From Kings to Monarchs: The Resurgence of Public Power in Late Medieval Europe

Abstract

In the Late Middle Ages universalism, imposed by popes and emperors, and the feudal model were gradually abandoned as patterns for the political and legal organization of Western societies, as a result of fundamental changes resulting from the multiplication of trade links (Commercial Revolution) and a rising cultural level spawned by the emergence of the first European universities. The rigid tripartite structure into which feudal society was organized, featuring a landed nobility, peasants, and the clergy, was to fundamentally shift as a result of commercial expansion, the growth of cities, and the emergence of a new social class: the bourgeoisie, which would amass considerable wealth and gradually upset traditional relationships of power. Kingdoms such as Castile, England and France became the new reference points on the European political and legal landscape as their kings became hereditary ``monarchs'' who ruled over expanding territories which they controlled through solid administrative networks. Though late medieval kings grew gradually independent from the popes and emperors, they were not absolute rulers, as their power was limited by the rise of state assemblies, where members of the privileged orders (nobility and clergy) sat together with representatives of the cities, whose inhabitants finally won political representation. Moreover, late medieval kings were subject to the law and saw their authority limited by a series of proto-constitutional documents, solemnly agreed to with their most influential subjects, a development which would pave the way for the establishment of the rule of law in Europe.