Transcript Setting the Stage for Revolution: Absolute Monarchies

The Age of Absolutism
Absolute Monarchs in Europe
1500-1800
l
• A monarchy, (from the
Greek "monos arkhein"
-- "one ruler") is a form
of government that has
a monarch as Head of
State.
• The position of monarch
often involves
inheritance in some
form.
Monarchy
Henry VIII of
England
Three Models of European Development
Parliamentary Monarchy or Constitutional Monarchy in England
a)Stuarts
b)“Parliament” (House of Lords and Commons)
Absolutism
a)Tudors and Bourbons
b)“Old Regimes” Estates General
c)Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin trained kings to be hard working and gain trust
from their people.
Enlightened Despots:
a)Frederick II, Maria Theresa and Joseph II, and Catherine II
b)Rejected Divine Right
c)Used absolute power to make much needed reforms for country
Reasons Europe Developed Into
Absolute Monarchies
• Feudalism had collapsed.
• National monarchies replaced.
• Intense competition for land and trade lead to
many wars.
• Religious differences sparked civil wars.
• Absolute monarchy emerged to protect the
nation and preserve order.
• “Gunpowder Revolution” began.
Reasons Absolute Monarchies
Developed
• Centralizing authority was made easier because of
the decline of feudalism, the rise of cities, and the
expansion of national kingdoms.
• Monarchs were supported by a new middle class
because they promised good conditions for
business.
• For all of their ambitions, they used the colonies’
wealth.
• Monarchs’ authority rose even more as the church’s
authority decreased during the late Middle Ages
and the Reformation.
Reasons Absolute Monarchies
Developed
• Religious and territorial conflicts between states led
to massive amounts of warfare.
• This warfare caused governments to build armies
and charge extremely high taxes.
• In Europe, absolute monarchs could not completely
break the power of the nobles, so they included the
nobles into their new bureaucratic institutions.
• As the nobles revolted, absolute rulers increased
their own power to try to restore order.
Connections between the Renaissance
and Absolute Monarchs
• Rise of cities!
–Means that trade and formation of
towns produced wealth for the
King. (Power for the King)
Connections between the Protestant
Reformation and Absolute Monarchs
• The Church lost power.
• Religious wars caused chaos.
• People wanted safe, stable gov’t
Connections between the Age of
Exploration and Absolute Monarchs
• Added wealth
and power
• Mercantilism
Rise of Absolutism
Rise of cities
Wealth of colonies
Growth of national
kingdoms
Breakdown of Church
authority
Decline of feudalism
Growth of middle class
Economic and
religious crises
Revolts
Absolute
Monarch
Reduced power of nobles and
representative bodies
Created new government
bureaucracies
Regulated worship, social
gatherings, and economy
Increased size of court
Characteristics of the New Absolute Monarchies
1. They offered the institution of monarchy as a guarantee
of law and order.
2. They proclaimed that hereditary monarchy was the
legitimate form of public power  all should accept this
without resistance.
3. They enlisted the support of the middle class in the
towns  tired of the local power of feudal nobles.
4. They would have to get their monarchies sufficiently
organized & their finances into reliable order.
Characteristics of the New Absolute Monarchies
5. They would break down the mass of feudal,
inherited, customary, or “common” law in which
the rights of the feudal classes were
entrenched.
6. The kings would MAKE law, enact it by his own
authority, regardless of previous custom or
historic liberties  What pleases the prince
has the force of law!
What is an absolute monarch?
• Rule by ONE PERSON—a monarch,
usually a king or a queen—whose
actions are restricted neither by
written law nor by custom.
• Absolute monarchy persisted in
France until 1789 and in Russia until
1917.
• Today only Swaziland and the
Vatican are absolute monarchies
Absolutism
• The idea is based on that monarchs
have divine rights and do not have to
answer to any form of government
and /or the people.
• So they didn’t take advice from
Parliament, the Estates General, or
from the Nobles.
