Absolutism In The 17th Century

The triggers of absolutism: what happened before absolutism was entrenched?

Absolutism was prevalent and inveterate in Europe during the 16th-17th century than every century before this period or after it. Two main features of absolutism are Divine Right and centralized power. Many renowned emperors in history, however, are great fans of absolute power. For instance, Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Empire; Elizabeth I of England, the mighty queen of the Great Britain; Louis XIV, the majestic sun king of France.

However, during the Middle Age, which is the era before absolutism was pervasive, there are three main factors that restrict the development of absolute monarchy. First, when Roman empire was still flourished, the Holy Church
In Middle Age, feudal leaders usually built a high and sturdy fortress to keep their family inside for protection and to demonstrate their power, their solemnness. We could regard the fortress as an epitome of the feudal leaders’ power. However, to centralize power, many monarchs attempted to demolish these fortresses. For instance, during the 17th century, the French government appointed a cardinal called Richelieu, a really intransigent cardinal. To weaken the nobles’ power, he coerced the nobles taking town their fortresses. Hypothetically, if a noble disobeys the king or the central government, the French military could easily squelch the commotion because the noble doesn’t possess a fortress to protect them anymore. This decree also emasculated the nobles’ power greatly since they must obey the central government because they had no power to do
Nevertheless, to reinforce their absolute power in the government, many kings obliged their people having the same religion as them, which commenced the era of Reformation. Martin Luther, the starter of Reformation, witnessed the inordinate distribution of indulgence by the Church and therefore called for Protestant Reformation. Which means that they will not be conforming to the Roman Church anymore, they established a new theory, known as the 95 Theses. This reform inspired a lot of countries to slough from the Papacy. England would be a great example. Henry VIII of England discovered the benefits of Reformation and decided to secede from the Roman Catholic Church. After his secession, he became the spiritual leader of England, which means that not only did he have the power on politics, but also on religion, on people’s belief. His role in the country was almost the same as an absolute monarch, but the only difference is that he did not completely claim that God conferred the power to him, making his power divine; namely that he had not deify himself. The idea of reformation probably inspired many absolute monarchs, such as Louis XIV. Not only did they obliged their people having the same religion as them, but also they made improvements for Reformation and