Each extension of his sway intensified his authority, and his power grew in degree as it increased in area.

So with fifteenth-century sovereigns.

Local liberties and feudal rights which had checked a Duke of Brittany or a King of Aragon were powerless to restrain the King of France or of Spain.

The sphere of royal authority encroached upon all others; all functions and all powers tended to concentrate in royal hands.

The king was the emblem of national unity, the centre of national aspirations, and the object of national reverence.