• They regulated the taxation and
national spending, government, and
the religion.
• Would limit personal freedoms of
certain groups ex. Jews or Protestants.
• They would also limit the power of the
existing government bodies like the
English Parliament, and the French
Estates General.
Absolute
• unrestrained or unlimited by a constitution,
counterbalancing group, etc., in the exercise
of governmental power, esp. when arbitrary or
despotic
Sovereign
• being above all others in character,
importance, excellence, power, etc.
Absolutist Theory
– There must be one - and only one - sovereign in
every state (although it can be a body
consisting of more than one person).
– The sovereign holds all legitimate power and
should never be actively resisted.
– If the sovereign commands a contravention of
God's law, disobey, but accept the punishment
(= "passive obedience").
One theme = CONTROL!!!
1. Control the government
-Centralize & create bureaucracies
-Reduce power of representative bodies
2. Control the nobility
-Increase size of court; regulate social gatherings
-Reduce nobles’ power in the government
3. Control economics
-Great works
-Economic policies centralized
4. Control power
-Divine right & regulate religion
Examples
England  stability under the Tudors
France  consolidation of power under
the Bourbons
Spain  unification by marriage under
the Habsburgs
Holy Roman Empire  different
model: the cost of decentralization under
the Habsburgs
•A DICTATORSHIP is a
government headed by a
dictator. Similar to an
absolute monarch
•It is often equivalent to a
police state, but the term
"dictatorship" refers to the
way the leader gains and
holds power, not the watch
kept on the citizens.
•Some dictators have been
popular enough not to have
to employ many very
oppressive measures.
Examples: Julius Caesar &
Adolph Hitler
Dictatorship
Characteristics of Absolute Monarchs
It’s GREAT
to be the
King!
• They made all the laws
“I am the
state”
• They were NOT subject
to the laws.
The Rise of Absolute Monarchies
(1400’s-1700’s)
Divine Right
• The belief that certain Kings
were chosen by God
• The Kings were only
accountable to God and no
one else
• This idea was reinforced by
Bishop Jacques Bossuet.
Divine Right of Kings
• Medieval belief that
God gives power to the
king; therefore, his
actions are sanctioned
by God
Absolutism and Divine Right
• Divine right theory was a branch of absolutism
• Most divine right theorists thought that monarchy was the
best form of government and that monarchs should never
be resisted by the people.
• Divine right theorists insisted that the ruler's authority
was from God alone (not from the community). They
quoted Scripture in their support:
• Proverbs 8.15-16:
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me
princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
Divine Right Theory
• Proverbs 8.15-16
– “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me
princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.”
• Romans 13.1-2
– “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For
there is no power but of God: the powers that be are
ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists the power,
resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall
receive damnation.”
They Ruled by “Divine Right”
• They believed
that they derived
their right to rule
directly from
GOD.
• Accountable only
to GOD.
• Not the people!
Divine Right and Hierarchy
 Sixteenth century western Europe expressed unfaltering
loyalty to a patriarchal Christian God and to a view of the
world as his creation.
 Hierarchy regarded as part of God’s divinely appointed plan
and guarantor of stability.
 Reflected in belief in a Great Chain of Being.
 God had arranged the universe in a certain order, and so
the structure of society should reflect this in its own
composition
Great Chain of Being
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
God
Archangels
Angels
Kings
Nobles
Merchants & landowners
Peasants
Slaves
Big predatory animals
Plants
Rocks
Dirt
Great Chain of Being:
Rhetorica Christiana
(1579)
James 1: Patriarchy and Divine Right
• … Kings are not onely GODS Lieutenants upon earth,
and sit upon GODS throne, but even by GOD
himselfe they are called Gods.
