Absolutism Case studies Mark Knights What does absolutism signify Unfettered royal power usually monarchy by divine right The centralisation of decisionmaking The king as above the law The erosion of the rights of the people and their representative assemblies ID: 772661
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Absolutism Case studies" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
AbsolutismCase studies Mark Knights
What does absolutism signify? Unfettered royal power, usually monarchy by divine rightThe centralisation of decision-making The king as above the law The erosion of the rights of the people and their representative assemblies The loss of libertyNo right of resistancePersonified by Louis XIV of France (1643-1715)
Myth or Reality? Peter H. Wilson, in Absolutism in Central Europe (2000)‘absolutism was a reality which characterised central European political development between the mid- seventeenth and very late eighteenth centuries … it pushed monarchical rule in a significantly new direction; one which justifies the use of a specific term to distinguish it’ It arose out of an early C17th revitalised sense of monarchy that rejected most forms of formal consultation and limitations After the 30 Years War (1618-48), and as a reaction to crisis (moral and intellectual; international and military; socio-economic), it was distinguished by a personification and sacralisation of power; rise of nation state/fiscal-military state.
Perry Anderson – Marxist interpretation (1974)Eastern model: monarchies reacted to threats from Swedish expansion and western capitalism by a compact between monarchies and aristocracies - whereby the latter surrendered political power in return for the imposition of serfdom eg 1653 Brandenburg Recess between Elector Frederick William and the estates that allowed FW to raise a large army
But …Absolutism is a disputed concept Nicolas Henshall , The Myth of Absolutism (1992) ‘The edifice of ‘absolutism’ is cracking. The building still stands but few seem to have noticed that it is hanging in mid-air. No one has assembled the materials for demolition, but nor has the case been made for a preservation order’[Nicolas Henshall in History Today 42.6 (1992), p. 40] No ‘ism’ – an early C19th term that is anachronistic Not only did Louis XIV or his emulators in Europe fail to deliver an absolutist agenda, but they never had such pretensions They worked with representative assemblies; monarchy was also limited by practical constraints; not despotic; localism prevailed not central bureaucracy