The Age of Absolute Monarchs

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The Age of Absolute Monarchs
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Overview
In the 1500s and 1600s, several rulers in Asia
and Europe sough to centralize their political
power. Claiming divine right, or authority from
God, leaders such as Philip II in Spain and Louis
XIV in France gained complete authority over
their governments and their subjects.
England resisted the establishment of absolutism.
After a civil war, Englands Parliament enacted
a Bill of Rights that limited the English
monarchs powers.
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Overview
Main Ideas

• Monarchs acted to establish absolute power
• Monarchs used the divine right theory and
  similar ideas to justify their power

• Parliament and the Puritans in England resisted
  absolutism
• A limited monarchy was established in England

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Map of states under Absolutism
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Thomas Hobbes (1588 1679)

• Believed
• Man is selfish wicked
• Absolutism
• Social Contract People hand over rights to a
  strong ruler
• agreement between society its govt.

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Thomas Hobbes saw Society as a giant machine
(perpetually in motion), thus the title of his
great work, The Leviathan, which is founded on
Mechanics (the Motion of Bodies / Matter). In
Leviathan, Hobbes argues that the natural state
of man (without any civil government) is
war,... the life of man solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish, and short. ... The condition of man ...
is a condition of war of everyone against
everyone. According to Hobbes, man in the state
of nature seeks nothing but his own selfish
pleasure, but such individualism naturally leads
to a war in which every man's hand is against his
neighbour. In pure self-interest and for
self-preservation men entered into a compact by
which they agreed to surrender part of their
natural freedom to an absolute ruler in order to
preserve the rest. The State determines what is
just and unjust, right and wrong and the strong
arm of the law provides the ultimate sanction for
right conduct. 
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John Locke (1632 1704)

• Believed
• Man can learn improve themselves
• Against Absolutism
• People can overturn a bad government
• People have the power to form a govt.
• People are born w/natural rights!
• Life
• Liberty
• Property

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The Age of Absolutism
16th 17th Centuries

• System of government
• King or Queen has complete control over
  government its people
• Autocracy
• Centralized Government
• Nation states

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Absolutism

• Monarchs based their claim on
  Divine Right
• Authority comes from God
• Similar to Mandate of Heaven
• Monarchs are Above the Law
• Common features- Strong armies,limited
  representative bodies, high taxes

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Causes of Absolutism

• Breakdown of Feudalism/ Rise of Nation states
• Continuous Warfare
• Need for money
• Exploration
• Declining influence of the church

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Effects of Absolutism

• Regulation of Religion society
• Loss of power by nobility legislatures
• New government Bureaucracies
• Huge building projects

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Absolutism in Spain

• The Hapsburg Monarchy
• 1556 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V divides empire
• Son Phillip II rules Spain, Netherlands
  Italy

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Philip II (1556-1598)

• Promoted Golden age of Spain
• Wealth from colonies
  helped buildup military
• Defender of Catholicism
• 1588-Spanish Armada defeated by
  England (Elizabeth I)
• 1600s Spain power declines
• Financial problems

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1588 Spanish Armada Defeated
"Protestant Wind"
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Absolutism in France

• The Bourbon Monarchy
• Henry IV increases power of Govt.
  decreases power of nobility
• Louis the XIII strengthens builds up military
• Cardinal Richelieu subdues nobles Huguenots

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Louis XIV
"The Ultimate Absolutist"

• Known as The Sun King
• Ruled for 72 years
• Mercantilist policies
• Built the strongest army in Europe
• Expanded bureaucracy
• Never called the Estates General
• Persecuted the Huguenots
• French Protestants

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The Sun King
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• Built Lavish palace _at_ Versailles
• Gilded Cage for nobility
• His successors inherited enormous debts (costly
  Wars extravagance)

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Absolutism in Russia

• 1480 Russian rulers drive
  Mongols out
• Early Czars Ivan III Ivan IV (Terrible) used
  harsh methods to unify Russia strengthen
  Monarchy
• 1613 Michael Romanov begins Romanov Dynasty

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Ivan the Terrible kills his child Heir
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Peter The Great 1682-1725

• Grand Embassy tour
• Toured Europe learning
  new technologies
• Westernization/Modernization
• Introduced western ideas
• Laws, technology, culture

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• Built largest army
  in Europe
• Won territory
  along the Baltic Sea
• St. Petersburg becomes Window to the West
• Major trading port new capital

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• Centralized power
• Reduced power of the nobility
• Brought Orthodox Church under his control

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Russia under Peter the Great
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Early Checks on English Monarchs

• 1215 King John forced to sign Magna Carta
• Limited Kings powers
• 1295 Edward I establishes Model
  Parliament
• Lawmaking body
• House of Lords House of Commons

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Parliament keeps the Monarchy in Check

• Parliament successfully blocked attempted shifts
  to absolute rule
• The Tudor Monarchs(1485-1603) generally worked
  well w/ Parliament
• Ex. Henry VIII Elizabeth I

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The Stuart Monarchs

• Had absolutist tendencies (Strong belief in
  Divine Right)
• James I son Charles I Consistently clashed with
  Parliament over finance foreign policy
• Angered Puritans

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The English Civil War

• Known as the Puritan Revolution (1643)
• Charless Cavaliers vs. Roundheads led by Oliver
  Cromwell
• Charles I is overthrown by forces loyal to
  Parliament
• beheaded in 1649

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Cromwell the Commonwealth

• England became a Republic called the Commonwealth
• At first Cromwell Parliament share power
• 1653 Cromwell assumes Title of Lord Protector
  rules as a dictator
• Cromwell brutally put down revolts in Ireland
  Scotland (Genocide)

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Cromwell as Lord Protector
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Restoration The Glorious Revolution

• Upon Cromwells death, Parliament restores Stuart
  Monarchy to throne
• Charles II James II became unpopular due to
  absolutist policies
• Parliament fears return of Catholicism(James II)
• Parliament overthrows James II
  asks William Mary to assume
  throne (Glorious Revolution)

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• 1688-William Mary forced to sign English Bill
  of Rights is signed
• Guarantees Parliaments superiority over the
  Monarchy
• England becomes a Limited Monarchy (Remains
  today)