…Kings are also compared to Fathers of families: for a
King is trewly Parens patriæ, the politique father of
his people. (James 1 speech to Parliament: 1610)
• 1597–1598:The Trew Law of Free Monarchies
• Basilikon Doron
Homily on Obedience (1559)
• In all things is to bee lauded and praised
the goodly order of GOD, without the
which no house, no Citie, no
Commonwealth can continue and
endure, or last. For where there is no
right order, there reigneth all abuse,
carnall liberty, enormitie, sinne, and
Babylonicall confusion.
Earlier political thinkers like Bodin
paved the way. . .
• Jean Bodin (1530-1596)
• Promoted royal power as solution
to end the French civil wars of
religion
• Six Books of the Commonwealth,
1576
– sovereignty lies with the monarch
Absolutism and Divine Right Theory
• More authoritarian views of government developed during
16th century when France was torn apart by the Religious
Wars between Catholics and Protestants.
• Some French writers began to argue that only a strong
central government could prevent anarchy, and that
resistance to the monarch was never legitimate.
• The most important French absolutist theorist was Jean
Bodin (1530-1596), who in 1576 published Six Books of
the Commonwealth.
• Bodin argued that the sovereign could not be limited by
human laws - since whatever institution had the right to
judge if the law were being infringed would itself be the
real sovereign.
Absolutism and Divine Right Justified
• 1st theorist
– Bishop Jacques Bossuet Politics Drawn from the Very
Words of Holy Scripture
• Government was divinely ordained
– Matthew 22:21 “Render unto Caesar that which is
Caesar’s”
– 1 Peter 2:13-17 [Obey the secular ruler]
– Romans 13:1-2 "Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of
God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation.“
Absolutist Theorists:
Bishop Bossuet (1627 – 1704)
• “God is holiness itself, goodness itself,
and power itself. In these things lies
the majesty of God. In the image of
these things lies the majesty of the
prince.”
• “The Prince is not a private person. . .
All the state is in him. . . As all
perfection and strength are united in
God, all the power of individuals is
united in the person of the Prince.
What grandeur that a simple man
should embody so much.”
Jean Domat---Another Defender of
Divine Right
•
“The sovereign power of government should be
proportionate to its mandate, and in the station he
occupies in the body of human society that makes up the
state, he who is the head should hold the place of God. For
since God is the only natural sovereign of men, their judge,
their lawgiver, their king, no man can have lawful authority
over others unless he holds it from the hand of God .... The
power of sovereigns being thus derived from the authority
of God, it acts as the arm and force of the justice that
should be the soul of government; and that justice alone
has the natural claim to rule the minds and hearts of men,
for it is over these two faculties of men that justice should
reign.” –Jean Domat, Jurist
“What is done for
the state is done for
God, who is the
basis and foundation
of it......Where the
interests of the state
are concerned, God
absolves actions
which, if privately
committed, would be
a crime.”
— Cardinal Richelieu
• What does this
primary source
quote mean?
• What impact would
this have on a
country?
Divine Right and Patriarchialism
• Patriarchialism defended divine right theory.
• It rested on the widely-held belief that husbands
had authority over their wives and fathers over
their children.
• This power was held both to be natural (since every
society in the world accepted it) and divine (since
God endorsed it in the Bible).
• Some theorists argued that sovereigns as naturally
held power over their states as fathers did over
their families.
• A monarch was no more accountable to his subjects
than a father was to his children.
Robert Filmer (1588-1653): Patriarcha (1631 pub.
1680)
Royalism, Absolutism and Thomas Hobbes:
(1588-1679)
• Royalists supported the King and principle of
hierarchy against what they believed to be the
threat of anarchy.
• Hobbes, a Royalist and defender of the King
published two influential works of political
thought De cive (1642, 1647) and Leviathan
(1651)
What does Hobbes believe is the
natural state of humanity?
What, for Hobbes, is the solution
for a peaceful society?
The Philosopher Behind the Age
• Thomas Hobbes
• 1660 – Wrote the Leviathan
(Giant)
• Discussed the perfect
government
• People first lived in
anarchy
• Needed a “social contract”
• Required an absolute
monarch to maintain order
• People retained the right
only to maintain their lives.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
“The obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long,
and no longer, than the power lasteth by which he can protect them.”
