Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== State resurgence ===
[[File:Europe 1360.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Europe in 1360|left]]

Strong, royalty-based [[nation state]]s rose throughout Europe in the Late Middle Ages, particularly in [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula: [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]], [[Crown of Castile|Castile]], and [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]]. The long conflicts of the period strengthened royal control over their kingdoms and were extremely hard on the peasantry. Kings profited from warfare that extended royal legislation and increased the lands they directly controlled.<ref name=Watts201>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 201–219</ref> Paying for the wars required that methods of taxation become more effective and efficient, and the rate of taxation often increased.<ref name=Watts224>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 224–233</ref> The requirement to obtain the consent of taxpayers allowed representative bodies such as the [[English Parliament]] and the [[French Estates General]] to gain power and authority.<ref name=Watts233>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 233–238</ref>

[[File:Joan of Arc miniature graded.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Joan of Arc]] in a 15th-century depiction]]

Throughout the 14th century, French kings sought to expand their influence at the expense of the territorial holdings of the nobility.<ref name=Watts166>Watts ''Making of Polities'' p. 166</ref> They ran into difficulties when attempting to confiscate the holdings of the English kings in southern France, leading to the [[Hundred Years' War]],<ref name=Watts169>Watts ''Making of Polities'' p. 169</ref> waged from 1337 to 1453.<ref name=MA100>Loyn "Hundred Years' War" ''Middle Ages'' p. 176</ref> Early in the war the English under [[Edward III]] (r. 1327–1377) and his son [[Edward, the Black Prince]] (d. 1376),{{efn-ua|Edward's nickname probably came from his black armour, and was first used by [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] in the 1530s or 1540s.<ref name=BP242>Barber ''Edward'' pp. 242–243</ref>}} won the battles of [[Crécy]] and [[Battle of Poitiers|Poitiers]], captured the city of [[Calais]], and won control of much of France.{{efn-ua|Calais remained in English hands until 1558.<ref name=Davies545>Davies ''Europe'' p. 545</ref>}} The resulting stresses almost caused the disintegration of the French kingdom during the early years of the war.<ref name=Watts180>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 180–181</ref> In the early 15th century, France again came close to dissolving, but in the late 1420s, the military successes of [[Joan of Arc]] (d. 1431) led to the victory of the French and the capture of the last English possessions in southern France in 1453.<ref name=Watts317>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 317–322</ref> The price was high, as the population of France at the end of the Wars was likely half what it had been at the start of the conflict. Conversely, the Wars positively affected [[English national identity]], doing much to fuse the various local identities into a national English ideal. The conflict with France also helped create a national culture in England separate from French culture, which had previously been the dominant influence.<ref name=Davies423>Davies ''Europe'' p. 423</ref> The dominance of the English [[longbow]] began during early stages of the Hundred Years' War,<ref name=Nicholle186>Nicolle ''Medieval Warfare Source Book: Warfare in Western Christendom'' p. 186</ref> and cannon appeared on the battlefield at Crécy in 1346.<ref name=Nicolle296>Nicolle ''Medieval Warfare Source Book: Warfare in Western Christendom'' pp. 296–298</ref>

In modern-day Germany, the [[Holy Roman Empire]] continued to rule, but the elective nature of the imperial crown meant there was no enduring dynasty around which a strong state could form.<ref name=Watts170>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 170–171</ref> Further east, the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Poland]], [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], and [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] grew powerful.<ref name=Watts173-75>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 173–175</ref> In Iberia, the Christian kingdoms continued to gain land from the Muslim kingdoms of the peninsula;<ref name=Watts173>Watts ''Making of Polities'' p. 173</ref> Portugal concentrated on expanding overseas during the 15th century, while the other kingdoms were riven by difficulties over royal succession and other concerns.<ref name=Watts327>Watts ''Making of Polities'' pp. 327–332</ref><ref name=Watts340>Watts ''Making of Polities'' p. 340</ref> After losing the Hundred Years' War, England went on to suffer a long civil war known as the [[Wars of the Roses]], which lasted into the 1490s<ref name=Watts340 /> and only ended when [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]] (r. 1485–1509 as Henry VII) became king and consolidated power with his victory over [[Richard III]] (r. 1483–1485) at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]] in 1485.<ref name=Davies426>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 425–426</ref> In Scandinavia, [[Margaret I of Denmark]] (r. in Denmark 1387–1412) consolidated Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in the [[Union of Kalmar]], which continued until 1523. The major power around the Baltic Sea was the Hanseatic League, a commercial confederation of city-states that traded from Western Europe to Russia.<ref name=Davies431>Davies ''Europe'' p. 431</ref> Scotland emerged from English domination under [[Robert the Bruce]] (r. 1306–1329), who secured papal recognition of his kingship in 1328.<ref name=Davies408>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 408–409</ref>