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E.D is a difficult term to define
The fundamental difference between them and absolutists like Louis XIV was they were
‘enlightened’
They didn’t believe in divine right
They justified their authority by usefulness to society
‘servants of the state’ vs ‘I am the state’

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E. D. Was secular – claimed no mandate from heaven
It was also rational and reformist
Reconstruct the state by use of reason

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They were very suspicious of custom, which didn’t change anything
They wanted results, and acted quickly

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Louis XV- a failure
Ran into difficulty raising revenue
Taille – paid mainly by the peasants – nobility exempted
Church land exempt from taxes
French government chronically poor

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The taxes that Louis XIV had created were widely evaded
No class wanted to pay direct taxes – elitist attitude
1740s- new tax created – called vingtieme
5% tax on property
Paid by nobles and bourgeiosie

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Government tried to raise them, but resisted by French parlement – cited Montesquieu, unconsitutional
Louis dropped the issue

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1768 France strapped after 7 Years War
Louis pushed the issue again
He called Maupeou to Chancellorship
Got rid of old parlements
Limited the rights of members to reject bills
This move was the opposite of enlightened depotism

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Louis died in 1774, next in line was his grandson Louis XVI
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Not a good leader – didn’t want to offend anyone
Abolished Maupeou parlement, restored the old one

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Louis XVI sought to pacify the privilidged classes
He did appoint Turgot as head of his ministry and he was good
Best idea was replacing the corvee, which required peasants to work on public roads, with a tax on all classes
But the parlements opposed him – he resigns

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The Parlement of Paris would prevent Louis from making any significant changes in
France
This would ultimately lead to revolution and
Louis losing his head

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Best enlightened despot
“I must enlighten my people, cultivate their manners and morals, and make them as happy as human beings can be.”
He simplified and codified many laws, made law courts cheaper, protected religious freedom, elementary education for all children

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His main flaw, he wouldn’t consult with anyone – didn’t entrust anything to anyone less capable than himself
“if Newton had to consult with Descartes he would have never discover the Universal law of gravitation”
He didn’t train a successor, and by 1806,
Prussia was basically destroyed by Napoleon

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Peter the Great (1682-1725)
Tsar, wanted to Westernize Russia
Prior to him, serfdom in Russia very strict
Strict laws against fugitive serfs (15 years)
If a peasant is killed, just give him another
Peasants couldn’t move
Like slavery

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Social revolution
Built a huge army – taxed many things
Hats, leather, cellars, coffins, right to marry , wear a beard
Encouraged mercantilism
Required all gentry to put thier sons in school
Sent many abroad to study
First newspaper
Book of etiuette
Don’t spit on floor, take off hat, outlawed beards

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Catherine the Great 1762
She was a reformer
Legal codification, restrictions on the use of torture,
She wouldn’t budge on issue of serfdom

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Lives still harsh – punished, sold, families broken up, exiling them to Siberia
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1773-Rebellion by Emelian Pugachev
He announced himself as true tsar, now returned from travels
Set up his own imperial family, courtiers
He declared serfdom, taxes, and military conscription illegal

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Many serfs flocked to his banner
It spread, priests, landlords killed
Pugachev, betrayed by his men, was brought to Moscow in an iron cage, executed by drawing and quatering

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Consequence: one of the most violent uprisings in Euro history
Catherine’s response: gave more power to landlords
Serfdom became more rigid, not much different from American slavery

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Advertisement: for sale, two plump coachmen, two girls 18 and 15, quick at manual work, two barbers, one knows how to read and write.

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In each case, they all had limitations
After enlightened Despotism, monarchy became backward looking