Why Did Royal Absolutism Develop In France Essay

Europe was stuck in a time of profound struggle. During the Late Middle Ages, Europe was characterized by the severe population decline due to devastating plague and warfare. Societal advancements and growth appeared to be at a standstill until the mid 15th century, where the agricultural economy boomed and people flocked into the cities.

Why did royal absolutism develop in france?

The turn of the 17th century marked a new era for France. Throughout the Middle Ages, disease and war caused a sharp decline in the population. France operated under a feudalistic social system that limited the King’s rule. Mass amounts of people fled their country homes, and cultivated in the cities following industrialization. This movement brought new opportunities,

but also poverty and disease. At this time, France was on an uproar of forming their sovereign nation. Royal absolutism would be the finishing piece for the formation of a strong central government. In 1598, King Henry IV of France issued a crucial document that would outline the beginning stages of royal absolutism in his nation. The Edict of Nantes granted protection for the Calvinist Protestants of France, known as the Huguenots, which in return proved Henry IV’s jurisdiction over the Church. Government offices were sold to non-noble citizens in order to weaken noble birth, continuing the growth of royal absolutism and the King’s power. Agriculture and commerce in France were heavily funded to grow the economy. After King Henry IV’s assassination, his son Louis XIII was not yet old enough to govern France. Cardinal Richelieu took primary power as chief minister, with Louis XIII watching close by. Richelieu’s primary target was the nobility, as he demobilized their military and destroyed their castles upon resistance. If the nobles continued their opposition, they were executed.
Richelieu and his strong political desire for royal absolutism highly influenced the young King, and those to come. Louis XIII died just a few months after Richelieu, leaving his four year-old son, Louis XIV, as King of France. With another heir to the throne not yet old enough to rule, Cardinal Jules Mazarin is chosen to step in as Prime Minister for the new King Louis XIV alongside his mother, Anne of Austria. Mazarin adopted many of the conservative goals set by Cardinal Richelieu, thus inciting a string of peasant rebellions; the Frondes. The French people erupted in response to the weakened nobility and parliament, demanding a constitutional reform. The revolts were eventually suppressed by the government, however they proved to strongly influence the young French King and foreshadow the revolution to come.
As his predecessors before him, King Louis XIV governed France as an absolute monarch.

During his reign, French royal absolutism grew to its maximum power. Jean Baptiste Colbert, the King’s minister of finance, played an important role in mercantilism and the government’s complete control over all parts of the state. Mercantilism allowed the absolute monarchy in France to dominate in an economic position, where citizens were not able to make their own profit or move out west. King Louis XIV then decided to evoke the Edict of Nantes, which took away the protection of protestants in the predominantly Catholic nation of France. In 1682, the Sun King opened the Palace of Versailles to the public. This monument became the center of France’s absolutist government, as well as a “combination of all other cultures at a grand level” (RD Notes). King Louis XIV invited poets, philosophers, and artists to cultivate inside of his extravagant palace. The place was built to elevate his status, and solidify his image as the powerful King of

France.

Why did weaker central governments emerge in Eastern Europe?
Many Eastern European states aimed to mimic the absolute monarchy and strong centralized government of France.

Prussia was a small nation, yet benefited from generations of dominant and influential leaders. Frederick William, known as the Elector of Brandenburg, devoted years to constructing Prussia into a powerful administration. He is commonly referred to as the father of absolutism in Prussia. Frederick William prioritized the growth of the army, thus ingraining its military into the state and society. Taxation and marchantilism were also used to help grow their exceptional army. His grandson, Frederick William the “Soldier King”, continued his formation of Prussia’s military-centered bureaucracy into the absolutist state. He began with incorporating “the landowning Junker class into the government and the army by keeping the taxpaying peasants in the status of serfs” (Perry, 396). In return for their service to the King, the Junker class, or Prussian nobility was allowed full power over the

poor.
Austria emerged as a strong Eastern European power under the command of Leopold I. As a predominantly decentralized state, the Holy Roman Empire lacked the strong sense of nationalism that powered other rising nations. The regional differences in language and culture throughout the Empire prevented a centralized state from forming. Leopold I decided to bring together local aristocracy by granting them land ownership. Russia also relied on absolute monarchy with noble support. However, an increase in serfdom evolved as the state became more centralized. Ivan the Terrible came to power and eradicated the Mongols from the South East. He created the service gentry, where non noble elites are able to hold political office. This decision shifts more power to Ivan the Terrible, discrediting noble birth. After his death, a period of foreign invasion and absent leadership developed in the Time of Troubles. Michael Romanov ended the darkness by gaining support of the aristocracy with the law code of 1694, which granted landowning nobles ownership of slaves as property.
The Romanovs controlled Russia for centuries, but it was Peter the Great who accelerated his nation as one of Europe’s greatest powers. He was able to accomplish much during his reign beginning with the reformation of the army, building the navy, implementing mercantilism, increasing taxes on the peasants, and creating the Russian Orthodox church as an instrument of state. Peter the Great required nobles to receive five years of education outside of their local background, and serve in the state office for a year or two. These policies increased Peter’s authoritative power, as well as Russia’s sense of nationalism. The Polish nobility retained authority while removing the state from royal absolutism. They deliberately weakened the economy and merchant class in order to prevent alliance between the merchants and King. When the nobility retained power to choose their King, they would select one at which was able to be easily manipulated, known as their ‘puppet King’.

Why did constitutionalism dominate in England?
The first two Stuart kings, James I and Charles I, were not able to solve the religious and political issues threatening the monarchy.