Absolutism
Absolutism
The seventeenth century was filled with political, economic and social crisis. One response to the crises of the seventeenth century was to seek stability by increasing the monarchy’s power. Absolutism is the belief in a system in which the ruler has total power. It also includes the idea of the divine right of kings. Absolute monarchs could make laws, levy taxes, administer justice, control the state’s officials, and determine foreign policy. Examples of absolute rulers in the ancient world would be Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty, the Caesar’s of the Roman Empire, Charlomagne of the Frankish kingdom and Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. The long term causes of absolutism was a decline of feudalism, rise of cities with support of a middle class, growth of national kingdoms and the loss of authority by the church. The immediate causes of absolutism were religious and territorial conflicts that created fear and uncertainty in the population. The growth of armies to deal with conflict caused rulers to raise taxes to pay for troops. The heavy taxes led to additional unrest and new peasant revolts. In a study of three absolute rulers, Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan, Louis XIV of France, and Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, historians have been able to identify five key traits. Absolute rulers will centralize government, eliminate competition, control land owning masses (nobility), control religion, and build a new grand capital.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first of a dynasty of rulers that tried to control Japan’s feudal system beginning in 1603. Tokugawa was able to defeat his rivals at the battle of Sikigahara that earned him the loyalty of all the Daimyo. Japan was divided into about 250 territories called hans, or domains. A daimyo ruled each. The shogunate controlled the daimyo by a hostage system. In the hostage system daimyo had to maintain two residences—one in their own lands and one in Edo, where the shogun lived. If the daimyo was absent from Edo, his family had to stay there. During the Great Peace, many samurai who had served the daimyo ceased being warriors and managed the lands of the daimyo. Tokugawa in an effort to preserve the culture of Japan outlawed Christianity and drove out Christian missionaries by 1612.
Louis XIV, the Sun King
The best example of seventeenth-century absolutism is the reign of Louis XIV of France. French power and culture spread throughout Europe. Other courts imitated the court of Louis XIV. Louis XIII and Louis XIV were only boys when they came to power. A royal minister held power for each up to a certain age, Cardinal Richelieu for Louis XIII and Cardinal Marazin for Louis XIV. These ministers helped preserve the monarchy. Richelieu took political and military rights from the Huguenots, a perceived threat to the throne, and thwarted a number of plots by nobles through a system of spies, executing the conspirators. Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643 at age four. During Marazin’s rule, nobles rebelled against the throne, but their efforts were crushed. Many French people concluded that the best chance for stability was with a monarch.
Louis XIV took power in 1661 at age 23. He wanted to be and was to be sole ruler of France. All were to report to him for orders or approval of orders. He fostered the myth of himself as the Sun King—the source of light for his people. The royal court Louis established at Versailles served three purposes. It was the king’s household, the location of the chief offices of the state, and a place where the powerful could find favors and offices for themselves. From Versailles, Louis controlled the central policy-making machinery of government. Louis deposed nobles and princes from the royal council and invited them to Versailles where he hoped court life would distract them from politics. This tactic often worked. Louis’ government ministers were to obey his every wish. He ruled with absolute authority in the three traditional areas of royal authority: foreign policy, the Church, and taxes. Louis had an anti-Huguenot policy, wanting the Huguenots to convert to Catholicism. He destroyed Huguenot churches and closed Huguenot schools. As many as two hundred thousand Protestants fled France.
The mercantilist policies of the brilliant Jean-Baptiste Colbert helped Louis with the money he needed for maintaining his court and pursuing his wars. Louis developed a standing army of four hundred thousand. He wanted the Bourbon dynasty to dominate Europe. To achieve this goal, he waged four wars between 1667 and 1713, causing many other nations to form alliances against him. He did add some lands to France and set up a member of his dynasty on Spain’s throne. The Sun King died in 1715. France was debt-ridden and surrounded by enemies. On his deathbed he seemed remorseful for not caring for the people more.
