Absolute Monarchies During The Age Of Absolutism

Absolute monarchies were very dominant political systems during the age of absolutism. The aspect of an absolute monarchy that made it so successful was the complete control that each ruler was able to gain over the country. The dictionary definition of an absolute monarchy is when there is one ruler whom has total control without laws or a constitution to hold him back from giving any orders. This was a very helpful system for many of the rulers during the Age of Absolutism. During this time it was common for one person to be head of state however the rulers who took upon this political system were sometimes negatively affected. There were four main examples of rulers who affected their whole government negatively due to their absolute monarchy. These rulers were Louis XIV(the sun god), Peter the great the tsar of Russia, Charles I, and Philip II. These rulers were able to grow large empires through the ideas of a absolute monarchy. However, their empires were also weakened by absolutism because as enlightenment ideas came to the people they began to realize the unfairness going on. The people began to yearn for equality and started to revolt

against the absolute monarchy that these rulers had established. Absolute monarchies were the governments way of wanting order and reform after the uprising and revolutions that people participated in with the hopes of equality.
Religion caused many wars due to the controversy going on with equality and who had the right to rule.

The people did not know who should rightfully rule over them. Ideas of a Diving Ruler began to come about. Nobody knew exactly what route to take in order to find a good ruler. All the people knew was that in order to gain peace and order throughout the country that a new government should be established. They also knew that the idea of one person having absolute control over a control was never successful as well. The power always got to their heads and they became greedy which caused the country to weaken. There were many policies and strict reform that was taken place during the absolutism period that weakened the empires because people did not agree with some of the reforms and laws that the monarchy

instilled.
The ruler by the name of Louis the XIV was the ruler of France from 1643 to 1715. Louis is known to be the definition of an absolute ruler. However instead of giving back to France and investing money into the starving people and the country he spent his money on lavish things to prove how much power he had and how wealthy he was. Louis built the palace of Versailles and this was not only a place were he can live this man built it as a symbol of his absolute control and power. With him being in control he can do whatever so he may please therefore in order to pay for wars and other things he started taken money out of peoples taxes however the nobility were taxes free and the peasantry had to pay taxes and this created a huge issue. The fact that people were starving and this man was abusing his power and quite frankly creating more problems than there ever was is a sign of his empire weakening due to his absolute rule.
Louis the XIV was of the roman catholic faith and during his rule he made it a mission to destroy and burn down any signs of the protestant faith and completely wiping it out. By doing this he will create the widespread of the catholic church and be in absolute control. The protestants of course did not like this and there were many conflicts between the Roman catholic church and the protestant faith. Yes Louis XIV did lead great wars and did great for France for a period of time however he also created more problems due to his absolute control and power.
Peter The Great lead many reforms during his reign in Russia many positive however there were negative aspects of his monarchy and absolute rule. One negative reform would be the paying of taxes which included the majority of taxes to be paid by the surfs and the peasants. These people were working hard and barely making money so money will be taken out of what they got paid and therefore making their situation more difficult than it already was. During Peters reign there were many wars since wars cost a lot of money the money would be taken from the peasants and surfs in order to pay for the wars. Peter the great was one of Russia's greatest rulers and shaped Russia into the country it is today however some of the reforms did weaken his empire.
Peter the Great started to westernize Europe and bring it into a more modern phase however that upset a lot of people especially the upper-class and the Orthodox church. According to the book Peter the Great A biography "Shaving the beard, which increasingly became the fashion in the West among urban dwellers during the late seventeenth century attracted particular disapproval". The "old school" people in Russia or the traditional people within the society did not settle well with Peter the Great trying to westernize Europe. The orthodox church did not appreciate the reforms either because the Christian faith was being influenced and the Roman Catholic church was losing power. Peter even set an age restrictions regarding when men can join a monastery and when woman can be a nun.
King Charles I was a monarch that