![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/D104D3C3-610F-41BC-9E0E-38DF894D8E97/2AJDG4H.jpg)
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . Henry VII, of thehouse of Tudor, thirtyyears later. (See tableon page 139.) The Wars of theRoses had importantresults. Nearly all thepowerful families ofEngland had been drawninto the war, and a great part of the nobility, whom the kingshad formerly feared, had perished on the battlefield or losttheir heads in the ruthless executions carried out by eachparty after it gained a victory. This left the king far morepowerful than ever before- He could now contr
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . Henry VII, of thehouse of Tudor, thirtyyears later. (See tableon page 139.) The Wars of theRoses had importantresults. Nearly all thepowerful families ofEngland had been drawninto the war, and a great part of the nobility, whom the kingshad formerly feared, had perished on the battlefield or losttheir heads in the ruthless executions carried out by eachparty after it gained a victory. This left the king far morepowerful than ever before- He could now control Parliament,even if he could not do away with it. For a century and moreafter the accession of Henry VII the Tudor kings enjoyedalmost despotic power. England ceased for a time to enjoythe free government for which the foundations had beenlaid under the Edwards, whose embarrassments at home andabroad had made them constantiy dependent upon the aid ofthe nation. In France the closing years of the Hundred Years Warhad witnessed a great increase of the kings power through theestablishment of a well-organized standing army. The feudal. Fig. 41. Portrait of Henry VII England in the Middle Ages 141 ? army had long since disappeared. Even before the openingof the war the nobles had begun to be paid for their militaiyservices and no longer furnished troops as a condition of hold-ing fiefs. But the companies of soldiers found their pay veryuncertain, and plundered their countrymen as well as theenemy. As the war drew to a close, the lawless troopers became aterrible scourge to the country and were known -as, flayers, onaccount of the horrible way in which they tortured the peasantsin the hope of extracting money from them. In 1439 *^^ EstatesGeneral approved a plan devised by the king, for putting anend to this evil. Thereafter no one was to raise a companywithout the permission of the king, who was to name thecaptains and fix the number of the soldiers. The Estates agreed that the ki
Size: 1562px × 1599px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorrobinson, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1919