Due to CharlesV's inability to establish an effective imperial power, many regional states emerged during the middle ages. Two of the most powerful states were England and Spain. The rulers of these two states both began creating their power by gathering their resources, suppressing their nobility and building centralized governments, but they headed in two entirely separate directions.

The most important way in which these two nations differed was their governing systems. England became a constitutional state while Spain evolved into an absolute monarch. England's government sprang from a civil war that resulted in shared authority between the king and other representatives. On the other hand, Spain focused on concentrating all the power into the hands of the monarch. Only the king could determine policy and create laws.

Spain enforced a new sales tax and tariff to boost their royal income while England, afraid of rebellion, raised the...