Centralization of Power

During the 15th and 17th centuries, royals began the process of centralizing their governments. Louis XIV of France, Peter the Great of Russia, and Ferdinand and Isabella of Castille and Aragon, all centralized the power of their governments to make their kingdoms stronger.

• How did they do it?
• What did it mean that the governments were centralized?

Need to Know Terms

Centralization of Power Definition

Power is centralized when the executive and legislative power come from the same central group. This was a common tactic for the New Monarchies and Royal Absolutism. Nation-states were able to emerge as power was centralized and national identities formed. This is also common in modern, constitutional governments!

Features of Centralization of Power

When power was centralized the ruler could rule as they chose to with little to no opposition.

• Legislation was passed more quickly because kings did not have to wait on their counselors' votes
• Armies were no longer tied to the nobility so kings could wage war as they saw fit
• To centralize power the ruler had to take it from those around them

Three groups constituted the state: the nobility (bellatores), the clergy (oratores), and the peasants (laboratores). These groups didn't have to be powerless and could still have some control in the government, but the true control came from the rulers and/or the rulers and their counsels.

Let's take a closer look at the nobility and clergy.

Nobility

The nobility lost power as feudalism was phased out. In feudalism, kings had all of the lands in the kingdom. He gave land to the nobles in exchange for their loyalty. Should he need it, the nobles would provide soldiers and knights to fight for the king.

The Nobles then gave land to vassals who would provide military service to the nobles. The vassals protected peasants and allowed them to live on the land in exchange for services and food. This system was passed down from parent to child.

Fig 1: Feudalism Diagram

As the feudal system was phased out the king no longer needed nobility to provide armies. Instead, he relied on armies that he would pay himself. This way the armies were loyal to the king, not the nobles.

As the nobles lost power, towns began to grow and become more powerful. The king would protect the towns and allow them to self-govern in exchange for their taxation and loyalty. The king could also choose middle-class lawyers from towns to work as bureaucrats.

The Clergy

The Catholic Church was a very powerful force. It owned more land in Europe than any king. The Pope could excommunicate the king if he did something that the Pope disliked. If the king continued to upset the Pope, then he could create an interdict that forbade holy sacraments from being performed in the entire kingdom.

The nobles had to pay ten percent of their income to the Church as a tithe, but the king could not tax the church. The church could rent land, but the king had limited ability to tax the people who rented from the church. The church began to lose power after two major crises: the Great Schism and the Avignon Papacy tribulation.

Centralization of Power Examples

There are three groups of rulers that exemplify centralized government. Louis XIV was an absolute monarch of France. Ferdinand and Isabella were Spain's king and queen, and Peter the Great was the Tsar of Russia.

Louis XIV (1643 – 1715)

Louis XIV also called the Sun King, ruled France from 1643 to 1715 and was an absolute monarch. Louis was able to centralize power by making a trade with the nobility. They would give him their power and he would allow them to become part of the king's court in his luxurious Palace of Versailles. Louis was in complete control over his government and hired bureaucrats to handle jobs that once belonged to the nobility.

Fig 2: Louis XIV, the Sun King

Ferdinand (1479-1516) and Isabella (1479-1504)

When Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile married in 1469 it began the process of the unification of Spain. They were able to control the clergy within their kingdoms because the Pope allowed them to choose Spain's bishops. Normally, the pope would make this choice. The bishops chosen by the royal couple were loyal to the crown, not the pope.

Fig 3: Ferdinand and Isabella

Ferdinand and Isabella were able to start the Spanish Inquisition because they had control over the clergy within Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was supposed to find Jewish people and Muslims who had said that they converted to Catholicism. The Inquisition would torture them so that they would admit that they had never truly converted. Of course, torture is not a way to get an honest confession and many of the people subjected to it had committed no crimes.

Peter the Great (1682-1725)

Peter the Great became the Tsar of Russia when he was ten years old in 1682. That same year he witnessed the Moscow Uprising where the Streltsy revolted and killed his advisors and some of his family members. This event shaped the young ruler. When the Streltsy revolted again from 1698 to 1699 the Tsar had many of them executed and their families exiled.

Fig 4: Peter the Great

Peter introduced Western European culture to Russia. He brought Russia from a country that was left behind to a world power when he won his war against Sweden. One of the ways that Peter centralized power was by eliminating his political rivals, the Streltsy who were attempting to replace him with his half-sister.

Disadvantages of Centralization of Power

Centralizing power does have disadvantages. When a ruler has so much control over their government, they can become tyrants. They might not consider the quality of life of the individuals who live beneath them.

Peter the Great favored clean-shaven faces but the popular trend in Russia was to have a full beard. Peter personally cut off the beards of his guests at a party. He had police cut the beards of his citizens before he settled on a beard tax to encourage people to shave!

Ferdinand and Isabella began the Spanish Inquisition in their quest to have a fully Catholic kingdom. Many Jewish people and Muslims were forced to leave their homes and lives because of this. The point is that monarchs with too much power can create situations that are uncomfortable or dangerous for their countrymen without much interference.

Importance of Power Centralization

Kings and queens were able to progress their countries and bring them into new eras as they centralized power. Ferdinand and Isabella began the process of unifying Spain as they took power from the clergy and nobility to do so. Louis XIV brought France into a new era as it became a world power. He progressed the arts and gathered more territory for the kingdom. Peter the Great ended Russia's period of isolation and made it a world power. He was able to progress the science and culture of the country as he gained more control.

Many countries still had versions of the feudal system before their centralization. Most constitutional governments that we see today have some form of centralized power. Power is centralized when the legislative and executive branches of government are controlled by a small portion of the kingdom's population.