• Sovereign free to rule- must act in interest of subjects
• Monarchy best form of govt.
– All powerful, centralize state
• If ruler fails to ensure stability, society will
dissolve into a state of nature/chaos until new
‘contract’ is made
• Denies the people’s right to rebel in such
instances
• Most famous work is Leviathan (1651)
– response to English Civil War
• Wrote during the English Civil
War
• Life is "solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish, and short” .
• Man forms peaceful societies
by entering into a social
contract.
• According to Hobbes, society
is a group of individuals that
give up just enough of their
natural rights for the gov’t to be
able to ensure internal peace
and a common defense.
• This sovereign, whether
monarch, aristocracy or
democracy (though Hobbes
prefers monarchy), should be a
Leviathan, an absolute authority.
• Leviathan is a sea monsterr
Thomas Hobbes
Royalism, Absolutism and Hobbes
• The most basic axiom of Hobbes' system of political thought was
that everyone naturally aims at self-preservation.
• He argued that in "a state of nature" (i.e. where there was no
government), life would be completely insecure.
• Without any protection against aggression, life would be miserable
and dangerous.
• "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual
fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short"
(Hobbes, Leviathan, 1.18).
• Under such conditions, people would be willing to surrender their
own powers to an absolute government that would protect them
from everyone else.
• Hobbes argued that the sovereign's power was absolute - (s)he
made the law, and no other law could limit sovereign power.
• The only right Hobbes left to subjects was the right to defend
themselves against the sovereign's direct attack.
Imagine that you are a mid-17th-century
ruler aiming at absolutist rule:
What steps do you need to take?
• DO THIS ON YOUR LEFT
SIDE OF YOUR NOTES.
• THEN SHARE WITH
YOUR PARTNER.
• BE SURE TO EXPLAIN
WHY.
Definitions for Historical Categories
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Political:
Government
King or President
Parliament
Laws
Military
Wars
Political Rebellions
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Economic:
Budget
Taxes
Industry
Agriculture
Trade
Transportation
Unemployment
Colonies
Definitions for Historical Categories
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Social:
Religious Minorities
Gender Roles
Social Classes: nobles,
clergy, middle class,
trades people, peasants,
and serfs
• Ethnic Minorities
• Cultural:
• Religious Majority
• Arts: Paintings,
Sculptures, Architecture,
Gardens, Music, and
Dance
• Press
• Education
• Healthcare
• Fashion
• Diet
Political Aspects
• This refers to all changes pertaining to the government
structures, laws, the role of the monarch, foreign policies,
wars, and rights
• The monarch does not listen to parliament.
• Maintains a standing army.
• Limits the power of the existing legislative branch.
• Chief ministers directly responsible to the monarch.
• Monarch is the supreme lawgiver, chief judge, commander
of military, and head of government.
• Acquisition of foreign territory is a main goal.
• Replaced local government officials with loyal nobles or
royal governors.
Absolutism and War
• Absolutism change how wars were fought.
• Prior to this, rulers raised temporary armies comprised of
soldiers raised from feudal lords.
• When the war was over the soldiers would return to their
regular jobs.
• Relying on the nobility for military support was risky:
internal strife could result if the nobility decided to
withhold support and challenge the monarchy.
• Absolute monarchy avoided this problem by creating
standing armies where a person’s sole job was to be a
soldier in service to the monarch.
• Absolute rulers were the living embodiment of the state.
Nowhere is this best illustrated than through the reign of
Louis XIV.
Economic Aspects
• This refers to all the changes dealing with monetary
issues, farming, industries, transportation, taxes, budget
matters, loans and debt, workforce training, etc…
• Pursued a policy of mercantilism-expansion of trade and
expenses due to wars encouraged this policy.
• Accumulate as much gold and silver bullion as possible.