Tsar Peter the Great
In the sixteenth century, Ivan IV became the first Russian ruler to take the title of czar(tsar), Russian for caesar. Called Ivan the Terrible for his ruthlessness, he expanded Russia eastward and crushed the power of the Russian boyars (the nobility). The end of Ivan’s rule in 1584 was followed by a period of anarchy called the Time of Troubles. It ended when the national assembly chose Michael Romanov as czar in 1613. The Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917. Its most prominent member was Peter the Great, an absolutist who believed in the divine right of kings. He became czar in 1689. Peter soon made a trip to the West, and he returned determined to Europeanize Russia. He wanted European technology to create a great army to support Russia as a great power.
By Peter’s death in 1725, Russia was an important European state. To create his army, Peter drafted peasants for 25–year stints. He also formed the first Russian navy. He divided Russia into provinces to rule more effectively. He wanted to create a “police state,” by which he meant a well-ordered community governed by law. Peter introduced Western customs and etiquette. At court, Russian beards had to be shaved and coats shortened, for example, as were the customs in Europe. Upper-class women gained much from Peter’s reforms. He insisted they remove their veils, and he held gatherings for conversation and dancing where the sexes mixed, as in Europe. Peter’s goal was to make Russia a great power. An important part of this was finding a port with access to Europe through the Baltic Sea. At the time Sweden controlled the Baltic. Peter warred with Sweden, and he acquired the lands he needed. In 1703 on the Baltic, he began construction of a new city, St. Petersburg. It was the Russian capital until 1917.
Impact of Absolutism
The immediate effects of absolutism will be ruler’s regulated religious worship and social gatherings to control the spread of ideas. Rulers will increase the size of their courts to appear more powerful. Rulers will also create bureaucracies to control their countries’ economies. Long term effects of absolutism will give rise to a new movement known as the Enlightenment. English political reforms will be created that will influence the United States democracy, revolution will begin in France and western Europe will have a profound impact on the development of Russia.
The seventeenth century was filled with political, economic and social crisis. One response to the crises of the seventeenth century was to seek stability by increasing the monarchy’s power. Absolutism is the belief in a system in which the ruler has total power. It also includes the idea of the divine right of kings. Absolute monarchs could make laws, levy taxes, administer justice, control the state’s officials, and determine foreign policy. Examples of absolute rulers in the ancient world would be Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty, the Caesar’s of the Roman Empire, Charlomagne of the Frankish kingdom and Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. The long term causes of absolutism was a decline of feudalism, rise of cities with support of a middle class, growth of national kingdoms and the loss of authority by the church. The immediate causes of absolutism were religious and territorial conflicts that created fear and uncertainty in the population. The growth of armies to deal with conflict caused rulers to raise taxes to pay for troops. The heavy taxes led to additional unrest and new peasant revolts. In a study of three absolute rulers, Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan, Louis XIV of France, and Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, historians have been able to identify five key traits. Absolute rulers will centralize government, eliminate competition, control land owning masses (nobility), control religion, and build a new grand capital.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first of a dynasty of rulers that tried to control Japan’s feudal system beginning in 1603. Tokugawa was able to defeat his rivals at the battle of Sikigahara that earned him the loyalty of all the Daimyo. Japan was divided into about 250 territories called hans, or domains. A daimyo ruled each. The shogunate controlled the daimyo by a hostage system. In the hostage system daimyo had to maintain two residences—one in their own lands and one in Edo, where the shogun lived. If the daimyo was absent from Edo, his family had to stay there. During the Great Peace, many samurai who had served the daimyo ceased being warriors and managed the lands of the daimyo. Tokugawa in an effort to preserve the culture of Japan outlawed Christianity and drove out Christian missionaries by 1612.
