Final answer:
In Europe, loyalty shifted from the complex network of personal ties in the feudal system to centralized monarchies as kings consolidated power, the merchant class rose, and nation-states formed, influencing a change in the focal point of loyalty.
Step-by-step explanation:
Changes in Loyalties in Europe from Feudalism to Centralized Monarchical Rule
The shift in loyalties in Europe during the transition from a non-consolidated feudal system to a more consolidated rule of kings involved complex social and political transformations. During the feudal period, loyalties were tied to local lords and the intricacies of feudal law that granted rights and privileges to various social groups.
With the decline of feudalism and the rise of centralized monarchical power, new avenues for social mobility emerged, with religious changes and the emergence of nation-states influencing loyalty.
In the non-consolidated feudal period, loyalty was predominantly based on personal ties and obligations within the hierarchical system of feudalism. As monarchs began to consolidate power, kings and their royal bureaucracies started to replace local vassals, shifting people's loyalties from local lords to the central authority of the king.
The rise of merchant classes and the spread of innovative ideas further altered the landscape, gradually eroding the traditional influence and power of the nobility.
By establishing international borders and sovereignty, and through the development of institutional arrangements like England's House of Commons, monarchies strengthened their rule, creating a shared constitutional power between rulers and subjects, thereby changing the focus of people's loyalty to the evolving nation-state rather than to local feudal lords.