• Maintain a balance of trade where you export more than
you import.
• Used subsidies, charted monopolies, taxes, tariffs, harbor
tolls and direct prohibitions to encourage exports and
reduce imports.
• Monarchs standardized industrial production, regulated
wages, set prices, and built roads, canals, and docks.
• Colonial empires were essential to a strong absolute
monarch.
Accumulated Vast Sums of Wealth
•
•
•
•
How…?
By seizing new territories in the New World and the Far East
Expanding trade overseas and within Europe
Taxing the growing wealth of their people
Social Aspects
• This refers to all the changes pertaining to social
classes like nobles, middle class, and serfs, gender
roles, immigration and treatment of religious
minority groups.
• French kings selected middle class men to run the
government business, while Spain, having driven
out most of the Jewish and Muslim middle class
during the Inquisition, appointed nobles.
• The class structures of absolute monarchies were
marked by clear distinctions, precisely defined by
law.
• Hereditary feudal aristocrats lost status unless they
acquired an official appointment from the
monarch.
4
Social Changes
The commercial revolution not only transformed the
medieval economy, it also reshaped medieval society.
The use of money undermined serfdom. Most peasants
became tenant farmers or hired farm
laborers.
In towns, a new middle class of merchants, traders, and
artisans emerged.
The Church forbade Christians from becoming
moneylenders. Since Jews were barred from
other professions, many took on this role.
Social: Businessmen
• They became savvy businessmen
and learned to deal with Italian
moneylenders and bankers.
• The English, Belgians, Germans,
and Dutch took their coal, timber,
wood, iron, copper, and lead to
the south and came back with
luxury items such as wine and
olive oil.
Social: Tradesmen
• With the advent of
trade and
commerce, feudal
life declined.
• As the tradesmen
became wealthier,
they resented
having to give their
profits to their
lords.
Social: The Merchant Class
• The new merchant class
included artisans,
masons, armorers,
bakers, shoemakers,
ropemakers, dyers, and
other skilled workers.
Social: Urban Life
• Few serfs were left in Europe by
the end of the Middle Ages, and
the growing burgher class became
very powerful.
• Hard work and enterprise led to
economic prosperity and a new
social order.
• Urban life brought with it a new
freedom for individuals.
MEDIEVAL LIFE
Cooperation and Mutual
Obligations
KING
MANORIALISM:
ECONOMIC SYSTEM
FEUDALISM:
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Fief and Peasants
 Decentralized, local
government
 Dependent upon the
relationship between
members of the nobility
 Lord and his vassals
administered justice
and were the highest
authority in their land
 Agriculture the basis for
wealth
 Lands divided up into
self-sufficient manors
 Peasants (serfs) worked
the land and paid rent In
exchange for protection
 Barter the usual form of
exchange
Military Aid
Loyalty
LORDS (VASSALS TO KING)
Food
Protection
Shelter
Military Service
Homage
KNIGHTS (VASSALS TO LORDS)
END OF
FEUDALISM
Food
Protection
Farm the
Land
PEASANTS (SERFS)
Shelter
Pay
Rent
Feudalism Becomes Social System
and No Longer Political
• The kings had lots of land; he
gave land to lords in exchange
for protection and $.
• Lords gave their land to knights
in exchange for protection, $.
• Knights let serfs work the land
and he would protect them.
• Serfs got food and shelter.
• Thus, each person had rights
and responsibilities
Social: End of Traditional Feudalism
• The kings had lots of land; he
gave land to lords in exchange
for protection and $.
• Lords gave their land to knights
in exchange for protection, $.
• Knights let serfs work the land
and he would protect them.
• Serfs got food and shelter.
