Appraisal of Absolutism in Early Modern Europe - Report Example

Putting the entire sovereign power and ity in the hands of the king is the main idea of an absolute monarchy or absolutism. The king, then, is given all the power to make laws and taxes, to administer justice and to control the state’s administrative system1. The king can, then, act without any legal limitations or check and balance from the government2. This absolute power was believed to be handed by God to rule the land according to the divine right theory3. Louis XIV became the best and most popular example of an absolute monarch. Coming from a very unstable government prior to his reign established and magnified his stability even more. Louis XIV was the successor of Louis XIII. Since Louis XIV was merely four years old at that time, Anne of Austria was appointed as a regent in his minority. Anne of Austria allowed Cardinal Mazarin, trained successor of the chief minister of Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu, to dominate the government. After his death, Louis XIV, then aged twenty three, took over the throne. He, eventually, was known as a strong king leading a wealthy country. Despite the efforts of Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin to centralize the courts and administration of France, there were still overlapping authorities and laws within the state4. Centralizing the state, then, became the focus of Louis XIV to establish his authority and monarchy. Louis XIV key achievements started with the restructuring of the central policy-making body, this being part of his own court and household5. There were three main estates in France: the clergy, the nobility and the commoners6. What he did was to eliminate nobles and princes from the royal council and out of politics though he kept them within his court. The Palace of Versailles became the center of the grandeur of culture during the Age of Louis. Louis XIV was able to reduce and control the nobility by giving them duties in court rituals with one’s status dependent on his proximity with the king7. With this, Louis XIV was able to reduce the nobles’ desire for power since they are living a costly life in the courts of the king. The nobles became absorbed with the rules of etiquette, being entertained by the king and his servants. Also, the policies that he established were to prevent the nobles from developing independent spheres of authority that might be a threat to the power of the king8. By diminishing their desire for power because they feel they have the power, being close to the king with much authority in the land, Louis XIV was able to prevent them from imposing their own suggestions for authority, thus, centralizing the power to Louis XIV, himself, and his handpicked ministers. Although he had a harder time putting provincial and traditional groups and institutions under his authority, he was able to exercise both economic and political control over the provincial law courts. A centralized government with the king and his ministers as the center of the decision-making body created and established different councils that oversaw various aspects of managing the land9. The Council of State oversaw implementation of the foreign policies and relationships while the Council of Dispatches oversaw the internal affairs of the land. The Council of Finances put into place the economic policies that will generate income for the king and the land and the Privy Council was established as the king’s court of justice and the final court of appeals. He was able to control the other two estates by centralizing religion, through Christianity and empowering the commoners by ennobling those without hereditary nobility, making them grateful and loyal to the king10. His clever distribution of resources and privileges reduced conflicts between nobles, elites and commoners11. Louis XIV believed the power that the Church has in achieving unity within the political sphere. Thus, he emphasized his desire to unite the people through religion. This covered up for one of his underlying goals of tapping into the financial resources of the Church12. After stating his intentions of uniting the state through religion, he decreed that the Councils be higher and more powerful than the Pope. With this, the Church was put back in service to the state. Also, to maintain peace and order, Louis XIV utilized the military. Instead of the army being focused on wars and external affairs, Louis XIV developed a strong and centralized army to aid him in keeping the order within France13. When before, units answer to the call of their colonel’s command, in Louis XIV time, a chain of command was established with the entire army answering to the commands of the king. Louis XIV established positions by recruitment rather than buying and selling positions14. He made sure that the government provided for the equipments and uniforms of the army. This increased the number of his army to four times larger its size prior to his seat on the throne. Though this military strategy proved to have an underlying goal that eventually was seen when Louis XIV started his war campaign to gain military glory and an increase in the acquired lands of France. The king’s extravagance can be seen not only through his lifestyle, his various formal etiquettes and his costly life in the courts but also in the development of arts in France during his reign. Paris became one of the most beautiful cities of the world. He had a good system of healthcare and public works. He developed roads and highways that thrived in commerce and trade. Key points of weaknesses of the king were on his finances and extravagant way of living. He has spent a lot of his money on his quest for military and civil glory. When he managed tax laws, allowing nobility and the Church to be spared from paying taxes, his common subjects, especially the peasants, carried the burden of the extravagant court inciting discontent, resentment and later on a potential cause of a revolution15. With the help of Jean Baptiste Colbert as the comptroller of finance, Louis XIV, established and created economic policies aiming to support the extravagant lifestyles of the king and his court, and to strengthen his foreign policies. Colbert’s success lay in mercantilism, wherein he encouraged production at home and increase trade16. He developed new industries and allowed the formation of monopolies driving the prices of the necessities up17. This resulted to an increased burden, aside from the tax burdens, of the common subjects of the king. Louis XIV thirst for glory became his stepping stone for achieving order in the courts of France, however, this also became his downfall. After keeping a peaceful reign in the first thirty-five years of his rule, he became engaged in four conflicts with England, Holland and most of the German states, led by the Austrian Habsburgs, in his last twenty years. His last war, the War of Spanish Succession, led to the bankruptcy of France18. The reign of Louis XIV developed the monarchical system of France and became a model for absolutism. He was able to bring to himself the central power on creating, developing and establishing policies that increased his absolute power even more. He divided the work of the government by creating and establishing different councils that will take care of the different aspects of governing the entire land. He was able to unite the land through religion, and in return, was able to tap into the financial resources of the church and limiting their power by answering to the crown. His reign increased trade and commerce that helped finance his extravagant lifestyle. He was also able to establish a strong army that answers to his commands and aim to gain military glory and to acquire more lands. But it is in his reign that bureaucracy started to develop. Looking at his governing style in an in-depth analysis, he divided the government in order to maintain power over it. Because the government works in divisions, there is a need for a higher authority to tie up all the policies and laws that will govern the entire land. He took out the power of decision-making to other bodies centralizing this power towards himself in order to maintain control of the people. With this, bureaucracy started to develop. The chain of command that he has established started the bureaucratic government. The only difference during his reign is all the authority and power came from him and not from any other person. Another historical evaluation of his governing style was his choice of advisors. It was seen as a means to control the power towards himself since he chose his advisors because of their ignorance and gratefulness to him rather than because of their knowledge19. This showed that Louis XIV, even as a great king who was able to create a systematized and centralized government was a human being who has personal desires for personal glory, richness and fame. Because of his ability to control his people, Louis XIV gained absolute power, thus establishing himself and his governance as a model for absolutism. Though there are negative criticisms in the way he created his government and his underlying aims for each of his policies, his reign became a popular discourse or topic of discussion of developed, established and systematized governance during those times. The people of France, wanting to be able to taste the extravagant life that the ministers, the councils and the nobles appointed by the king went on with their lives serving the crown in hopes of being able to gain some favour from their king. Because of this perspective, Louis XIV was able to keep in check his control over his people. Although the money cavern of France went to bankruptcy, he was able to establish a good life for most of the people showing everyone, and the generations after, what a clever mind, a systematized and centralized government can do for the lands. Absolutism became effective for Louis XIV during his reign since it created a centralized system of authority and chain of command that is needed to surpass the disorganized government prior to his reign. Also, this increased foreign relations, trade and commerce as well as developed the taxation system of the land. Though it created disadvantages for the commoners, the land became peaceful, united and glorious for several decades proving the advantages it brought in the country. Read More