Ch. 21

Absolute Monarchs of Europe

Absolute MonarchsJustifications for Royal (Absolute) Power

“Reason of State”- a strong central government was needed to keep order in society.“Without a strong central authority to keep order,

life would be nasty, brutish, and short…society would break down into a war of every man against every man.” – Thomas Hobbes

Divine Right- kings act as God’s deputy on Earth; their commands express God’s wishes.

Growth in Power was achieved by:Increasing the size of their armiesRaising taxesActions that weaken the nobility

Louis XIV

Absolute Monarchs

King Louis XIVHis reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted

seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days. longest documented reign of any European

monarch.Became ruler when he was only 5, but the true

ruler was Cardinal Mazarin until his death; Louis was 23.

Almost immediately, Louis weakened the power of the nobles.He excluded them from his councilsHe didn’t allow criticism of his ruleBuilt the Versailles Palace to house nobles where

he could keep a watchful eye on them“L’etat, c’est moi” “I am the state”

The Palace at Versailles

Cost: estimated $2 billionMain

building: 500

yards long

2,000 rooms

Labor force:36,000 laborers

6,000 horses

15,000 acres of gardens

1,400 fountains

Fancy Pants Louis Louis spent a fortune to

surround himself with luxury.Every meal was a feastNearly 500 cooks, waiters,

and other servants worked to satisfy his needs.

While walking around his palace, he enjoyed looking at the fountains. However, there was not enough water pressure to run them all at once.So, a servant would run ahead

of Louis, turn on the fountain just before Louis would see it, then turn it off after he had walked past.

Why all the attention?It obviously appealed to Louis’ arrogance.However, there was an alternative reason that

Louis required his nobles wait on him daily.During the feudal times, nobles were very

powerful because they had tremendous freedom to govern as they wished.

By making the nobles stay within the grounds of Versailles, they no longer had free time to govern.With no time to govern, they lost control of

their subjects and, thus, lost their power.That power over the citizens now belonged to

King Louis.In this sly way, Louis did limit the powers of the

nobles, all without a fight!!!

Louis: Smart guy, bad decisions

War Result1667- invaded

Spanish Netherlands1672-invaded Dutch

Netherlands1680’s- many other

minor wars with small European countries

1689- Many European countries joined together to defeat France. Now, even the small countries had the protection of the powerful nations.

Frequent wars, massive taxation, and a series of poor harvests brought great suffering to the French people.

The people were tired of the King Louis.

When he died in 1715, the people of France rejoiced.

Peter the Great

Absolute Monarchs of Russia

Peter the GreatA descendant of Michael Romanov,

Peter at first had to share the throne with his feeble- minded half brother.Eventually, Peter became the sole ruler of Russia.

Came to be known as Peter the Great because he was one of Russia’s greatest leaders and reformers.

He was a big man, over 6’6” tall!!!

Russia’s differences from Europe

During the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia was still stuck in the Middle Ages while the rest of Europe was evolving.Nobles ruled over serfsTheir land was physically cut off from interaction with Western Europe.

Religious differences (remember the Great Schism) had separated the Eastern Christianity in Russia from the Western Christianity in Western Europe.

Peter visits the West1 year after becoming Czar, he embarked on the a

long visit to Western Europe.His goal was to remake Russia using western ideas &

technology; he wanted to Westernize Russia.He visited England and Austria before returning home. He increased his power as an absolute ruler by:

Brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control

Abolished the office of patriarch, which was head of the church

Reduced the power of the wealthy landowners and give it to low ranking families who promised loyalty.

Hired European military offices to drill his soldiers

Westernizing RussiaIn order to make Russia more like Western

Europe, he:Introduced potatoes, which would later

become the staple food of Russia.Started Russia’s 1st newspaper (edited the 1st

edition himself)Raised women’s status by having them

attend social gatheringsOrdered nobles to give up their traditional

clothes for Western European fashions.

A New CapitalPeter believed Russia’s future depended on having a

warm-water seaport.To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a

seaport that would make it easier to travel to the West.

He began building the new capital on the swampy, unhealthy lands close to the Baltic Sea.

An estimated 25,000 to 100,000 died from disease and poor working conditions while building St. Petersburg, which is named after Peter’s patron saint.

When it was finished, he ordered many of the Russian nobles to leave the comforts of Moscow and relocate to St. Petersburg.