The Age of Absolute Monarchs

1. The Age of Absolute Monarchs

2. 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, England’s Parliament enacted a Bill of Rights that limited the English monarch’s powers.

3. 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

7. Map of states under Absolutism

8. 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.

9. 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. 

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

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

14. Effects of Absolutism • Regulation of Religion & society • Loss of power by nobility & legislatures • New government Bureaucracies • Huge building projects

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

17. 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) • 1600’s Spain power declines • Financial problems

18. 1588 Spanish Armada Defeated "Protestant Wind"

19. 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

20. Louis XIV "The Ultimate Absolutist" • Known as “The Sun King” • Ruled for 72 years • Mercantilistpolicies • Built the strongest army in Europe • Expanded bureaucracy • Never called the Estates General • Persecuted the Huguenots • French Protestants

21. The Sun King

22. Built Lavish palace @ Versailles • “Gilded Cage” for nobility • His successors inherited enormous debts (costly Wars & extravagance)

31. 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

32. Ivan the Terrible kills his child & Heir

33. Peter The Great 1682-1725 • Grand Embassy tour • Toured Europe learning new technologies • Westernization/Modernization • Introduced western ideas • Laws, technology, culture

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

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

36. Russia under Peter the Great

38. Early Checks on English Monarchs • 1215 King John forced to sign Magna Carta • Limited King’s powers • 1295 Edward I establishes Model Parliament • Lawmaking body • House of Lords & House of Commons

39. Henry VII1485-1509 Henry VIII1509-1547 Edward VI1547-1553 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

40. Mary I1553-1558 Elizabeth I1558-1603 James I 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

41. The English Civil War • Known as the Puritan Revolution (1643) • Charles’s Cavaliers vs. Roundheads led by Oliver Cromwell • Charles I is overthrown by forces loyal to Parliament • beheaded in 1649

42. 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)

43. Cromwell as Lord Protector

44. Restoration & The Glorious Revolution • Upon Cromwell’s 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)

45. 1688-William & Mary forced to sign English Bill of Rights is signed • Guarantees Parliament’s superiority over the Monarchy • England becomes a Limited Monarchy (Remains today)