Absolute Monarchy
E. Napp
Objective: To identify and describe significant characteristics of an absolute monarchy
Do Now: Multiple-choice questions from previous lessons
1. Which development is most closely associated with the beginning of the Byzantine Empire?(1) emergence of the Russian Orthodox Church
(2) division of the Roman Empire
(3) building of the Hagia Sophia
(4) fall of Constantinople
2. Which historic figure is correctly paired with the empire he ruled?
(1) Charlemagne — Spanish Empire
(2) Peter the Great — Ottoman Empire
(3) Justinian — Byzantine Empire
(4) Sulieman the Magnificent — Russian Empire
3. Which action led most directly to divisions in Christianity in western Europe?
(1) Pope Urban II calling for the Crusades
(2) King John signing the Magna Carta
(3) German cities establishing the Hanseatic League
(4) Martin Luther posting the Ninety-five Theses / 4. Which institution served as the primary unifying force in medieval western Europe?
(1) legislature
(2) church
(3) monarchy
(4) military
5. One way in which the actions of Alexander the Great, Saladin, and Shaka Zulu are similar is that each implemented
(1) military strategies to defeat opponents
(2) constitutions to define political powers
(3) policies to increase religious persecution
(4) legal changes to protect human rights
6. Which individual’s work had the greatest impact on the spread of Martin Luther’s ideas?
(1) Galileo Galilei
(2) Niccolò Machiavelli
(3) William Shakespeare
(4) Johannes Gutenberg
Cornell Notes Outline: The Rise of the Nation-State (Add Key Words and Summaries)
The Key Words: / The Notes:Portrait of An Absolute Monarch: Louis XIV
I. Louis XIV
A. When Louis XIV became king, he wanted to rule France alone.
B. He did not want Catholic cardinals to influence his decisions.
II. However, Louis XIV faced many problems.
A. The nobles frequently paid little attention to the King.
B. Kings had a hard time collecting taxes.
C. Each noble had his own army.
D. Sometimes the nobles and their armies fought against the King.
III. All these problems existed because France had no central government.
A. Louis XIV centralized the French government.
B. Louis XIV appointed officials to collect taxes.
C. Louis XIV increased the size of the army and gave every soldier a uniform to show he belonged to the French army.
D. Louis XIV built a palace at Versailles. He expected nobles to spend most of the year at the royal court, under his watchful eye.
IV. Louis XIV fought many wars.
The Summaries:
Please read the passage below and answer the questions:
All new nations had to answer one question: what form of government shall we have? The English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, wrote in the 1600s that a powerful monarch, or king or queen, was the best way to unify a nation. Hobbes believed that kings were justified in assuming absolute power because only they could maintain order in a society. Absolutism is a political system where a monarch has absolute power over his or her people. This power is unlimited. Historians call this period of absolute monarchs the Age of Kings.
In the Age of Kings, many rulers had absolute or total power. People often believed that this power came from god. The belief that a ruler’s power came from God was known as the “divine right.” Divine Right theory was used by monarchs to increase their power. According to this theory, the king was God’s deputy on Earth. The king’s commands expressed God’s wishes.
Louis XIV of France provided a model for other absolute monarchs. Under his rule, the king’s command was law. Critics who challenged the king were punished. To control the nobles, Louis built a large palace at Versailles. Leading nobles were expected to spend most of the year at the royal court, under the watchful eye of the king. Louis also interfered in the economic and religious lives of his subjects. He demanded that Protestants convert to Catholicism or leave France. Finally, Louis involved his subjects in a series of wars to expand France’s frontiers and to bring glory to his rule.
1- Who was Thomas Hobbes and what did he believe? ______
2- Explain Divine Right theory. ______
3- Why was Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) a model for other absolute monarchs? ______
Louis XIV chose the sun as his emblem. The sun was associated with Apollo, god of peace and arts, and was also the heavenly body which gave life to all things, regulating everything as it rose and set. Like Apollo, the warrior-king Louis XIV brought peace [at least in the early days!], was a patron of the arts, and was generous. The regularity of his work habits and his ritual risings and retirings were another point of solar comparison. Thus, Louis XIV came to be known as the “Sun King.” Like the sun, everyone revolved around his wishes and command. And like the sun, he controlled life in France.
Who was the “Sun King”? Why was he given this title?
4- ______
The rulers of Russia adopted the system of royal absolutism. Russian rulers were called Tsars or Czars. They had absolute power. Peter the Great (1682-1725) was an important absolute ruler of Russia. As tsar, he turned Russia from a backward nation into a modern power by introducing Western ideas, culture, and technology. He often used brutal methods to force nobles to adopt Western customs. Peter moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, a city he built on the Baltic coast so that Russia would have a “window on the West.” By the end of his reign, Peter expanded Russian territory, gained ports on the Baltic Sea, and created a mighty Russian army.
5- Who was Peter the Great and why is he an example of an absolute monarch?
______
6- Why did he want a “window on the west”? ______
1. Which type of government is shown in the cartoon?
(1) a socialist republic
(2) an absolute monarchy
(3) a communist dictatorship
(4) a democracy
Explain the quote: “I am the state.” ~Louis XIV
______
2. “God hath power to create or destroy, make or unmake, at his pleasure; to give life or send death; to judge…and to be judged (by) none…And the like power have kings;…”
Which idea is described by this passage?
(1) theory of divine right
(2) enlightened despotism
(3) Social Darwinism
(4) constitutional monarchy
3. “. . .The person of the King is sacred, and to attack him in any way is an attack on religion itself. Kings represent the divine majesty and have been appointed by Him to carry out His purposes. Serving God and respecting kings are bound together.”
—Bishop Jacques Bossuet
This statement describes the philosophy that existed during the
(1) Middle Ages
(2) Age of Absolutism
(3) Renaissance
(4) Industrial Revolution
“ The state of monarchy (government with a king) is the (most important) thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself are called gods…In the (Bible), kings are called gods, and so their power (is like) the divine power. Kings are also compared to fathers of families: for a king is truly…father of his people.” ~King James I