King Louis XIV, On Social Order And Absolute Monarchy

Abryl Navarro DBQ Essay During the 1500s and 1600s, Western Europe experienced a period of governments ruled by ab-solute monarchs. Absolute monarchies are forms of government in which the monarch has abso-lute power over the people. The absolutism was caused by religious and territorial conflicts which was crated fear and uncertainty. Rulers/ Kings abused their power of absolutism over their sub-jects.

Compare and contrast the theories and practice of absolutism and constitutional monarchy during the 17th century.

A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France

It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.

A form of government ruled by one person whose authority is not restricted by law or governing bodies is absolutism. It is arguable if this form of government can truly be successful due to its impression left throughout the course of history. Justification of absolutism by Thomas Hobbes, Jacques Benigne Bossuet, and analysis of Louis XIV rule reveal why absolutism in ineffective. Due to its removal of self-authority, vulnerability to a power, and the possibility of weakening a country make absolutism inefficient.

Louis XIV, the ruler of France from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth century, claimed, “I am the state.” He considered this to be absolutism. His goal, also acquainted with absolutism, was, “one king, one law, one faith;” Furthermore, Louis wanted to promote religious unity, royal dignity, and security of the state. In order to achieve this goal, he had to rule with a firm hand, laying down the law for all to see. Louis XIV’s absolutism fostered in four major parts: the building of Versailles to control the nobility, the breeding of a strong military, the improvement of France’s economy, and, while quite harsh, the brutal extinction of religious toleration.

Many rulers used absolutism in their countries. They believed rulers should have complete control over the country. Prince Machiavelli believed the best way to rule was to be feared and thought that the only way people would listen to him was if he was mean and scary. He thought if he was nice and loved then they would not fear him and end up taking advantage of him. (doc1) King James also believed absolutism was the way to go. He believed in divine right and that it was the only way to keep the country

During the 16th century to the 18th century, Monarchs in Europe used absolutism. Monarchs such as King Louis and Peter The Great used absolute tactics because they wanted to consolidate power from the nobility. They wanted to consolidate power from the nobility because they wanted to take the power they lost during the middle ages. King Louis and Peter the Great used all multiple means to reclaim power. They used their power to glorify themselves and their country. The practice of absolutism can be argued to have both positive and negative effects.

In 17th-18th century Europe, the age of absolutism, absolute monarchs ruled most of Europe. Absolute monarchs are rulers that have complete control over the government and its people. They claimed to rule by “divine right,” where their authority comes from God and they were above the law. The views of being a proper role as an absolute monarch differed very much between rulers and their subjects. Certain rulers had ideas that both the people and ruler should be united, some abused their power with no sympathy towards the people they rule, and the subjects that suffered from the rulings of the monarch had a completely different perspective than the rulers that were in power.

Absolutism created a time of prosperity throughout the 1500s and the 1600s. At this point of history, absolutism was an efficient way of running a government. Absolutist leaders were vigorous, assertive and a potent symbol of authority. The amount of growth in countries such as Russia was both efficient and effective because the power of authority was concentrated into one person’s hands. Absolutism enabled Peter the Great to modernize and adapt Russia for war, commerce and industrial growth. Additionally, absolutism gave people a powerful leader they needed to trust in and depend on for their country's sake. This type of regnant is most evident King James I of England and King Louis XIV of France. For example, King James I of England

During the era of the late 16th and 17th centuries, a new idea of political thought was sweeping France: the idea of centralization of power and Absolutism. These ideas gave the vast majority of, if not all, of the political power and authority of government to the reigning monarch of France. Absolutism was brought to fruition by the likes of monarchs and noblemen such as Louis XIV and was backed by the idea of the right to rule by divine intervention. The theoretical basis for the idea of absolute royal authority in France was the idea of the right to rule by divine intervention.

In “Social Order and Absolute Monarchy, written by Jean Domat, Domat argues that the absolute monarchy portrayed by King Louis XIV of France was created in the best interest of France. Domat’s audience in this document seems to be the middle class as well as the lower classes of France since Domat’s main goal of this paper is to justify the actions and amount of power held by the upper class and the king in an absolute monarchy.

England’s lengthy history of hereditary monarchs and abusive absolutists has led to the system of constitutionalism in 17th century English government. The encouragement of these absolutism practices triggered the need to search for a new way to govern. The reigns of the Stuart monarchy led to the shift from absolutism to constitutionalism during 17th century England. After witnessing the success of Louis XIV's of France establishment of absolutism, England would soon see that James I, and his son Charles I, will fail at establishing absolutism in England and see a constitutional government established.

To start off with, Jean Domat was a French jurist who ideas stem from the kings practice of royal absolutism. In addition, Domat also established a large presence of the law of God within her work. Domat viewed ‘man’ as each person is a member of society and must obey God faithfully. In addition, there is emphasis on the obedience of ‘man’ to God. While God has many rights, ‘man’ has little to none except to acknowledge the truth and what God requires of them. God is the dominant power and ‘man’ has little say. Domat states that there are two types of government. The first is the relationship between children and parents. Children respect their parents the head of the family. The second government is formed through variety within employments, which leads to a necessary head to unite society. For those who govern society, power is given to them. “For since God is the only natural sovereign of men, their judge, their

During the late 17th and early 18th century, many European nations such as France and Russia were absolute monarchies. Even countries such as England had kings who at least attempted to implement absolutism. Indeed the concept of absolutism, where the monarch is the unquestionably highest authority and absolute ruler of every element in the realm, is certainly appealing to any sovereign. However, this unrestricted power was abused, and by the end of the 18th century, absolutism was gone. Absolutism failed because the monarchs' mistreatment of the population caused the people to revolt against their rule and policies. There are many factors which caused this discontent. For one, there was a great loss of human lives. Louis XIV of France