Abstract
The absolute monarch exercises* ultimate authority over the state and his subjects, as
both head of state* and head of government. * In an absolute monarchy there is no
constitution or legal restriction on the monarch's power. Absolute monarchy is normally
hereditary* or passed on through marriage. The term Absolutism is typically used in
combination with some European monarchs during the transition from Feudalism* to early
Capitalism*, and monarchs described as absolute can especially be found in the 17th
century through the 18th century.
European Religious Conflicts of the 16th and 17th Centuries
Absolutism was primarily motivated by the crises of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. The population in the German states, for instance, was reduced by about 15%
to 30% in the Thirty Years’ War* whereas the population of France, at between 16 to 18
million people in 1600, fell by 2 to 4 million during the French Wars of
Religion* . Switzerland, Austria, Bohemia, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland and
Denmark. In this context, absolute monarchies were regarded as the solution to these
violent disorders, and Europeans were more than willing to have local autonomy* or
political rights taken away in exchange for peace and safety.
Decline of Feudalism and Origin of the Early Modern State
While the old feudal system had been defined by a weak monarchy attempting to control
the lands of the realm* through mutual agreements with regional leaders of the nobility, the
modern age was characterized by a rise of the king’s power in some parts of
Europe. These kings were soon to become absolute monarchs with a much greater power
over the nobles and the common people. Thus historians generally regard the growth of
the absolute monarchy as the origin of the modern state. Most of the characteristic
features of the modern state were more or less instituted* in the France of Louis XIV and
other contemporary* monarchies in Europe .
The ruling government should advance this goal by encouraging exports and discouraging
imports, notably through the use of tariffs* and subsidies*. In return, the taxes paid by the
merchants would help to fill the treasury* and thus give the monarchs the financial power
they were looking for.
Apart from the rise of professional bureaucracies, absolute states featured a national
legislation*, a national jurisdiction,* a large, standing military under the direct control of the
king, and a national tax collection mechanism in which taxes went straight to the national
government rather than passing through the hands of the local nobility. Absolute monarchs
spent exorbitant sums on warfare and extravagant buildings, such as the Palace of
Versailles , for themselves and the nobility.
Divine Right of Kings
The Divine Right of Kings states that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority since he
derives the right to rule directly from God. As a consequence, he is not subject to the will
of his people, the clergy or the nobility. The Divine Right of Kings implies that whoever
might attempt to remove the king from his office or restrict his powers runs contrary to the
will of God and thus commits heresy.
This special status allows them to impose new laws by royal prerogative* .
During the reign of King Louis XIV of France, the theory of divine right was strongly
promoted by the
Court preacher to Louis XIV, Bossuet was a strong advocate of political absolutism. Louis
XIV, he wrote several works intended as schoolbooks, one of which was Politics Derived
from the Words of Holy Scripture, published posthumously in 1709. Although he declares
the absolute authority of rulers, Bossuet underlines the fact that the king is not above the
law, «for if he sins, he destroys the laws by his example». The theory of divine right
disappeared in England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
Social Contract Theory
The first modern philosopher to articulate this kind of theory was Thomas
Hobbes . Leviathan , Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute
monarch. According to Hobbes, life without a strong central government would lead to
chaos and civil war since, in this «state of nature», each person has the natural right to
everything. All individuals in that society transfer their natural rights to the monarch for the
sake of protection.
The most prominent monarch who fully embodied absolutist principles was Louis
XIV, called the Sun King, who ruled France from 1643 to 1715.
Beginning with Leopold I , the Hapsburg Archdukes* tried to centralize the
government of
Until 1905, the Czars* of Russia also governed as absolute monarchs. His royal palace
there was meant to imitate and even rival Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles. While Europe
steadily developed strong, absolutist monarchies, there was one exception to the
rule. When James I became King of England after the death of Elizabeth I, he tried to
introduce the ideas which he had already put forward in his book The True Law of
Monarchies .
Public fears that his son Charles I was actually attempting to establish absolute rule in
England was a major cause of the English Civil War , the execution of Charles I and the
temporary establishment of the Commonwealth. Finally, at the end of the 17th
century, England experienced the irrevocable erosion of the monarch’s powers as a result
of the Glorious Revolution. * By signing the Bill of Rights in 1689, the new king, William
III, had to accept his limited powers within the framework of a constitutional monarchy.
