Absolutism as Primary Form of Government

Absolutism as Primary Form of Government

Absolutism became the primary form of government for many Europeans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It appealed to so many for reasons the same as other governments. "Absolutists contended that social and political harmony would result when subjects obeyed their divinely sanctioned rulers in all aspects" (Text 594). Absolutists rulers felt God gave them their ability to teach the masses the proper ways to live.

Absolutist rulers had several main goals for successive reign over the people. The first being to eliminate or weaken the national representative assemblies. Next rulers looked to gain support from small local and provincial assemblies. The nobility was always dependent

on the king, meaning the king chose his nobility freely, without influence from any outside source. Lastly, nobility was in control and responsible for collecting taxes and other benefits for the king. "Despite it's pretensions to represent a political theory, absolutism was fundamentally a mechanism designed to assist ambitious monarchs in their determination to increase their own power through conquest and display" (Text 598).

Louis the fourteenth was considered the quintessential absolutist because he truly assumed and embodied absolute control over France. He had very specific rules for politeness that were strictly applied to his citizens. He also was very arrogant, he loved to hear what people were saying especially when it was about him. Louis was very specific in what he expected from his nobility and carefully set up his government so there was less room for error and even less for dissent.

According to Jacques-Benigne Bousset, a preacher and tutor to Louis the fourteenth's son, there were four characteristics to royal authority. The first of being, royal authority is sacred. Second, royal authority is paternal. Third, it is absolute. Fourth, All power comes from God. (Text 596) To summarize Bousset he believes that, like God, a king is a father figure. To be idolized, respected and loved. So if God is the father of earth then his sons are the fathers of people, or kings. This makes a king both divine and undisputable, as a descendant of God. "Royal authority is absoluteÐ'...The prince need account to no one for what he ordainsÐ'...without this absolute authority, he can do no good nor suppress evilÐ'..." (Text 596).

Sir Robert Filmer supported Bousset in the same sense. He believed that from the very first government, which he stated was Gods rule over the earth, that the people had no power or prosperity over anything. God was King, never did the people have power over God (Text 597). The two of them also portrayed God and a King as a Father figure to be followed without question. Filmer states in the text, "I cannot find one place or text in the bible where any powerÐ'...is given to a people either to govern themselves, or to chose themselves governors, or to alter the manner of government at their pleasure" (Text 597). Filmer, Bousset