• Thus, each person had rights
and responsibilities
Section 4
Nationalism in Europe
Serfdom
Agricultural Society
• Much of population, serfs—workers considered part of land they worked
• Like share-croppers or tenant farmers but not allowed to leave the land
• Declined in Western Europe but continued in Russia
Serfs
• Controlled by lords, wealthy nobles who owned land
• Technically not slaves; living conditions, lack of freedom, resembled slavery
• Not allowed to leave property where born; did not own land they worked
Societal Problem
• Serfs had to make regular payments of goods, labor to lords
• Some in government wanted to improve conditions, unable to make reforms
• Russian serfdom way of life, a major problem in Russian society
Serfdom in Western
Europe

Serfdom was not needed in Western Europe
because:
 The west was affected by the Black Death and
the labor shortages helped labor
 Eastern lords had more political power than
the lords in the west
 Eastern kings had no power over the policies of
the landlords
 Peasants were also weaker in the east which
mean uprisings were usually unsuccessful
Nationalism in Europe
Section 4
• Unlike Western Europe, serfdom still
existed in Russia and was very
widespread
– Serfs could be bought and sold like slaves
– Serfs could even be killed without
punishment for the killer!!
– Without the free movement of people, the
nation could not become more urbanized
and then industrialized
Serfdom in Eastern Europe


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


The Black Death greatly hurt
eastern Europe and created labor
shortages for the nobles
After 1300, lords in eastern Europe
brought back serfdom to combat
economic challenges
Kings and princes issued laws
restricting peasants’ rights of
moving freely
Lords confiscated peasant lands
and imposed heavy labor
obligations
In certain regions of Europe, even
non-serf peasants were affected
They were required to work 3-4
days without pay per week for
their local lord
Social: The Peasants


At the lowest level of
society were the
peasants, also called
serfs or villeins.
The lord offered his
peasants protection in
exchange for living and
working on his land.
Social: Hard Work & High
Taxes
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
Peasants worked hard to
cultivate the land and
produce the goods that
the lord and his manor
needed.
They were heavily taxed
and were required to
relinquish much of what
they harvested.
Bound by law and custom…

It is the custom in England, as with other
countries, for the nobility to have great
power over the common people, who are
serfs. This means that they are bound by
law and custom to plough the field of their
masters, harvest the corn, gather it into
barns, and thresh and winnow the grain;
they must also mow and carry home the
hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all
manner of tasks of this kind.
-- Jean Froissart, 1395
Social Aspects: State Nobles vs the
Common People.
• State nobles owed their privileges to their political service rather than birth.
• State nobles often came from merchant families; indeed, the state often sold titles
to wealthy commoners to provide income for the monarch.
• State nobles served in public administration, in the army, the church, or as
attendants at court, where they accented the royal magnificence.
• State nobles usually received tax exemptions, pensions, titles, and honors. Their
legal rights, dress, and way of life differed markedly from even wealthy non-nobles.
• Commoners, including middle-class townspeople, paid most of the taxes required
by frequent wars and extravagant royal courts.
• Peasant landholders usually owed fees and labor dues to local aristocrats.
• The poorest peasants in the Western Europe were hired laborers or vagabonds; in
eastern Europe, they were serfs.
• Slavery was rare in Western Europe, but provided a major labor force on overseas
plantations.
Social Aspects: Treatment of
Women.
• While tightening legal class distinctions, absolute monarchies also
further downgraded the status of women.
• The Reformation had offered some opportunities for self-expression
among women, and before 1650 many women had assumed
temporary positions of leadership.
• The situation changed after Westphalia.
• Although a number of queens and regents were able to rule as
absolute monarchs, most aristocratic women could find recognition
only as Catholic nuns, writers, artists, salon hostesses, court gossips,
or royal mistresses, the latter gaining official status in this era.
• The status of commoner women did not fall as much or as quickly,
but the advent of early capitalism and the decline of domestic
economies was already excluding them from many industries and
enterprises in the latter seventeenth century.
Cultural Aspects: Majority Religion
• This refers to all the changes pertaining to the
majority religion, education, architecture,
clothing, healthcare, music, literature, and the
arts.
