What Is Absolutism?
Absolutism
In the course of the 17th century, absolutistic regime spread, with varied degrees of success, across much of Continental Europe. In most countries, absolute monarchy became the form of the government. In England, although the monarch had no absolute power, its parliament, a governing body mainly made up aristocrats, was placed supremacy over the king. Supreme authority over secular matters of a country was developed for the first time in Europe. Because of a number of conditions and forces and the changing beliefs in people's minds, absolutistic regime was widely exercised in this particular period.
First, absolutism seemed very desirable to many people in Europe in 17th century. Before absolute monarchs established their authority, Europe had been in endless chaos full of wars and social instability. Spain, England, and France each underwent their own civil wars. The 30 Years War devastated much of the Germanic states, and the Holy Roman Empire did no exist in reality any longer. Even in France, a supposedly united country, was divided by classes, regions and religions, there was in fact no means of consolidating the powers of state until a single man, Louis XIV, took his position as the absolute ruler, monopolizing administration of justice and the use of force, a system for creating tax, and a huge administrative bureaucracy were created. Under Louis XIV, private persons neither pass legal judgements on others nor control private armies of their own. For private and unauthorized persons to do so, in an orderly state, constitutes rebellion. Moreover, an all-powerful authority would mean more social stability, it produced peace and order in France, before the monopoly of the army, specialists in fighting, leading their own troops, worked for governments more or less as they chose, either in return form money or to pursue political aims of their own. Louis XIV made war an activity of state, while strenghening the fighting power of France against
In the course of the 17th century, absolutistic regime spread, with varied degrees of success, across much of Continental Europe. In most countries, absolute monarchy became the form of the government. In England, although the monarch had no absolute power, its parliament, a governing body mainly made up aristocrats, was placed supremacy over the king. Supreme authority over secular matters of a country was developed for the first time in Europe. Because of a number of conditions and forces and the changing beliefs in people's minds, absolutistic regime was widely exercised in this particular period.
First, absolutism seemed very desirable to many people in Europe in 17th century. Before absolute monarchs established their authority, Europe had been in endless chaos full of wars and social instability. Spain, England, and France each underwent their own civil wars. The 30 Years War devastated much of the Germanic states, and the Holy Roman Empire did no exist in reality any longer. Even in France, a supposedly united country, was divided by classes, regions and religions, there was in fact no means of consolidating the powers of state until a single man, Louis XIV, took his position as the absolute ruler, monopolizing administration of justice and the use of force, a system for creating tax, and a huge administrative bureaucracy were created. Under Louis XIV, private persons neither pass legal judgements on others nor control private armies of their own. For private and unauthorized persons to do so, in an orderly state, constitutes rebellion. Moreover, an all-powerful authority would mean more social stability, it produced peace and order in France, before the monopoly of the army, specialists in fighting, leading their own troops, worked for governments more or less as they chose, either in return form money or to pursue political aims of their own. Louis XIV made war an activity of state, while strenghening the fighting power of France against