Exercises on Absolutism in Europe

Discuss what Absolutism was in Europe.

Cite and explain two examples of facts that favored the emergence of absolutism in Europe.

Discuss what was the Edict of Nantes created by the French King Henry IV during his rule.

(Cesgranrio - 1990) Luís’s phrase, “L’Etat c’est moi” (the state is me), as a definition of the nature of monarchical absolutism, meant:

a) The unity of state, civil and religious power, with the creation of a French (national) church.

b) The superiority of the prince in relation to all social classes, reducing the enriched bourgeoisie to a humble place.

c) The submission of the feudal nobility through the elimination of all their fiscal privileges.

d) The centralization of the monarch's real and absolute power in his person, without any recognized institutional limits.

e) The royal desire to guarantee the State a role of impartial judge in the conflict between the aristocracy and the peasantry.

(Faap – 1996) Mainly from the 16th century onwards, several authors began to develop theories, justifying royal power. They are the coroners, who, through lay or religious doctrines, try to legalize absolutism. One of them is Machiavelli:he asserts that the ruler's supreme obligation is to maintain the power and security of the country he governs. For this he must use all available means, since “the ends justify the means” professed his ideas in the famous work:

a) “Leviathan”

b) “On the Law of Peace and War”

c) “Republic”

d) “Politics According to the Holy Scriptures”

e) “The Prince”

Absolutism was a policy of centralization of power in the hands of monarchs. From the 16th century onwards, Europe underwent economic and political transformations that gave rise to the formation of Modern National States. Faced with this, the kings of European nations experienced a moment of great power, since the Catholic Church was in crisis because of the Protestant Reformation. Therefore, the apogee of absolutism occurred in the mid-eighteenth century, with France being the country where this type of government was best manifested, which prioritized commercial expansion and the search for precious metals in the world. Some examples of absolutist practice were the French kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, who represented the highest authority of political power.

The formation of National States and the development of commerce were facts that favored the emergence of absolutism. The Modern National States represented the junction of the political power of the king and the economic power of the bourgeoisie. With the decline of the feudal world, trade relations increased and the need to expand consumer markets as well. In this sense, the bourgeoisie emerged as the character that led the advances of mercantile capitalism. The king, having centralized political power in his hands, entered into a partnership with the bourgeois in relation to increasing commercial practices, in which the former contributed political support and the latter provided economic support. The intention, therefore, was to expand the wealth of nations through mercantilist activities and the relations between the king and the bourgeoisie during the National States.

During the 16th and 17th centuries France was marked by religious struggles between Calvinists and Catholics. During the government of Charles IX, on August 24, 1572, one of the most violent religious conflicts in French society took place, which killed 30,000 people in Paris. After this conflict, the kingdom passed into the hands of Henry IV, who took over the government in the midst of intense conflicts. The alternative found by the royal government was to create a policy that would extinguish crises motivated by religious issues. Thus, the Edict of Nantes was created, which granted freedom of worship to Protestants, with the aim of eliminating conflicts caused by religious intolerance among French individuals.

Letter D . The symbolic phrase of the French monarch Louis XIV showed the strong centralization of political power in the hands of absolutist kings. Louis was called the “Sun King”, which was also a symbolic example of royal power in this period of European history during the 16th and 17th centuries. In view of this, it is important to know that during the absolutist period the feudal nobility did not lose all its fiscal privileges vis-à-vis the monarchies, as there was only a reduction in their political power; and the State did not democratize political relations to the point of guaranteeing legal equality for all. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, gained importance in economic relations with the formation of Modern National States and was a fundamental part in the advancement of royal power.

Letter E . The work entitled “The Prince” was written by Machiavelli with the aim of providing tips and suggestions to monarchs for the maintenance of power. In this book, the author emphasizes the importance of the king having some characteristics to maintain his role as sovereign, that is, as leader of the nation. Among these characteristics we can mention the most interesting, such as the need for the king to be intelligent and unpredictable; the obligation to have a strong army to control uprisings and invasions; and the king's need to be feared by the subjects, as this would make revolts against the monarch more difficult.