Absolute Monarchy In The 18th Century

The 17th century of European history, colloquially known as the “Age of Crisis”, gave rise to a new form of government: absolutism. Religious wars, economic troubles, inflation, and new agricultural challenges such as the Little Ice Age wracked the nations of Europe and caused tremendous fear and uncertainty among the masses. Thus, as many felt that life itself was endangered, they were willing to accept the rise of a strong, independent ruler who might lead them from the darkness. In this way, absolutism emerged- a new form of monarchy based on a hereditary ruler with complete authority. Perhaps the most well known example of an absolute monarch in European history is Louis XIV, the ruler of France from 1643 to 1715.

In the time before King Louis XIV’s reign, 17th century France was involved in several civil wars, there were no secure borders and the aristocracy acted as local rulers. In 1643 when Louis XIV came to power, he thought that he needed to secure both France and his own rule. He decided to build a new palace complex 12 miles outside Paris. To him, isolation meant security, he would be away from the plotters and schemers in Paris. He also believed that having all government departments and ministries living within Versailles would centralize the government and create reform.

Still, the negative aspects of France’s rule under King Louis XIV far outweigh the positive ones. His reign can best be described by the statement “L’état, c’est moi,” (I am the state) that is attributed to him. King Louis XIV spent state money to pay for his own luxuries and monuments that glorified his image. It was also customary for the artists King Louis XIV sponsored to include direct or indirect allusions to him in their productions thus creating a god-like image of him. The Palace of Versailles alone used 5% of France’s income. This liberal

The scientific revolution and the enlightenment began to alter the everyday life of people in France. Navigation became a huge part of many people’s lives. Men began to study the sky’s more to figure out where they were on the sea’s (Turner 482). The study of the sky led some to make hypotheses about the universe. During this time there was a rebirth of the quest for knowledge. Universities grew during this time; it became more popular to know how to read and write. And the middle class society began to grow and grow. At this point in time monarchies have more power than ever before, they rule everything, including the churches and the military (Davis 55). Louis XIV build Versailles in hopes of creating the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Nobles are invited to

He built Versailles, a beautiful palace outside of Paris for his nobles. Lined with gardens and filled with fountains + opulent architecture + decorations Versailles was a veritable playground for the nobles. There were balls, fancy clothes + huge numbers of servants, and most of the nobles¡¯ incomes were spent on these luxuries. Thus, the status of the nobles was high and they were wealthy + lived an indulgent lifestyle, but they had no political power in the French government.

Hobbes, you are adamant in the claim that an absolute monarchy is the best type of government. However, it is clear that too much power in the hands of one individual will lead to corruption. You believe that people are prone to corruption and wrong deeds. With power solely rested on the divine rulers shoulders, should he fail, the nation will crumble. This kind of government could be toppled very easily, and a lack of a stable system set up in place should the monarch die would mean chaos would run rampant throughout the nation.

King Louis XIV built a brilliant royal residence called the Palace of Versailles. He then encouraged nobles to come stay with him in Versailles, which was his way of keeping an eye on them. When the nobles were there they were courteous and helped serve the King. None of the nobles wanted

During the 16th and 17th centuries it is clear and evident that the centralization of power, or the absolutism in and hierarchy, does in fact induce stability in society, however, it is also evident via the given readings that absolutism also had its flaws which were later proved to be its downfall. It essentially all boils down a single concept of the people versus government. This is evident in the history of the French prior and leading up to the Révolution. In addition to, the monarchy of the English under King James VI and I’s rule. As complicated as the nature of government is, when power or authority is concentrated excessively into a single point, the society will crack by that very same point if a healthy relationship between citizen and ruler is not established. One cannot expect to bully and undermine one’s citizens without considering the possibility that one day they will rise up against him or her and “religious” masks can only be worn for so long before people recognize the hypocrisies present within them. Both of these truths are evident as seen in the given texts. Specifically, with The Great Cat Massacre, On The Social Order and Absolute Monarchy, by Jean Domat, and Trew Law of Free Monarchies, King James VI & I.

This would be different from a monarchy, since generally, monarchs do not take the people's wishes into consideration. This statement is made aware and seen in The Declaration of Rights of Men in article 14, it states, “All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.”. (evidence packet) In this case, the article is stating that with representatives the people will be able to have more control on how they will live their lives. The government governed in many unfair ways, and even though many people were not educated, they knew they were being oppressed and wanted reforms made. France, was an absolutist country, which enabled the king to make any decision that he wanted. The kings had managed to tame the nobles and all bureaucrats were loyal and would do what the king told them. This did not leave any room for the third estate, people other than the nobles and priests, to have an opinion on how they were governed. When the people realized that the king would make

Voting was also a problem during this period. King Louis XVI was not making the voting fair to all citizens. He was favoring the “rich”

Citizens were not permitted to vote as individuals. Instead one vote was given to each of the three estates, the clergy (first), aristocrats (second), and everyone else excluded from the first two, who were most commonly peasants and the working class (third) (Roberts et al. 646). Unsurprisingly, the Third Estate was outvoted and citizens within became furious. They, “…insisted that those who worked [for low wages] and pay taxes were the nation…” (Roberts et al. 646) Shortly afterward, the National Assembly was born and was determined to take France’s future into its own (Belloc, 93).

The concept of popular sovereignty had a significant impact on government systems in the eighteenth century as it spurred on the revolutions of the Americans and the French. In the following century, it altered establishments in countries such as Japan who viewed a parliament as necessary to be competitive with nations already governed by the will of the people. However, popular sovereignty had a wide influence that expanded beyond government structure as it also led to societal changes associated with modernity, including universal education. Britain serves as a prime example because after passing the Representation of People Act of 1867, which extended the right to vote and doubled the size of the previous electorate, it soon ratified the Elementary

beginning, I thought it could be read as Snt.sn, which means ‘their incantations’ as a plural noun, but this is difficult to make out on the statue. Only traces of the eye sign can be detected. The possibility of reading the last part as irt-ib (to do the will of) is unlikely based on the current state of preservation. More importantly, this transliteration does not work with our piece’s meaning (that one will give to you their incantations).

During this period the majority of rulers were monarchs who felt that they had divine power vested in them by God known as the divine right. The absolute monarchy was around 1500-1600. Monarchies encourage the spread of nationalism which was sometimes taken to extremes. There are some conflicts that broke out such as those between Protestants and Catholics. There was also Internal warfare between a monarch and the noble class was also very common. And the problems caused battles also commonly resulted from trade-related clashes between nations. At first spain had most of the power and then the power shifted to two rivaling powers-in-the-making: France and

In this I am going to assess the methods to increase trade between countries and the methods to restrict trade between countries. When asses the methods of encouraging and restricting trade I will talk about the purpose for the methods of promoting and restricting international trade, identify how and why they might be used and I will decide how useful each method is giving appropriate reasons for it. International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries.