the king was not only the representative of the political community but also the supreme landowner who had the both mediate and immediate possession of the entire territory of the nation and its productions.

Characteristics of the Feudal Monarchies

What identified the Feudal Monarchies of the Middle Ages has to do with the following aspects:

  • He had the support of the church or clerical class .
  • It originated from the Bavarian kingdoms that were established in the Roman Empire .
  • The power was hereditary , that is, it was transmitted to the descendants, especially the first-born, thus maintaining power in a single family.
  • They originate to confront the so-called universal powers represented by the Pope and the Emperor .
  • They are placed above the vassal relations inherent to feudalism , since many vassals became so powerful that the kings themselves perceived problems in the future to be able to control them because they were so numerous, since they were the peasants who worked the land.
  • It represented a traditional form of feudalism , since it made feudal kings interested in power.
  • Power was sustained by the range or variety of social, cultural, legal and even military customs practiced by those who made up the noble class, the clerical class and the servants by virtue of their loyalty to the person of the king or monarch.

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Causes

As the kings initially could not be above the feudal lords because they did not have sufficient resources to maintain the army, in this part a group comes into play that was decisive in the fact that the kings managed to overcome the feudal lords . It is about the bourgeoisie, who were the most important inhabitants of the cities , their influence and other aspects determined the emergence of the monarchy, let’s see what they are:

  • Granting of economic-financial resources by the bourgeoisie to the kings , through the payment of taxes with the aim of using them against the nobles in their struggles and subjecting them to their authority.
  • Retribution by the kings for the support of the bourgeoisie , through the following favors:
  • They were given letters of privilege or charters that freed them from the submission or dominion of the feudal lords.
  • Great expectations of commercial monopolies .
  • Permits were granted to open markets and fairs .
  • The need to join military forces , as in the case of the Hundred Years War between France and the British Empire forced the States to have a regular army commanded by the king and no longer by scattered and isolated feudal lords.
  • The kings’ desire for power , which would help them accumulate much more wealth to conquer territories.
  • Dissatisfaction with the decline in the importance of their decisions in relation to the church and the feudal lords.

Consequences

With the establishment of the Monarchy in the Middle Ages, things like the following were achieved:

  • The objective was achieved for the monarchy to impose its authority on that of the lords , they were consolidated as monarchs due to the economic growth they held.
  • Studies were developed to bring back the application of Roman law , which sought to benefit the monarchs themselves and their strengthening in power.
  • Increase of the territories by the monarchs , which was possible by recovering fiefdoms, through marital alliances convenient to their interests and through the conquest of territories.
  • Enlargement of the political, economic and military power of the kings in the world sphere .

The real fight of the monarchs or kings in the Middle Ages was only against the feudal lords and in their eagerness to seize power from them, they realized that the clerical class could continue to be their best ally since if they really proposed it they would catapult into the power by having his support and letting him see that he could enjoy certain benefits with that alliance.

It should be noted that during monarchical governments, history has shown that inequality, disparity and differences between social classes have multiplied and the lowest and dispossessed statuses have led them to decline and deterioration, because the only ones who have benefited and enjoyed great perks have been the monarchs, nobles and clergymen and they have little or nothing interested in the circumstances or limitations of the rest of the population.

During absolutism, inequality and the decline of the lower classes increased. The privileges were directed only to the nobles and clergy, whose rights were superior to those of the majority, regardless of the living conditions of the rest.

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