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The New Monarchs were the 15th century European rulers who unified their respective nations, creating stable and centralized governments. This centralization allowed for an era of worldwide colonization and conquest in the 16th century, and paved the way for rapid economic growth in Europe.

The best examples of New Monarchs are, chronologically:

• John I of Portugal — terminated the Portuguese political anarchy and founded the Portuguese period of discoveries
• Charles VII of France — ended civil disputes
• Louis XI of France — united France, reorganized the French economy, and weakened the power of the French nobility
• Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon — brought their nations together under a single political dynasty, weakened the power of the Spanish nobility, and completed the Reconquista
• Henry VII of England — ended the War of the Roses, brought England from bankruptcy to prosperity, built up the Royal Navy, and unified England politically by eliminating potential competitors to the throne, pacifying Yorkist resistance by marrying Elizabeth of York, and checking the power of the nobility.

Achievements:

• Limiting the power of the feudal aristocracy
• Creating efficient, centralized systems of taxation
• Maintaining a standing army loyal to the monarch
• Encouraging some sense of national identity (but by no means nationalism yet)
• Fostering trade, both internally and externally
• Enforcing religious unity within their countries

While Peter I of Russia ruled two centuries after the New Monarchs, he is sometimes considered the New Monarch of Russia, accomplishing for his country very much what the New Monarchs did for theirs.

After the New Monarchs, the Absolutist Monarchs gained sway, to be followed by the Enlightened despots.