The political system in France, England, and Spain during the period of the high middle age to 17th century was marked with a lot of changes and development. This was the era of reformation; it led to the advancement of these countries in areas such as science, religion, arts, economics among others. Conversely, this was dependent on the kind of leaders at a particular time during this period.
The war between England and France went over approximately a period of one year. On most occasions the battles were worn by England though, eventually, France triumphs the battle forcefully. There was a great advancement of poetry and literature during this period. There were a lot of civil wars in England after losing the battle to France. The person who was to take over the leadership role in England was determined by the civil wars.
Henry VII became the king of England in 1485 and was later appointed the supreme leader of the church by parliament after the catholic refused to accept his plea for divorce. This results in a lot of reformations in England. Later from 1553 to 1603 queen Mary took over the power and made several changes in England’s land (Brown, Elizabeth A.R., 1991).
It is clear from the literature that France and England were great enemies for a long period. After a whole century of wars, various modes of leadership emerged in England. For instance, France followed absolutism styles where their kings were assigning themselves more power as they wished without the people’s consent. This system was horrible for the people of France and by the time France was becoming revolutionalized many people had lost their life. This was not the case for England. For them when something was wrong they get head-on without waiting and this was the fact why England became a democratic country ahead of France and Spain.
Despite being a monarchy, England retained the parliament house and there was no king who differed with it in all this period. With the discovery of North America in 1492 followed by its free inducement of territory, France and England moved into held territory in this part. France proceeds and took over the land which was not yet reclaimed in Italy and Germany. France’s reigned however came to halt shortly during the time of Napoleon.
For hundred years, France was ruled and after a while, their power came to peaked. On other hand, England explored and started colonies in most parts of the world particularly in Asia and Africa. England ruled a large territory and they were economically stable than the rest of the world up to when they were forced to live the colonies to the owners (Borrigheimer, Karl S., 1976).
Religion was another feature of these countries. When Henry VIII became the king of England and was later elected the head of the England church. The rate of prosecution in England was checked due to the presence of strong religion. The state religion was changed to catholic by some queens and kings however, the territory remained protestant based. In contrast, France was largely dominated by the catholic. However, in 1598 the Protestants in France were granted their freedom. Before this Huguenots were largely prosecuted by the kings in France. When England was keen on using the bible as the basis of instructions, France was far from the principles of the bible, and their religious wars were politically based (Hillgartth, J., 1976).
Spain like France and England participated in the movements of religious reform and humanism during this period. The sequential church in Spain and their reforms in theology revealed that Roman’s were the one whose chose the Spanish route. The Christian religious evolution was marked with two movements, that is, the demands for the Christians excellence and the exclusivist rejection and stubbornness.
Christianity was Spain’s architects and theological renaissance and also the catholic certainly owed their dynamism and creativity to them. This was not the case with France or England. Unlike England who did not reinstate at a problem Spain was submissive and was not willing to attack the Romans, and that is the reason why Roman for a long time could not allow them to have independent power. It is believed that were it not for the Romans reigned, Spain would have achieved their democratic and independent governance soon.
Spain was also tied by internal needs, for example, the monarchy had no identical tradition and hence was not able to question the clergy and the monetary need of people to the Romans dictatorship. In contrast, in the French monarchy, the clergy were obligated to pay taxes. Another remarkable thing in Spain is that, unlike the other countries, that is, France and England, Spain was the only nation that had three religions. Many of its Jews were barred and even forcibly baptized. This was even worse with France whose compulsorily persecuted Christians in their nations.
England, France, and Spain had a different approaches to leadership. England as a country was guided by the political and religious whereas Christians in France and Spain were persecuted and mistreated, while at the same time their leaders were consecrated to reign. The kings in England were limited to power while those of France were not and this why they lead their people as captured slaves (Hillgartth, J., 1978).
The kings in Spain transformed the medieval cooperation between the conquering ruler and the papal legates, this trend was unique from another monarch in the past and Rome was left as pure spiritual supremacy. Spain was also unique from the former monarch because of its system where it accepts to allow Rome to share its power and profit with her. England’s leadership style where leaders were not in total control of the citizens was also different from the former monarch where people were ruled and controlled by the kings without much questioning from people.
England believed in the bible and was using it as a basis of guidance and the trend controlled the rate of persecution among Christians and people in general. This was not the case either in France or Spain where they were mostly subjective to the authority for many years. Their trend of persecuting Christians and treating people as slaves was not taken lightly by many. This led to a lot of death in particular when France began the era of reformation.
The leadership, growth, and expansion of England, France, and Spain were marked by a shift from the reconnaissance period, to reformation up to the age of reasoning. A lot of changes took place in architecture, humanism, religion, science, economic, and the activities of the European countries. These were dependent on the colonies or the territories they rules or what colonies ruled them. It is therefore vital to note that some of the contemporary changes we see in these countries emanate from this period in history. They borrowed a lot from their colonizer and those whom they ruled.
Reference
Brown, Elizabeth A.R. Organization of politics affairs France. Hampshire, England: Variorum, 1991.
Borrigheimer, Karl S. England reformation. JBS 15. 1976.
Hillgartth, J. The Spanish Kingdom. Vol. I. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1976.
Hillgartth, J. Spanish Kingdoms. Vol. II. Oxford: Claredon, Press, 1978.