Europe in 1500 - Political structures

7 important questions on Europe in 1500 - Political structures

What regime was there in the Catholic Church?

The Catholic Church, too, was subject to one man, the Pope, who claimed not merely to be the heir of St Peter, to whom Christ had entrusted the care of his Church, but also to have the right, albeit a much disputed one, to interfere in the government of kingdoms when he deemed it appropriate, and even to depose rulers for sin or negligence.

What destroyed imperial power in Italy?

An alliance of the Papacy with a powerful group of Italian communes and, in the second half of the thirteenth century, with the house of Anjou, had destroyed imperial power in Italy.

How did the Papacy lose its power?

The Papacy was another monarchical institution that suffered a loss of power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, finding itself increasingly forced to make compromises with lay rulers with regard to the government of the clergy within their dominions, in particular in matters of taxation, appointments to benefices and judicial appeals.
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What happened in the Great Schism?

  • The Great Schism (1378-1417), during which there were two and, in its later stages, three rival claimants to the papal throne, gave a great opportunity to the conciliar movement, because to end the scandal it was necessary to summon a council of the Church, which met at Constance.
  • Most conciliarists wanted councils to be a regular feature of the government of the Church and to be superior to popes. The popes eventually managed to defeat this movement, but to do so were forced to make large concessions to lay rulers, in order to win their support.

What happened to the Byzantine Empire?

  • One monarchical state that had disappeared entirely was the Byzantine Empire, the last surviving part of the Roman Empire that had dominated the later centuries of classical antiquity.
  • In 1453 its capital, Constantinople, was captured by the Ottoman Turks, who for more than two hundred years afterwards posed a major threat to the Christian powers.

What was the largest country in Europe? Of did they differ politically?

  • The largest country in Europe was Poland-Lithuania, fruit of a personal union that became a constitutional one (1569).
  • By contrast with many other European states, Poland had a strong DIET, or representative assembly, which was a bastion of noble constitutional privilege.

Who came to power in France and Spain around 1500?

  • Thirty-three years after the Treaty of Troyes had made Henry V heir to the French throne, France had emerged victorious from the Hundred Years War, while England's defeat consigned it for a very long time to the second rank of European states.
  • Spain had been 'created' by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, who brought stability to the two kingdoms and conquered Moorish Granada in 1492.

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