288. Changes in government

CHAPTER XIV

EUROPEAN STATES IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES

A. RISE OF THE MODERN STATE

ONE of the important contrasts between medieval and modern times is the difference in the nature and functions of their governments. It was especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that the development from the one to the other type of government began. Before turning, therefore, to the history of the separate countries of western Europe, we will first examine briefly the character of these differences.

First among them we may count the practical disappearance in modern times of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 289. Weak- Middle Ages the empire was the counterpart to the Holy Roman Holy Roman Church. It was supposed, equally with Empire the latter, to have been founded by God; and to it all

ness of the

persons, in theory, owed allegiance. In reality the claim of the
empire to universal rule, even in western Europe, was never
completely established; and the long-continued conflicts be-
tween papacy and empire practically destroyed what power
it did possess.
As a name for the government of the German
confederation it continued to exist; but, in the words of a witty
Frenchman, it was fast becoming "neither holy, nor Roman,
nor an empire." In place, therefore, of a single great state
comprising all Europe, there now came in the idea of a Europe
divided into a number of separate territorial states.

290. Na

tional as against

Another difference is to be found in the greater unity of the new states as compared with feudal governments. "In the Middle Ages," says a French writer, "every large proprietor lived like a sovereign on his domains. Every organized city governed itself like a republic. Each country

feudal ties

261

Civilization,

was divided into several thousand petty, independent powers, who negotiated with one another as if they were foreign nations. The inhabitant of a town or feudal lordship was considered a foreigner in the neighboring town or lordship. To have the right even of taking there his merchandise, he was Medieval Seignobos, obliged to have a special permission. Each lordship, and Modern each town, had its tribunal, its treasury, its army, its customs, its complete government. But this government lation conwas only exercised within the limits of the lordship or of the town. Consequently there was no government for the whole densed) country, no nation, not even a state." The direct tie which in modern times binds all subjects or citizens to the head of the state was wanting in strictly feudal societies.

211 (trans

Nor was this all. The ties of sympathy were stronger between members of the same class who dwelt in different countries, than they were between members of different classes in the same country. Thus the nobility of France, Germany, and other countries had more in common with one another than any of them had with the townsmen or peasantry of their own country. To put this fact in another way, we may say that the social cleavage in the Middle Ages was along class lines, and not along national lines.

With the rise of the modern state, these conditions changed. Feudal rights of government were everywhere restricted, and the sovereignty of the state was reconstituted. All inhabitants are now bound to the head of the state by a duty of allegiance and service which is superior to that owing to any other person. A consciousness of a common nationality — based on the sion of the same speech, the same government, the same mempossesories, interests, and hopes-began to arise. of patriotism, that is, of loyalty to one's native land, was born. The sentiment The ties which united together all the inhabitants of a country became closer, therefore, while the cleavage between different countries became sharper and more distinct.

The modern state also differs from feudal governments in the extent of the powers which it exercises. Many functions of

291. En

government which had existed in the ancient Roman Empire - such as support of hospitals, orphan asylums, poor relief, schools and universities disappeared during the feudal period, or were left to private charity and to the church. Road-making, bridge-building, and the construction of public buildings (except churches and town halls) practically ceased altogether.

larged functions of government

With the rise of the modern state, these functions of government were resumed. The enforcement of justice, and the holding of courts, which had earlier been left to the feudal lords, were also restored to the state. A constantly enlarging sphere of action by the state is one of the marks of modern times. With these greatly increased functions there came naturally a larger staff of paid officials in the service of the government. As a result, the old feudal and royal revenues of the crown no longer sufficed. Taxes, which had practically disappeared with the overthrow of the old Roman Empire, were therefore revived. And since every state had to be in a position to enforce its commands upon its subjects, and to repell the attacks of other states, there arose the necessity of police forces and standing armies.

As a result of such changes as these, we find in most of the countries of western Europe, in the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, modern states arising. They were the creation, in the main, of the monarchs of the time, who were aided by favoring circumstances. The new governments were supported by a strong national spirit, and had large powers and separate departments of administration. They were strengthened by a body of well-ordered law, and they controlled their resources of men and money more adequately than did the feudal governments. This rise of modern states was, indeed, as characteristic a feature of the new time as the power of Empire and Papacy had been of the old.

B. FRANCE AND BURGUNDY

France was one of the first countries to develop the powers of the modern state. The earlier steps in the strengthening of the