Assess the view that Philip II as king of Spain was Absolute in Theory but Limited in practice

The first 200 words of this essay...

Kirck Allen

Using these four Passages and your own knowledge, Asses the view that Philip II as king of Spain was Absolute in Theory but Limited in practice

There is an unsurprising debate amongst historians over the concept of labelling Philip as an absolutist ruler. Also whether he was more absolute on theoretical context only or if he also displayed this in practice. Absolutism is defined as a monarch who has the power to rule freely with no opposition; a ruler who acts above the law, even as a tyrant, with lack of effective restraint. A good example is during the 1550's when battled against the Turks even when Spain was in Bankruptcy. Overall, there are strong evidences of Philip practicing absolute behaviour on several occasions however; it was limited due to a number of factors.

An area in which Philip II could be seen as absolute was his position as a monarch above the Law. According to Antonio Ortiz in Interpretation A, implied that "the kings who made the laws were above the laws, however not in the case of divine laws..." This shows that . Henry Kamen in Interpretation