
Civil Wars and Political Breakdowns in Late Medieval Europe
Tides of History
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The Differences Between Late Medieval and Modern Kingdoms
Late medieval kingdoms were much less coherent in modern states. Kings only exercised royal power alongside or in competition with a whole bunch of other folks claiming power and rights. In the case of an emergency, say a civil war, great nobles could leverage ties to political actors outside their own kingdom. The upshot was that if a king was too young, too incompetent or just plain didn't get along with the nobles, it was easy for things to fall to pieces.
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