Absolutism Notes

Learning Targets

• Students will be able to define absolutism.
• Students will be able to explain how divine right was used to justify absolute rule of monarchs.

Introduction to Absolutism

Absolutism

• In the 1500s and 1600s, monarchs in Europe wanted to centralize their power.
• This goal led to the development of absolutism.
• Absolutism: Rulers have complete authority over the government and the lives of the people living in their nation.

Divine Right

• Divine right is the theory that the monarch (king) is an agent of God.
• Citizens believed that the king’s authority came directly from God.

Question

• How could a king use divine right to take total control of his country?

Answer

• Many people in Europe during this period were very religious.
• They didn’t want to offend God.

Analyzing Key Concepts: Absolutism

• Absolutism was the political belief that one ruler should hold all of the power within the boundaries of a country.
• Practiced by several monarchs in Europe during the 16th through 18th centuries, but it has been used in many regions throughout history.
• Examples in ancient times: Shi Huangdi in China, Darius in Persia, and the Roman caesars.

Causes of Absolutism:

• Religious and territorial conflicts created fear and uncertainty.
• The growth of armies to deal with conflicts caused rulers to raise taxes to pay troops.
• Heavy taxes led to additional unrest and peasant revolts.

Effects of Absolutism:

• Rulers regulated religious worship and social gatherings to control the spread of ideas.
• Rulers increased the size of their courts to appear more powerful.
• Rulers created bureaucracies to control their countries' economies.

Some Characteristics of an Autocrat

• Uses armies to expand or consolidate borders under the ruler's control.
• Controls religious authorities.
• Limits or controls the power of nobles.
• Circumvents, ignores, or uses assemblies to approve or rubber-stamp the ruler's initiatives.
• Makes the laws.
• Dispenses justice.