Period 1
10-3-14
Compare and Contrast France and Roman Absolutism
Absolutism is the acceptance of, or belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters. French absolutism started with Louis XIV and Russian absolutism started with Peter the Great. Louis XIV ruled from 1643-1714 and Peter the Great ruled from 1699-1725. In French absolutism, the rule of absolute monarchs was not all embracing because they lacked the financial and military resources, and the technology to make it so. France and Russia are alike in absolutism that they both sought to control religion and that they got the rich out of paying taxes. They are different in that Louis XIV wasn’t successful in wars, but Peter the Great was. Religion was an important factor when dealing with Louis XIV and Peter the Great. Louis XIV held simple views regarding religion and it was that the king controlled the Catholic Church and that the Church should do his bidding. Louis got into conflict with some popes, but in the end he got his way, because he was more powerful. Louis believed that what was good for him was good for France. He saw no difference between the two. During Peter's reign the Russian Orthodox Church was reformed. The traditional leader of the Church was the Patriarch of Moscow. In 1700, when the office fell vacant, Peter had refused to name a replacement, allowing the Patriarch's deputy to discharge the duties of the office. In 1721, Peter followed the advice of Feofan Prokopovich and erected the Holy Synod, to take the place of the Patriarch and deputy. Peter also implemented a law which stated that no Russian man could join a monastery before the age of 50. He thought that too many able Russian men were being wasted away by clerical work when they could be joining his army. In 18th century Russia, few people lived to over a half century, therefore very few men became monks during Peter's reign. The monks were not pleased with this. In