27.4 Europe: a.d. 1201 to 1300  (Page 6/14)

Czechoslovakia

In 1241 when the Mongols came, both Bohemia and Moravia were ruled by Wenceslas I (1230-1253), although subject to the German emperor's control. When the northern Mongol armies went south to join Batu and Subedei after the battle of Leignetz (to be discussed in a later paragraph), they burned and killed to such an extent that later both Moravian and Silesian towns had to be resettled by German immigrants. Certain tax benefits helped to entice them there. (Ref. 27 ) Subsequently, under Ottocar II (1253-1269), Bohemia had great prosperity with the opening of great silver mines, which made that one of the wealthiest countries of the late Middle Ages. Ottocar even expanded to acquire Austria under his control for a short period. It was fear of this Premysl king that led the German princes to then elect Rudolf of Habsburg as their king. Ottocar ref used to recognize him and the Diet of Regesburg of 1274 therefore declared all of Ottocar's acquisitions void. He was finally defeated and killed in battle with Rudolf on the Marchfield in 1278. The Bohemian throne went to Wenceslas II, a boy of seven, with Otto of arandenburg acting as regent. (Ref. 222 )

Switzerland

Although it may not have been clearly defined in previous chapters, the country we now know as Switzerland was originally the home of mixed Celtic, Teutonic and Italic tribes, including the Helvetii, Raeti, Leopontii and Alemanni. Separated by vast mountain ranges, many "cantons" developed in the valleys. The entire area was under control of the Habsburgs until after Rudolf's death in 1291, and the cantons were then caught up in the dynastic strife of the Germans. At that time, three of the forest cantons - Uri, Nidwalden and Schwyz, formed the "Everlasting League" to give mutual aid. Soon other cantons - Lucerne, Zurich and Contance, joined the League and they had the beginnings of the nation of Switzerland.

Western europe

By this time some areas of western Europe had stopped growing grain. France had put its land, in part, into wine growing and elsewhere farmers had turned more to stock-breeding. Another factor was the cheap water transportation of grain from Germany's east along the Baltic to northern and western Europe rather than to the southern areas. There had been a shift from piracy to trade along the Atlantic coast, where Vikings had previously raided. (Ref. 279 , 211 ) The western European population rise continued throughout this century.

Spain

In this and the preceding century, Cistercian orders in Galicia in northwest Spain induced peasants to lease church owned waste land for 2% of the capital value, with the leases supposedly to last for three generations. This was to make much trouble later, as we shall see in the chapter on the 17th century. (Ref. 213 ) Castile, originally a tributary of the kings of Leon, was permanently united to Leon in 1230 and soon controlled more than one-half of the Iberian peninsula. It became a truly monarchial state under Alfonso X (1252-1284), although he soon gave lavish concessions to the nobles and therefore lost some power for the crown. The Cortes appeared as an assembly of nobles allowed to petition the king and, in a sense, to legislate, thus anticipating the English parliament. Sheep became the big crop of that area and by 1300 there were 1,500,000 of these animals in Castile alone. Mental life stirred and six universities were founded, while bull fighting became a common sport. (Ref. 8 , 211 )