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Do not fill this in! ===State resurgence=== Although the growth of central governments continued, still more than 500 autonomous [[polity|polities]] existed at the end of the period.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=420–425}} Successful dynasties reigned over several states mainly in close cooperation with local elites but could not freely redistribute resources among their realms.{{refn|group=note|The most successful dynasties were the [[House of Luxembourg|Luxembourgs]], [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]], and [[Jagiellonian dynasty|Jagiellonians]] in Central and Eastern Europe, the [[House of Trastámara|Trastámaras]] in the Mediterranean, and the [[House of Valois-Burgundy|Valois of Burgundy]].{{sfn|Watts|2014|p=414}}}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|p=414}} Fiscal and military matters were regularly discussed with the representatives of elite groups—primarily the nobility, prelates, and [[Burgher (social class)|burghers]]—at legislative assemblies known as parliament, {{lang|la|[[Diet (assembly)|diet]]}}, {{lang|es|[[Cortes Generales|cortes]]}}, or {{lang|es|[[Landtag]]}}.{{sfn|Rubin|2014|p=98}} Legal procedures improved as discretionary justice, previously dispensed by kings and their retainers, was delegated to professional lawyers.{{sfn|Watts|2014|p=414}} [[File:Jeanne d Arc(1412-1431) Miniaturmalerei 15 Jahrhundert.jpg|thumb|alt=A girl holding a sword and a halberd|[[Joan of Arc]] in peasant custom, wearing her arms, from a late 15th-century document]] In Germany, the elected emperors were no more than supreme arbitrators even if they had a significant power base in their hereditary lands.{{refn|group=note|The Luxemburgs held the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]], the Habsburg were expanding in the region of Austria, and the [[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbachs]] ruled [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and the [[Electoral Palatinate|Palatinate]].{{sfn|Watts|2014|p=171}}}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=171–172}}{{sfn|Wickham|2016|p=225}} The emperors' authority was even more limited in Italy where [[Republic of Florence|Florence]], [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]], and Venice exploited the power vacuum to expand.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=165, 194–196}} The centuries-old rivalry between England and France escaleted into the [[Hundred Years' War]] when [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] (r. 1327–77) laid [[English claims to the French throne|claim to]] the French throne in 1337.{{sfn|Vale|2001|pp=319–322}}{{sfn|Jordan|2002|p=308}} The English won the battles of [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Poitiers|Poitiers]], captured the city of [[Calais]], and took control of an enlarged [[Gascony]] by 1360. French aristocrats' feuds escalated into a [[Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War|civil war]], allowing [[Henry V of England]] (r. 1413–22) to seize much of France.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=180–181, 317–322}}{{sfn|Wickham|2016|p=211}} The unconquered French regions put up a strong resistance, boosted by the visions of a peasant girl [[Joan of Arc]] (d. 1431). By 1453, [[Charles VII of France]] (r. 1422–61) expelled the English from the country except for [[Pale of Calais|Calais]].{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=320–322}}{{sfn|Backman|2022|pp=549–550}} England went on to suffer a long civil war known as the [[Wars of the Roses]], which ended after [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] (r. 1483–85) died fighting at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]], and his opponent [[Henry VII of England|Henry Tudor]] consolidated power as {{nowrap|Henry VII}} (r. 1485–1509).{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=344–345}} The wars mainly prevented the English to expand in the British Isles, but royal power remained weak in [[Scotland in the Late Middle Ages|Scotland]], and much of [[History of Ireland (1169–1536)|Ireland]] was ruled by feuding local lords.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=324–327}}{{sfn|Wickham|2016|pp=220–221}} Succession troubles were not uncommon in the Iberian kingdoms, as intermarriages between the royal houses created conflicting claims to the thrones, and royal bastards could successfully claim their father's inheritance.{{sfn|Denley|2001|pp=268–270}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=184–186}} Portugal opened a new theater of anti-Muslim warfare in [[Marinid Sultanate|Morocco]] by [[Portuguese conquest of Ceuta|seizing Ceuta]] in 1415.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=186, 328}} Aragon and Castile were riven by conflicts between magnate factions or over the limits of royal government but the Castilian [[Isabella I of Castile|Isabella I]] (r. 1474–1504) and her Aragonese husband [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]] (r. 1479–1516) reinforced royal power.{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=328–332, 346–349}} They completed the {{lang|es|Reconquista}} by [[Granada War|conquering]] Granada in 1492.{{sfn|Denley|2001|p=281}} The idea of elective kingship revived in the Central European and Scandinavian monarchies for various reasons, including the aristocrats' aversion to foreign influence.{{sfn|Wickham|2016|p=231}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=64, 86}} Royal power was restored in Poland early in the {{nowrap|14th century}}, in a period when the Teutonic Knights' expansion intensified. The Knights primarily targeted [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], a loose confederation of mainly pagan Lithuanian chieftains and Orthodox Rus' principalities. The common enemy prompted a persisting [[Polish–Lithuanian union]], sealed by the marriage of the Lithuanian grand duke [[Władysław II Jagiełło|Jogaila]] (r. 1377–1434) with the Polish queen [[Jadwiga of Poland|Jadwiga]] (r. 1384–99),{{refn|group=note|Both Jadwiga and her elder sister the Hungarian queen [[Mary, Queen of Hungary|Mary]] (r. 1382–95) had been crowned "king" to demonstrate that they were queens regnant. Jogaila ruled as [[Władysław II Jagiełło|Władysław II]] in Poland (r. 1386–1434).{{sfn|Ramirez|2022|pp=263–265}}}} and the [[Christianization of Lithuania|Lithuanians' conversion]] to Catholicism.{{sfn|Wickham|2016|pp=229–230}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=178, 198}} In Scandinavia, [[Margaret I of Denmark]] (r. 1387–1412) consolidated Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the [[Kalmar Union|Union of Kalmar]] in 1397 but only the [[Denmark–Norway|Danish–Norwegian union]] proved lasting.{{refn|group=note|Although one of the most successful queens of the period, Margaret mainly ruled along with her young male relatives, first with [[Olaf II of Denmark|her underage son]], then with her [[Eric of Pomerania|young nephew]]. The Swedes first left the Kalmar Union in 1448.{{sfn|Wickham|2016|pp=192, 231}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=200–201}}}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|p=201}} After Polish, Hungarian, and [[Battle of Blue Waters|Lithuanian invasions]], and [[Great Troubles|succession crises]] undermined the Golden Horde's power in the {{nowrap|14th century}}, the princes of [[Principality of Moscow|Muscovy]] began annexing the Rus' principalities often in competition [[Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–1372)|with Lithuania]].{{refn|group=note|Initially a tiny principality, Muscovy gained strength against its more powerful neighbors with the Mongol khans' support. From the 1320s, Moscow was the seat of the [[Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'|head of]] the Orthodox Church in the Rus' principalities.{{sfn|Wickham|2016|pp=183–184}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=177–178}}}} Under Grand Prince [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]] (r. 1462–1505), the conquest of the great trading cities of [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]] and [[Principality of Tver|Tver]] completed Muscovy's dominance in the northeast.{{sfn|Sedlar|1994|p=380}}{{sfn|Watts|2014|pp=177–178, 359}} In southeastern Europe, two small Vlach principalities emerged, [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldavia]]; their rulers mainly accepted the suzerainty of the Hungarian or Polish kings.{{sfn|Sedlar|1994|pp=24, 394–395}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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