Page 333 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

Danube, known collectively as Austria, the house of Habsburg had become one of the wealthiest landhold- ers in the empire and by the mid-fifteenth century began to play an important role in European affairs. Much of the Habsburg success in the fifteenth century was due not to military victories but to a well-executed policy of dynastic marriages.
Much was expected of the flamboyant Maximilian I (1493–1519) when he became emperor. Through the Reichstag, the imperial diet or parliament, Maximilian attempted to centralize the administration by creating new institutions common to the entire empire. Opposi- tion from the German princes doomed these efforts, however. Maximilian’s only real success lay in his mar- riage alliances, which led to his grandson, Charles V, inheriting the traditional lands of the Habsburg, Bur- gundian, and Spanish monarchical lines at the begin- ning of the sixteenth century, making him the leading monarch of his age (see Chapter 13).
The Struggle for Strong Monarchy in
Eastern Europe
In eastern Europe, rulers struggled to achieve the cen- tralization of their territorial states but faced serious obstacles. Although the population was mostly Slavic, there were islands of other ethnic groups that caused difficulties. Religious differences also troubled the area, as Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox Christians, and pagans came into conflict.
Much of Polish history revolved around a bitter struggle between the Crown and the landed nobility until the end of the fifteenth century, when the preoc- cupation of the Polish monarchy with problems in Bohemia and Hungary, as well as war with the Russians and Turks, enabled the aristocrats to reestablish their power. Through their control of the Sejm (SAYM) or national parliament, the magnates reduced the peas- antry to serfdom by 1511 and established the right to elect their kings. The Polish kings proved unable to es- tablish a strong royal authority.
Since the conversion of Hungary to Roman Catholi- cism by German missionaries, its history had been closely tied to that of central and western Europe. The church became a large and prosperous institution, with wealthy bishops, along with great territorial lords, becoming powerful, independent political figures. For a brief while, Hungary developed into an important European state, the dominant power in eastern Europe. King Matthias Corvinus (muh-THY-uss kor-VY-nuss) (1458–1490) broke the power of the wealthy lords and
created a well-organized central administration. After his death, Hungary returned to weak rule, however, and the work of Corvinus was largely undone.
Since the thirteenth century, Russia had been under the domination of the Mongols. Gradually, the princes of Moscow used their close relationship to the Mongol khans to increase their wealth and expand their posses- sions. In the reign of the great prince Ivan III (1462–1505), a new Russian state—the principality of Moscow—was born. Ivan III annexed other Russian principalities and took advantage of dissension among the Mongols to throw off their yoke by 1480.
The Ottoman Turks and the End of
the Byzantine Empire
Eastern Europe was increasingly threatened by the stead- ily advancing Ottoman Turks. The Byzantine Empire had, of course, served as a buffer between the Muslim Middle East and the Latin West for centuries, but it had been severely weakened by the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and its occupation by the West. Although the Pale- ologus dynasty (1260–1453) had tried to reestablish
CHRONOLOGY The European State in the Renaissance
France
Louis XI the Spider 1461–1483
England
Civil War Richard III Henry VII
1450s–1485 1483–1485 1485–1509
Spain
Isabella of Castile 1474–1504 Ferdinand of Aragon 1479–1516
Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella 1469 Introduction of the Inquisition 1478 Expulsion of Jews 1492 Expulsion of Muslims 1502
Holy Roman Empire
Maximilian I 1493–1519
Eastern Europe
Hungary: Matthias Corvinus
Russia: Ivan III
Fall of Constantinople and Byzantine Empire
1458–1490 1462–1505 1453
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