What was the political system in Europe like during the middle ages?

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shelbi2590

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Use 3 of these words to describe it and a short example of why.


centralized
decentralized
monarchy
hierarchy
theocracy


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You have to understand that Europe is a big place. Each country had their own system, and trying to generalize an entire continent is pretty misleading.
 
The political system of Western Europe in general (the best and clearest example probably being Britain) was very much based in monarchy, theocracy, and above all hierarchy. The king was given his power (supposedly) by God and supported by the Church. This "divine right" to rule more or less gave the monarchs absolute power until the Magna Carta in 1215. Beneath the king were nobles, who owned estates upon which serfs would live and labor. However, outside of these very compact, feudal systems, Europe was very decentralized.
 
Most nations had a monarchy and a system that was conceptually hierarchical but practically very decentralised & quite consensual.
Dukes, counts & princes, technically the liege-men of Kings ran their territories independently and might resist royal policy by arms; major magnates or combinations thereof within a nation might at times equal the king in power. Hence for the King to undertake national scale activities (long campaigns & tax reform) required the agreement of his magnates.
This was further overlayed by centrally granted special circumstances; burroughs (oligarchically run) & abbeys had privaledged positions of independance from the national hierarchy while march lords were permitted & even funded to maintain large armies under their own control.
Of course this ignores the oligarchic structures within city states in Germany & Italy.
Despite attempts by Popes such as Gregory VII to expand the temporal power of the church Europe was never close to being theocratic.
 
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