Lecture Notes: The Rise of Absolutist Rulers (1648-1850)

Introduction to Absolutism

• Absolutism is the concentration of political power in the hands of a single monarch, reducing the power of the nobility and the church.
• Absolutist rulers are compared to the evolution of Pokémon: middle ages monarchs (Charmander), 16th-17th century rulers (Charmeleon), and absolutist rulers (Charizard).
• The concept and analogy credit: O'Hara from TikTok.

Factors Leading to Absolutism

• Decline of Church Influence:
  • Weakening of the Catholic Church's influence.
  • Increased acceptance of Protestant practices after the Peace of Westphalia.
• Economic Changes:
  • Expansion of merchant classes seeking stability.
  • Absolute monarchs provided economic and political stability.
• Weakening of the Nobility:
  • Nobility previously held administrative power.
  • Introduction of giant bureaucracies directly answerable to the monarch.

Key Absolutist Monarchs

James I of England

• Advocated for the divine right of kings: authority granted by God.
• Struggled with Parliament over funding and governance.
• Limited by the Magna Carta, leading to failure in establishing absolutism.

Philip II of Spain

• Peak of Spanish absolutism in the late 16th century.
• Successes: Unification of the Iberian Peninsula, repulsion of Ottoman forces.
• Challenges: Rebellion in the Spanish Netherlands, Spanish Armada's failure.

Louis XIV of France

• Famous for the phrase "l'état, c'est moi" ("I am the state").
• Influenced by the Fronde rebellion.
• Consolidation of Power:
  • Intendant System: Bureaucrats representing Louis's authority across France.
  • Palace of Versailles: Controlled the nobility by requiring their presence.
  • Religious Uniformity: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, driving out Huguenots.
  • Wars of Expansion: Finance through mercantilist policies but led to significant debt.

Peter the Great of Russia

• Saw the need for westernization of Russia.
• Political Reforms:
  • Required nobles to serve in civil administration or military.
  • Created a hierarchy based on merit.
• Cultural and Religious Reforms:
  • Introduced Western-style clothing; shaved beards, beard tax.
  • Reorganized the Russian Orthodox Church, replaced patriarch with Holy Synod.
• Economic Policies:
  • Tripled taxes, leading to peasant discontent.

Conclusion

• The lecture ends with a prompt to continue reviewing the unit and an advertisement for an AP European History review pack.

• "Heimler out" indicates the end of the lecture.