This paper examines how both France and England vied to become the most
powerful monarchies in Europe and how throughout
the 13th and 14th
century, wars for land and supremacy were fought until each became a power in its own right. It focuses on the questions of how England achieved centralized power much faster than France, due to the political and territorial layout of the country and how France become more
powerful than England in the 13th century due to the leadership of Louis the IX and other events culminating in the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 which forced the English king to relinquish much of his power.