Ch. 21

1
Absolute Monarchs of Europe

• Ch. 21

2
Absolute Monarchs

• Justifications for Royal (Absolute) Power
• Reason of State- a strong central government
  was needed to keep order in society.
• Without a strong central authority to keep
  order, life would be nasty, brutish, and
  shortsociety would break down into a war of
  every man against every man. Thomas Hobbes
• Divine Right- kings act as Gods deputy on Earth
  their commands express Gods wishes.
• Growth in Power was achieved by
• Increasing the size of their armies
• Raising taxes
• Actions that weaken the nobility

3
Louis XIV

• Absolute Monarchs

4
King Louis XIV

• His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted
  seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen
  days.
• longest documented reign of any European monarch.
• Became ruler when he was only 5, but the true
  ruler was Cardinal Mazarin until his death Louis
  was 23.
• Almost immediately, Louis weakened the power of
  the nobles.
• He excluded them from his councils
• He didnt allow criticism of his rule
• Built the Versailles Palace to house nobles where
  he could keep a watchful eye on them
• Letat, cest moi I am the state

5
The Palace at Versailles
Cost estimated 2 billion
Main building 500 yards long 2,000 rooms
15,000 acres of gardens 1,400 fountains
Labor force 36,000 laborers 6,000 horses
6
Fancy Pants Louis

• Louis spent a fortune to surround himself with
  luxury.
• Every meal was a feast
• Nearly 500 cooks, waiters, and other servants
  worked to satisfy his needs.
• While walking around his palace, he enjoyed
  looking at the fountains. However, there was not
  enough water pressure to run them all at once.
• So, a servant would run ahead of Louis, turn on
  the fountain just before Louis would see it, then
  turn it off after he had walked past.

7
Why all the attention?

• It obviously appealed to Louis arrogance.
• However, there was an alternative reason that
  Louis required his nobles wait on him daily.
• During the feudal times, nobles were very
  powerful because they had tremendous freedom to
  govern as they wished.
• By making the nobles stay within the grounds of
  Versailles, they no longer had free time to
  govern.
• With no time to govern, they lost control of
  their subjects and, thus, lost their power.
• That power over the citizens now belonged to King
  Louis.
• In this sly way, Louis did limit the powers of
  the nobles, all without a fight!!!

8
Louis Smart guy, bad decisions

• War

• Result

• 1667- invaded Spanish Netherlands
• 1672-invaded Dutch Netherlands
• 1680s- many other minor wars with small European
  countries
• 1689- Many European countries joined together to
  defeat France. Now, even the small countries had
  the protection of the powerful nations.

• Frequent wars, massive taxation, and a series of
  poor harvests brought great suffering to the
  French people.
• The people were tired of the King Louis.
• When he died in 1715, the people of France
  rejoiced.

9
Peter the Great

• Absolute Monarchs of Russia

10
Peter the Great

• A descendant of Michael Romanov, Peter at first
  had to share the throne with his feeble- minded
  half brother.
• Eventually, Peter became the sole ruler of
  Russia.
• Came to be known as Peter the Great because he
  was one of Russias greatest leaders and
  reformers.
• He was a big man, over 66 tall!!!

11
Russias differences from Europe

• During the beginning of Peters reign, Russia was
  still stuck in the Middle Ages while the rest of
  Europe was evolving.
• Nobles ruled over serfs
• Their land was physically cut off from
  interaction with Western Europe.
• Religious differences (remember the Great Schism)
  had separated the Eastern Christianity in Russia
  from the Western Christianity in Western Europe.

12
Peter visits the West

• 1 year after becoming Czar, he embarked on the a
  long visit to Western Europe.
• His goal was to remake Russia using western ideas
  technology he wanted to Westernize Russia.
• He visited England and Austria before returning
  home.
• He increased his power as an absolute ruler by
• Brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state
  control
• Abolished the office of patriarch, which was head
  of the church
• Reduced the power of the wealthy landowners and
  give it to low ranking families who promised
  loyalty.
• Hired European military officers to drill his
  soldiers

13
Westernizing Russia

• In order to make Russia more like Western Europe,
  he
• Introduced potatoes, which would later become the
  staple food of Russia.
• Started Russias 1st newspaper (edited the 1st
  edition himself)
• Raised womens status by having them attend
  social gatherings
• Ordered nobles to give up their traditional
  clothes for Western European fashions.

14
A New Capital

• Peter believed Russias future depended on having
  a warm-water seaport.
• To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a
  seaport that would make it easier to travel to
  the West.
• He began building the new capital on the swampy,
  unhealthy lands close to the Baltic Sea.
• An estimated 25,000 to 100,000 died from disease
  and poor working conditions while building St.
  Petersburg, which is named after Peters patron
  saint.
• When it was finished, he ordered many of the
  Russian nobles to leave the comforts of Moscow
  and relocate to St. Petersburg.