GENERAL OUTLINE

The period from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, sometimes called the Second Middle Ages, witnessed the foundation of the political structures of modern Europe. In those years a new model originated in which we can easily recognize the nation state of our own time. Some elements of the older public law naturally survived, in the first place the monarchy itself, even though its character was transformed. Thus the period saw the end of the deeply religious rulers of the type of Louis the Pious (d. 840), who was constantly swayed by the clergy, Edward the Confessor (d. 1066), whose main concerns were his collection of saints' relics and the construction of his beloved Westminster Abbey, or Henry II of Germany (d. 1024), who systematically pursued the organization of the Imperial Church and conceived his policy entirely in a clerical and even monastic perspective. The new kings by contrast found inspiration in Roman law rather than the Bible; they were hard, secular and realistic leaders such as Frederick II in Germany and Italy (d. 1250) or Philip IV the Fair in France (d. 1314). Not only the monarchy, but the state itself changed in character. Whereas previously public life was dominated by the opinionated knights, administration now passed into the hands of centrally appointed functionaries. The old undifferentiated feudal councils, which used to conduct the affairs of state in an amateurish fashion, gave way to established professionals, appointed to look after the financial, judicial and legislative tasks of the monarchy.