The Rise of
Absolutism
Absolutism:
A political system in
which a single ruler has
unrestricted power
INTRODUCTION
• In the Middle Ages, the power of kings had
been limited by nobles, parliaments, and the
Catholic Church
• The decline of feudalism, the Renaissance, the
Protestant Reformation, and the Commercial
Revolution all helped enrich European society
and increase the power of European monarchs
(hereditary rulers)
THE BIG QUESTION:
• How did Europe’s rulers achieve absolute
power?
WARS OF RELIGION
• During the Reformation, most kings took
control of religion within their own
borders
• Religious wars provided kings with an
opportunity to build large standing
armies
–Introduced new government officials
–Allowed tax increases (resistance was
put down by the king’s army)
CHANGING ROLES OF THE
NOBILITY
• In the Middle Ages, nobles had been
independent sources of power
• In the 1600s, rulers began to “tame” the
nobility by keeping watch over them.
• Nobles kept wealth and privileges, but had to
obey the king’s command
• The growing urban middle classes often allied
themselves with kings against the nobility
JUSTIFICATIONS FOR ROYAL POWER
• “Reason of state” – justified doing whatever was
necessary for the survival of the state
• Some thought that without a strong central
authority to keep order, society would break down,
so kings were justified in seizing absolute power in
order to maintain order in society
• Divine right of kings – the king was God’s deputy on
earth, and royal commands expressed God’s wishes
Spain
King Charles V
• 1500-1558
• Grandson of Ferdinand &
Isabella
• Also heir to the Hapsburg
family, who ruled over the
Holy Roman Empire and
the Netherlands, so he
was King of Spain, King of
the Netherlands, and the
Holy Roman Emperor (or
King of Germany) all at
the same time!
King Charles V
• Charles was staunchly
Catholic and, in his role as
Holy Roman Emperor, tried
to suppress Martin Luther by
issuing the Edict of Worms
(and, thereby control his
people’s religion)
• In 1556, Charles retired and
became a monk, giving
control of the Holy Roman
Empire to his brother and
control of Spain, its colonies,
and the Netherlands to his
son Philip II.
King Philip II
• 1556-1598
• Made Spain the strongest
power in Europe, based mainly
on the immense wealth Spain
had due to its American
colonies
• Absolute Monarch
– believed that he ruled by
“divine right,” or through God’s
authority
– Sought to protect and
strengthen the Catholic Church
by outlawing Protestantism in
his lands and reinstating the
Spanish Inquisition
Wars of Philip II
• Faced rebellion by Dutch
Protestants in the
Netherlands (Dutch broke
free of Spanish rule in
1648, after 67 years of
fighting.)
• Attempted to invade and
conquer England in 1588
and claim the throne of
his late wife, the Catholic
Mary I, from her
Protestant sister Elizabeth
The Spanish Armada
• Invasion force which included
130 ships and 20,000 men
• Despite its formidable size, the
Armada was decisively defeated
by a combination of bad
weather and smaller, faster
English ships
• Philip had spent so much of
Spain’s wealth on the Armada
that its failure (coupled with
inflation) ruined Spain’s
economy and caused Spain to
quickly go into decline as a
world power
France
King Louis XIV
• 1638 – 1715
• Became king at age 5 and
ruled for 72 years
• Referred to himself as the
“Sun King” – because the sun
was believed to be the
center of the universe by this
time
• Nearly bankrupted France by
building himself a massive
new palace at Versailles,
which housed 10,000 people
King Louis XIV
• Absolutist
– Disbanded France’s
legislature (Estates General)
– Forced the upper nobility to
live at Versailles as his
perpetual guests so that he
could control them
– Built a powerful, professional
army of 300,000 men
– Revoked the Edict of Nantes,
causing over
100,000Protestants and Jews
to flee France
– His personal motto was “I am
the state.”
Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
Rise of Austria and Prussia
• Holy Roman Empire was
fractured into hundreds of
small rival states, each with its
own prince; the princes
elected the Holy Roman
Emperor, thereby keeping the
emperor pretty much
powerless
• In addition, Germany was
home to both Catholics and
Protestants, and they didn’t
like each other very much
• These two things added
together resulted in the Thirty
Years’ War
The Thirty Years War
• War started in 1618 in
Bohemian city of Prague
when a rebellion broke out
after the king there tried to
suppress Protestantism
• Both sides sought allies
outside of Bohemia, and
pretty quickly most of
Europe had taken one side
or the other
• The war was extremely
violent; as much as 1/3 of
central Europe’s population
may have died
The Peace of Westphalia
• Ended Thirty Years War in
1648
• France ended up with more
territory, the Holy Roman
Empire broke apart into 360
separate states (but still had a
figurehead Holy Roman
Emperor), Switzerland and the
Netherlands became
independent states
• Led to the rise of Hapsburg
Austria in the south, who
would grow into a major
Catholic power, and their rival,
Hohenzollern Prussia in the
north, a Protestant power
Austria’s Maria Theresa
• 1717 – 1780
• Absolutist
– Dictated reforms in everything
from education to agriculture
to the military
– Allowed only Catholicism
– Employed special “moral
decency” police who expelled
prostitutes, gamblers, and
other undesirables from the
state
– Forced smallpox inoculation
(like a vaccine, but runs the risk
of death) on her citizens
• Mother of 16 children,
including Marie Antoinette
Austria’s Joseph II
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1741 – 1790
Son of Maria Theresa
Considered an “enlightened despot” –
ruled absolutely, but most of his
decisions benefitted his people
Allowed freedom of religion, even for
Jews (angering Protestant citizens)
Abolished serfdom (angering nobility)
Built public hospitals
Abolished the death penalty
Made elementary education mandatory
Made German the official language
(angering non-German citizens)
Patron of the arts: employed both
Mozart and Beethoven
Not satisfied with his accomplishments;
his epitaph reads: “Here lies Joseph II,
who failed in all he undertook”
Prussia’s Frederick William I
• 1688 – 1740
• Absolutist
– Built Prussia into a military
state
– Made basic education
mandatory
– Forced the nobility (the
Junkers) into serving as the
officer-class for his army
– Had his own son (and heir)
court-martialed at 19
Prussia’s Frederick II
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1712 – 1786
Son of Frederick William I
Another “enlightened despot”
Author of Anti-Machiavel
(1740), which argued against
Machiavelli’s idea that the ends
justifies the means
• Forcibly modernized Prussian
government, agriculture and
industry
• Practiced religious tolerance,
even of Jews, and advocated
peace with the Muslims
• Musician, artist, and
Freemason, he spoke 9
languages
Russia
Peter the Great
• Peter became czar at age 10,
but did not assume control
until age 17 in 1689
• In 1697, he traveled to
Western Europe to investigate
stories of fantastic new
technologies; he learned
about new inventions, new
forms of government; he hired
many specialists to return to
Russia with him
• In order to force through his
western ideas, which were
opposed by many in Russia,
Peter became an absolutist
Peter the Great
• Absolutist
– Peter wanted nobles free
to serve the state; this
meant that they had to
have a regular income, so
Peter added more serfs
– Forced educational and
economic reforms
– Forced the nobility to
shave their beards and to
adopt western fashions
– Harshly put down anyone
who opposed him,
executed thousands
Peter the Great
• Expanded Russia’s borders
– needed a warm water port
(Russia’s ports were on the
Arctic Ocean and iced in
during the winter)
• tried to seize Black Sea ports
from Ottomans, but failed
• fought a war with Sweden and
did manage to secure access
to the Baltic Sea
• on this new land, Peter built a
new capital (called St.
Petersburg), a sort of Russian
version of Versailles
– Pushed Russia’s borders as far
east as Alaska (N. America)
Catherine the Great
• 1729 – 1796
• Prussian princess who married
Czar Peter III and ascended to the
throne after his death
• Another “enlightened despot”
• Expanded Russian Empire
• Brutally suppressed rebellions
• Promoted education, even for
women
• Continued to modernize the
government
• Heavily censored the press
• Promoted Orthodox Christianity,
but tolerated Islam and Judaism
Absolutist Monarchs
• Spain: Charles V,
Philip II
• France: Louis XIV
• Austria: Maria
Theresa
• Prussia: Frederick
William I
• Russia: Peter the
Great