Key Concepts: Tudor Consolidation, Mercantilism, and Early Modern Europe

Richard III died in battle; buried in a shallow grave; body later found during a modern site work (parking lot context mentioned).
After his death, dynastic tensions between the houses of York and Lancaster were addressed by the marriage of Elizabeth of York to Henry VII, leading to the Tudor consolidation of power.

Central goal: consolidate power and reduce the influence of competing nobles.
Policy move: limit or avoid regular reliance on Parliament to grant authority.
Livery and maintenance banned to prevent private noble armies and potential rebellion.
Star Chamber established as a council of prominent nobles advising the king; serves as a powerful legal-administrative body.
Justice of the Peace: local enforcement of laws and order.
Archery obligation: legally required to practice longbow for two hours every Sunday; aims to ensure military readiness.

Tudor navy: development of large ships, notably Grand Carracks, expanding naval capacity and trade.

Mercantilism: aim to increase exports and reduce imports to grow national wealth and power.
Infrastructure for growth: canals to drain swamps and increase farmland; more crops → more wealth → higher tax base.
Economic determinants of power: GDP (money) and manpower (people) drive war capability.
Central idea: higher economic output supports stronger military capability.

Louis XI (the spider): expansion of French borders, including Normandy.
Francis I (Francois): long reign (~32 years); patron of the arts; invites Leonardo da Vinci to die in France; supports cultural flourishing.
Litoral expansion and port growth: L'Oreal port city development along the Atlantic coast; rise of exploration and commerce.
Balance between church and state: Concordat of Bologna (
Gallican Church context) resolves Italian Wars by allowing the French crown to appoint bishops while the pope retains some financial profits; pope can veto appointments, but the French monarchy controls church structure.
Investiture issue resolved by compromise: more French sovereignty over bishops and abbots, with papal profits retained in part.
Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin later serve as regents for Louis XIV, shaping centralized rule.
Language shift: Latin used in law gradually replaced by French for legal texts.

Gallican Church: semi-autonomous French church under Concordat terms; crown gains influence in ecclesiastical appointments but the pope maintains some authority.
Legal language moved from Latin to French for accessibility by common people.

Unification of Spain: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile create a personal union; kingdoms remain distinct (Castile, Leon, Aragon).
Aragon controls Sicily and Naples; Castile/Aragon consolidate via marriage.
Reconquista culminates with the capture of Granada, completing Christian rule over the Iberian Peninsula.
Don Quixote (Spanish literature) reflects social and cultural shifts; rise of Spanish national identity after Reconquista.
Expansion beyond Europe: Iberian kingdoms lead early exploration and conquests; Don Quixote era emerges as a cultural backdrop to exploration and martial ethos.

Latin declines as the language of law; French becomes the administrative and legal language.

The post-1450 era sees accelerated exploration by France, Spain, and Portugal; rivalry and search for new routes to Asia after Constantinople’s fall.
Constantinople falls to the Ottomans in 1452, redirecting European trade and spurring exploration.
Columbus seeks a western route to the Indies, not understanding the Americas as a new world; Iberian powers dominate early exploration and colonization.
Mercantilist policies underpin expansion: protect domestic industry, promote exports, control imports.

Salt tax and land tax: important revenue sources; failure to pay taxes risks confiscation of land; taxes reflect royal control over land and resources.
Car registration and vehicle taxes: ongoing state revenue tools (example figures: car tax can be around 10\% of purchase price or related fees; real amounts vary).
Estate General: formed during the Hundred Years' War to stabilize governance; falls out of practice for centuries; reappears during later financial crises, contributing to revolutionary pressures (per transcript: linked to Louis XVIII).

Dynastic marriage politics were central to stabilizing kingdoms (York vs. Lancaster → Tudor).
Henry VII’s rule emphasized centralized power, reduced noble military threat, and limited parliamentary leverage.
Livery/maintenance bans, Star Chamber, and archery mandates illustrate early modern mechanisms to prevent rebellion and ensure state security.
Mercantilism and infrastructure (canals, ports) underpinned growth and state power; GDP and manpower are core determinants of military capability.
France’s Concordat of Bologna shaped the relationship between crown and church, balancing sovereignty with papal authority; a move toward centralized state power.
Latin-to-French shift in legal language increased accessibility of laws and governance to commoners.
Spain’s unification under Ferdinand and Isabella, completed Reconquista, and rise of exploration and empire-building set the stage for global impact.
Major events like the fall of Constantinople and the age of exploration redirected trade routes and spurred mercantile competition.