Late medieval Europe saw a shift from feudalism to centralized monarchies. Kings consolidated power, challenging the decentralized feudal system. This period also witnessed the rise of representative institutions like the Magna Carta, limiting royal authority.

Economic changes included the growth of towns and a new merchant class. Trade revival stimulated growth, while innovations like the putting-out system and mercantilism emerged. These developments laid the groundwork for the Renaissance's cultural and intellectual flourishing.

Late Medieval European Politics

Feudalism and the Rise of Centralized Monarchies

• Feudalism dominated medieval Europe's political and social system
  • Hierarchical structure of lords and vassals bound by mutual obligations
• Centralized monarchies in England, France, and Spain challenged feudalism's decentralized power structure
  • Kings sought to consolidate authority and create more unified states
• Magna Carta (1215) in England and Estates-General in France limited monarchy's power
  • Established representative institutions
• Divine right of kings concept emerged
  • Asserted monarchs derived authority directly from God, not subject to earthly constraints

Challenges to the Holy Roman Empire

• Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of German states and territories
• Faced challenges to its authority from powerful princes and the Catholic Church

Economic Transformations and Mercantilism

Growth of Towns, Cities, and New Economic Classes

• Growth of towns and cities in late medieval Europe led to new class of merchants and artisans
  • Challenged traditional economic order dominated by landed nobility
• Revival of trade and commerce stimulated economic growth
  • Facilitated by Crusades and Italian city-states
  • Development of new financial instruments (banking, credit)

Trade and Production Innovations

• Hanseatic League, a confederation of northern European trading cities, dominated Baltic trade
  • Fostered economic cooperation among its members
• Putting-out system (cottage industry) emerged as precursor to factory system
  • Merchants provided raw materials to rural workers who produced finished goods in their homes
• Mercantilism influenced government policies and international relations
  • Economic theory emphasized accumulation of wealth through trade surpluses and control of gold and silver

Impact of the Hundred Years' War

Political and Cultural Consequences

• Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was a series of conflicts between England and France
  • Fought over territorial disputes and dynastic claims to the French throne
• War highlighted growing importance of national identities and concept of sovereignty
  • England and France sought to assert their political and cultural distinctiveness

Military and Social Impacts

• English use of longbows and tactics (chevauchée mounted raids) challenged traditional military strategies
  • Proved effective against French heavy cavalry
• War contributed to decline of feudal system
  • Need for professional armies and costs of prolonged conflict strained resources of nobles and monarchs
• Conflict had significant social and economic consequences
  • Destruction of agricultural land, disruption of trade, displacement of populations

Catholic Church Influence on Society

Political and Religious Authority

• Catholic Church was the dominant religious institution in medieval Europe
  • Exercised significant influence over political, social, and cultural affairs
• Church's doctrine of "two swords" (spiritual and temporal power) led to conflicts with secular rulers
  • Disputes over extent of papal authority and relationship between Church and state
• Great Schism (1378-1417) undermined Church's unity and authority
  • Rival popes claimed legitimacy, contributing to calls for reform

Education and Daily Life

• Church played a central role in education
  • Cathedral schools and universities served as centers of learning and preservation of classical knowledge
• Church's teachings and practices shaped daily lives and beliefs of medieval Europeans
  • Sacraments, penance, and indulgences
  • Subject to criticism and calls for reform