Louis XIV, the Sun King
The best example of seventeenth-century absolutism is the reign of Louis XIV of France. French power and culture spread throughout Europe. Other courts imitated the court of Louis XIV. Louis XIII and Louis XIV were only boys when they came to power. A royal minister held power for each up to a certain age, Cardinal Richelieu for Louis XIII and Cardinal Marazin for Louis XIV. These ministers helped preserve the monarchy. Richelieu took political and military rights from the Huguenots, a perceived threat to the throne, and thwarted a number of plots by nobles through a system of spies, executing the conspirators. Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643 at age four. During Marazin’s rule, nobles rebelled against the throne, but their efforts were crushed. Many French people concluded that the best chance for stability was with a monarch.
Louis XIV took power in 1661 at age 23. He wanted to be and was to be sole ruler of France. All were to report to him for orders or approval of orders. He fostered the myth of himself as the Sun King—the source of light for his people. The royal court Louis established at Versailles served three purposes. It was the king’s household, the location of the chief offices of the state, and a place where the powerful could find favors and offices for themselves. From Versailles, Louis controlled the central policy-making machinery of government. Louis deposed nobles and princes from the royal council and invited them to Versailles where he hoped court life would distract them from politics. This tactic often worked. Louis’ government ministers were to obey his every wish. He ruled with absolute authority in the three traditional areas of royal authority: foreign policy, the Church, and taxes. Louis had an anti-Huguenot policy, wanting the Huguenots to convert to Catholicism. He destroyed Huguenot churches and closed Huguenot schools. As many as two hundred thousand Protestants fled France.
The mercantilist policies of the brilliant Jean-Baptiste Colbert helped Louis with the money he needed for maintaining his court and pursuing his wars. Louis developed a standing army of four hundred thousand. He wanted the Bourbon dynasty to dominate Europe. To achieve this goal, he waged four wars between 1667 and 1713, causing many other nations to form alliances against him. He did add some lands to France and set up a member of his dynasty on Spain’s throne. The Sun King died in 1715. France was debt-ridden and surrounded by enemies. On his deathbed he seemed remorseful for not caring for the people more.
Tsar Peter the Great
In the sixteenth century, Ivan IV became the first Russian ruler to take the title of czar(tsar), Russian for caesar. Called Ivan the Terrible for his ruthlessness, he expanded Russia eastward and crushed the power of the Russian boyars (the nobility). The end of Ivan’s rule in 1584 was followed by a period of anarchy called the Time of Troubles. It ended when the national assembly chose Michael Romanov as czar in 1613. The Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917. Its most prominent member was Peter the Great, an absolutist who believed in the divine right of kings. He became czar in 1689. Peter soon made a trip to the West, and he returned determined to Europeanize Russia. He wanted European technology to create a great army to support Russia as a great power.
By Peter’s death in 1725, Russia was an important European state. To create his army, Peter drafted peasants for 25–year stints. He also formed the first Russian navy. He divided Russia into provinces to rule more effectively. He wanted to create a “police state,” by which he meant a well-ordered community governed by law. Peter introduced Western customs and etiquette. At court, Russian beards had to be shaved and coats shortened, for example, as were the customs in Europe. Upper-class women gained much from Peter’s reforms. He insisted they remove their veils, and he held gatherings for conversation and dancing where the sexes mixed, as in Europe. Peter’s goal was to make Russia a great power. An important part of this was finding a port with access to Europe through the Baltic Sea. At the time Sweden controlled the Baltic. Peter warred with Sweden, and he acquired the lands he needed. In 1703 on the Baltic, he began construction of a new city, St. Petersburg. It was the Russian capital until 1917.
Impact of Absolutism
The immediate effects of absolutism will be ruler’s regulated religious worship and social gatherings to control the spread of ideas. Rulers will increase the size of their courts to appear more powerful. Rulers will also create bureaucracies to control their countries’ economies. Long term effects of absolutism will give rise to a new movement known as the Enlightenment. English political reforms will be created that will influence the United States democracy, revolution will begin in France and western Europe will have a profound impact on the development of Russia.