Many of the continental kings had vast territories that spanned Europe, and in some cases, across the world. The difficulty here was, you never knew what was going on all the time. Communication was of an extremely poor standard so by the time so sent out or received a message, it could take over six-month to get a reply. This was also true in the same country. France had no territories outside it’s boarders but communication was sill a major problem. When messages finally got to the destination the information was usually out dated and obsolete. This was a major problem for kings and it made their jobs much more difficult.
In most European states, regions were almost like small countries, operating their own laws, religions and beliefs. Many of the locals in these regions had never met the king and even less of them swore allegiance to him. There was a strong local patronage to the local noble/knight. A king would have problems running a united country with so much variation and diversity in the same nation.
2) Perry Anderson explained the Marxist view on absolutism in his book ‘Lineages of the Absolutist State’, published in 1979. In it he argues that absolutist states were created to keep the nobles loyal to the king. Nobles would become loyal and obedient the crown, offering services in return for more power over the already heavily oppressed peasantry. This model goes well with the situation in Brandenburg-Prussia, and can be apply, at least in part; to Russia’s experiences under Peter the Great. But when we go into other European states like France, the opposite is true. The nobles were a major opposition t the king.
The fiscal-military view on absolutism is presented by two authors: J. Brewster ‘The Sinwes of power: War, Money and the English State.’ 1989 and G. Parker ‘Europe in crisis 1598-1648’ 1979. Both emphases the role of war in bringing about absolutism. During feudal times the king had to request the nobles to provide mercenaries to fight. This was inefficient and unreliable. There is no doubt that Swedish aggression caused Brandenburg-Prussia to adopt an absolute government. A standing army would be quicker and would be loyal to the king. As well as that, a standing army would be able to suppress opposition within the country, therefore create more power for a central government.
At the moment 17th century governments are in disorder. Absolutist monarchs centralized government, having everything run from one place. A good example of this was Louis XIV. Louis XIV built Versailles, where everything to do with France from foreign affairs to religion was dealt with there. Louis sat on every meeting and every single decision had to be OK’d with him. This version of government was supported by Machiavelli, author of ‘The Prince’ 1513.
3) Bossuet’s views of an absolutist government were based on religion, because he was a Bishop. He was bishop of Meaux from 1681 and he was tutor to Louis XIV son, the crown prince or Dauphin. His major work was titled ‘politics derived from Holy Scripture’ and was published in 1709 after his death (posthumously). In it he identified four essential aspects to the monarchy. These were:
Sacred- he saw the king as a direct subject from God put on the planet to do his work. Bossuet made constant reference to the Bible and ancient Jewish kings David and Solomon. So an act against the king was seen as an act against God. He built on and furthered the Divine right of Kings.
Paternal- Bossuet drew attention to the king being a father to the people. This acted twofold. He was seen as protector of the country, put there to protect the inhabitants from, invasion and internal strife. It was also a role of handing out discipline. He had to show his subjects that they could not get away with things while he was there.
Absolute- this means the kings had absolute power.
In Harmony with Reason- this was a responsibility of the king. He could do what he wanted, as long as it was in the interest of the public, and honorable in the eyes of God.
4) Bishop Bossuet would support the Divine Right of kings for two reasons. Firstly, it kept the church and the king close, and the king would not fight against an institution who’s ‘leader’ put him in power. The king had to respect the church because God put him in the position he is in. Secondly, as a bishop, he can help direct what the king does, making sure he follows God’s law. This put him in a position of power and influence in France.
5) Bossuet’s distinction between absolute and arbitrary is in an absolute state the king works within the law for the good of the people. He uses the laws set down by man and by god to rule effectively and honestly. An arbitrary ruler is a tyrant who uses his subjects as slaves.
6) Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher who lived between 1588 and 1679. He lived through the English civil war and this is said to have influenced and reinforced his point of view. He followed Galileo’s concept of motion or conflict. Man is naturally striving for self-preservation. This is human instinct. It makes us competitive and distrusting of others. He says of nature is allow to take it’s course then the life of man will be inevitably “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Hobbs says that a monarchy with unlimited absolute powers could safeguard society form disorder. He believed the sovereign should be the ultimate authority.
What makes Hobbes view, in some senses radical, was the dismissal of religion in his work. He totally opposed the Divine right of Kings and saw God supernatural. He also thought that religious phenomenon, such as miracles and sightings, would one day be explained in science fact, not religious fiction.
7) Hobbes views were rejected in his own time due to the major dismissal of religion. They are also rejected in more modern times due to the lack of belief in democracy.
9) I don’t think it was possible for a king to be truly absolute. King’s gave to much power to the nobles and to the church letting them in some ways influence pollicies. They relayed heavily on his advisors and never did anything on their own.
The fact that most countries were so large and communication so poor made it difficult for a king to know what was going on all the time. This made it difficult to know if policies were being carried out. Also because absolutist government’s only lasted around a hundred years, made it difficult to make a structured method of government that would last.
Religion also played a part on the absolutist government failing. Most monarchs were restricted by the rules of god, so cold never act totally on there own judgement, for fear of retribution in the afterlife. All these facts show that a totally absolute government would have been impossible at the time.
Lee Bradshaw 12AML
