Social Sciences and History / Unit 4 SSH 0304 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Gunpowder, Taxes, and the New Monarchies
Captions available
The idea
From about thirteen fifty to fifteen hundred the largest monarchies expanded. Gunpowder war demanded guns, mercenaries and fortifications, so kings levied new taxes and hired non-noble officials trained by humanists, dismissable at will.
In practice
A medieval king first among nobles; a Renaissance king with paid bureaucrats.
Where people slip
The anchor's caveat: many historians reject the word revolution; the change took over a century.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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