War and Feudalism in Europe

During the middle of the 15th century, Europe was in a time of war and feudalism. Many European states had a weak central government and needed strong rulers to reestablish the order. Several leaders emerged during this time period who did some great works to bring the power back into the monarch’s hand, and thus they earned the name “new monarchs”. There were several factors that helped these leaders rise. Most of the “new monarchs” that arose during 1450 to 1550. In England, King Henry VII taking major steps in building the economy, causing a downshift in noble’s power, Spain’s monarchy came to power through the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, France’s Louis XI earned his power by playing mind games, happily snatching the power away from nobles. King Henry VII who supposedly became the “new monarch” of England, began his era after the end of civil war, also known as the (1)‘Wars of the Roses’, fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, later won by the House of Lancaster, was one of main factors that brought King Henry VII into power. He came into power only after the death of his father Henry Tudor (the leader of the winning house). Since (2)the war had caused tension between two of the most powerful families, Henry later married Elizabeth of York to ease the tensions. England was in a changing phase, which meant most of the nobles still had power to compete with the king. Therefore (3)Henry VII altered several of England’s political features, resulting in increase of his ‘power and stability’. To gain an advantage over the nobles, Henry prohibited “livery and maintenance”. This meant that nobles were no longer able to maintain private armies, substantially weakening their power. (4)He also utilized the ‘Star Chamber’, which acted as a royal council and helped bring peace to his kingdom. (5)One of his best decisions was to keep England out of costly foreign wars. This helped England loose less money and helping his treasury become more