• Organized religion remained important under
absolutism but lost its independence of
government. Instead of dominating politics, as
they had done earlier, churches – Protestant and
Catholic alike – now tended to become
government agencies.
• Even in Catholic countries, such as France, the
king exerted more political control over the
church than did the pope. Although this had been
true of earlier secular rulers, they had faced much
more religious opposition.
• After Westphalia, monarchs could deliberately
use their clergies as government servants, to
enlist and hold popular support.
• Such controlled churches exerted tremendous
influence in support of absolute monarchies, not
only in the formal services but also in their social
and educational functions.
The reality of absolutism
• Most kings were limited by:
– Economics! (not enough gold to do what they wanted)
• England’s Parliament controlled the wealth (as did private
companies)
• Capitalism vs. mercantilism
• Wars were expensive
– Legislative bodies
• England, Germany
• Versailles exception (why did Louis move his court there?)
– Power of neighbors
– Their own intelligence!
• Philip III (Spain)
• Decline in Ottoman Empire (palace intrigue, killings, etc…)
Absolute Monarchy’s Good Points
• Strong, Stable government is good
for business and trade.
–Louis XIV and mercantilism in
France
–Peter the Great westernizing Russia
Strong Army to Protect and add territory
• Peter the Great added new territory
• Louis XIV invaded the Netherlands
Quick decisions made and
implemented
Advantages and Disadvantages of Absolute Monarchies:
Advantages:
*At its best, it can be a relatively stable form of government.
*People know that one person, the monarch, will continue to rule for the rest of
his or her life. If the monarch is a capable leader and in good health, people are
assured of the benefits of good government for many years.
Disadvantages:
*On the other hand, when an absolute monarch dies, there can be much trouble
over the question of who will be next on the throne. At the time of the ruler’s
death, the appointed heir might be only a child. *Ambitious persons then have the
opportunity to challenge the young ruler. Rival contenders for the throne might
tear apart the kingdom in a civil war.
*Another disadvantage to absolute monarchy is that an absolute monarch cannot
be questioned.
*The freedoms of individual citizens are often limited.
Rights that Americans often take for granted, like freedom of speech and
freedom of the press, are not guaranteed in an absolute monarchy.
*There are few checks on the authority of the monarch.
What’s wrong with Absolutism?
• Monarch’s can be greedy and do
things just for themselves.
–Louis XIV = Versailles, clothes, art
etc.
–Philip II = Escorial, art, religious
conflict
Costly Wars use up
the country’s money
• Philip II
• Louis XIV
• Peter the Great
Nobody can stop their mistakes
• Philip II
• Louis XIV
High Taxes always needed
• Philip II
• Louis XIV
• Peter the Great
Summary:
• Absolute monarchies with centralized
governments began to rise to power in Europe.
• The dominant forces in Europe were England,
France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
• Religious divisions were evident Protestants
(England + Prussia), Catholics (France + Austria),
and Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Russia).
• Competitions formed between certain nations.
-England v. France- in the new world
-Prussia v. Austria over the German States
• Alliances were formed between these powers
constantly to preserve a balance of power in
Europe. These alliances would also shift
depending on the goals of the leaders involved.
Absolute Monarchies and
Enlightened Despots in
Europe
1550-1800
France: Absolute Monarchs-Louis XIII & Louis XIV
Spain: Absolute Monarchs-Philip II
England: Absolute Monarchs and Development of a Constitutional
Monarchy-Tudors & Stuarts
Austria: Enlightened Despots---Maria Theresa & Joseph II
Prussia: Enlightened Despot- Frederick the Great
Russia: Absolute Monarchs- Ivan the Terrible & Peter the Great
Russia: Enlightened Despot-Catherine the Great
Alternatives to Absolutism
►Sweden
– Nobles use the absence of the king during warfare
to reaffirm their power.
►United Provinces
– Merchants and landowners in the Estates General
held the House of Orange in check.
►Poland
– King was elected by nobles, who continued to
hold the power.