Age Of Absolutism

1. Absolute Monarchy
A government run by a king or a
queen who possesses
absolute, or total control

2. Age of Absolutism
The time period when absolute
monarchs can be found all over
(from 1500s to late 1700s)

3. Positives and Strengths of
Absolute Monarchies
1. Efficient- decisions are made
quickly and decisively.
- Only one person decides policy
for the whole country. There is no
debating.

4. Positives and Strengths of
Absolute Monarchies
2. Stability- The ruler stays the
same, until he dies. There is a
great deal of continuity.
-Louis XIV was king for almost
80 years.
-The heir is usually the eldest
son.

5. Positives and Strengths of
Absolute Monarchies
3. Wealthone leader with little
resistance is able to gain a very large
empire with a huge treasury.
-With this money he is able to build an
army
-They often supported the arts
- many were called patrons of the arts.

6. Weaknesses of absolute
Monarchies
1. Very undemocratic- Only one
person gets a say
2. Limited individual rightspeople
were forced to agree with the
Monarch
3. Too much stability- poor leaders
can do great damage to a country
because they are in control for so
long?

7. Other Absolute Monarchies
1. Egyptthe godlike leaders
were called pharaohs
2. ChinaEmperors were
considered Godlike

8. Divine Right Theory
The belief that God himself
handpicked the king/queen to
serve as His lieutenant on
Earth
-Leader answers to God
-Does not answer to his people

9. Causes of the Age of
Absolutism
1. Decline of feudalism in the Middle AgesAs the feudal
lords lost power, the kings gained it.
2. Decline of the Catholic Church - As the Church’s
influence weakened, kings consolidated their power.
-Excommunication was no longer a threat. As a result of
the Protestant Reformation- kings now had the option of
converting to different religions
3. Growth of the middle class- As merchants became a
larger class, they pushed for the economic stability that
an absolute monarch offered.

10. Ways that the monarchs
increased power
1. Taxesincreased their overall wealth and
power
2. Strong armies victories often led to riches
- Spanish Conquests of the New World
- Europeans defeated the Maya
Aztecs and the Inca great wealth and new
colonies

11. Ways that the monarchs
increased power
3. They also tried to influence
or control the church.

12. Exception to Absolutism
-England was not an absolute monarchy
because they had the Magna Carta and they
also had a Parliament that limited the ruler
-The Magna Carta forced the king to get the
people’s approval before passing laws
-The Glorious Revolution of 1688 further
reduced the monarch’s power. England
became a Constitutional Monarchy in which
the monarch could not rule without the consent
of parliament, and parliament could not rule
without the consent of the monarchy

13. Examples of Absolutism
SpainPhillip II
1. His wealth came from the The Columbian Exchange
-ChocolateSpanish monarchy had a monopoly
2. Very Catholicfought religious wars such as when the
Pope sent the Spanish Armada to punish Elizabeth for
establishing the Anglican Church in England
3. Supported the arts
4. Spain went downhill after his reign spent too much
money on war.

14. Russia
1. Influence of the Byzantine
Empire
- The Eastern Orthodox
Church
- The Cyrillic Alphabet
- Pointed Dome architecture

15. Russia
2. Effect of the Mongols on
Russia
Kept Russia isolated from Europe .
Created a tradition of
harsh/authoritarian and absolute
rule
-The two most famous Mongol rulers
were Genghis Khan and Kublai
Khan

16. Absolute Monarchs of Russia
1. Czar Ivan the Terrible
(1533-1584)
-Extremely crazy and paranoid
-Had a Secret Police to enforce
order
-Weakened the nobles
-Centralized control of Russia

17. Absolute Monarchs of Russia
2. Czar Peter the Great
1. Increased his power by making himself the
head of the Eastern Orthodox Church
2. Weakened the nobles more
3. Ended IsolationDue to the Mongols,
Russia had not had a
Renaissance, an Age of Exploration, nor had
they been exposed to European advances.

18. Peter the Great's Westernization
He traveled to Europe disguised
as a carpenter and returned
with ideas to
modernize Russia and make it
stronger

19. Peter the Great's Westernization
1. He hired Europeans to strengthen
the military
2. Introduced the potato this
improved the Russian diet

20. Peter the Great's City
3. Created a “Window on the Sea”
St. Petersburg
Peter literally built this city up from
nothing. It used to be a swamp.

24. The Need for A Warm Water Port
Russia was in desperate need of a
warm water port because of their
climate.
-Many of their ports were iced over for
6 months out of the year.

25. The Isolation of Russia
1. Powerful Czars
Czar is from the Roman word
caesar; also
Can be spelled Tsars

26. The Isolation of Russia
2. Mongol Customs
The Mongols were nomadic
horsemen that invaded Asia and
ruled Russia for three hundred
years
see handout of Mongol customs

27. Genghis Khan

28. The Isolation of Russia
3. The Cyrillic Alphabet
In the 800's two missionaries (Cyril
and Methodius) from Europe
visited Russia and created the
cyrillic alphabet in order to convert
Russians to Christianity---the
Russian Christian Church is the
Eastern Orthodox Church

30. The Isolation of Russia
4. Peasants
Most of the people in Russia were
poor peasants, even poorer than
the serfs in Europe. They had no
knowledge of democracy or
natural rights, as they could not
read.

31. The Isolation of Russia
5. Lack of Warm Water Port
The lack of a warm water port was the
most important obstacle to Russia's
modernization and kept them from
access with other modern nations---
the search for a warm water port
would determine most of the nation's
actions in the 1800's and early 1900's.