absolutism and enlightenment
TRANSCRIPT
Absolutism and Enlightenment
EPISD World History Team
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Printed: February 28, 2019
AUTHOREPISD World History Team
SOURCE"Louis XIV of France"by Hyacinthe Rigaud -wartburg.edu[dead link].Licensed under Public Domainvia Wikimedia Commons -https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg/media/File:Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg
www.ck12.org Chapter 1. Absolutism and Enlightenment
CHAPTER 1 Absolutism andEnlightenment
Learning Objectives
Ideas Change the World 1450-1750
WH.1D , WH.1E , WH.5A , WH.5B , WH.20A , WH.20C , WH.23A , WH.23B , WH.25C , WH.26A , WH.26B ,WH.26C , WH.27C , WH.27D , WH.27E , WH.29C , WH.29D , WH.29E , WH.29F , WH.30B , WH.30C
Student Learning Objectives
At the end of this section the student will be able to:
Identify major causes and describe the major effects of the following important turning points in world history from1450 to 1750 and the Renaissance and the Reformation. [WH.1D]
Identify major causes and describe the major effects of the following important turning points in world history from1750 to 1914: the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment’s impact on political revolutions. [WH.1E]
Explain the development of democratic-republican government from its beginnings in the Judeo-Christian legaltradition and classical Greece and Rome through the English Civil War and the Enlightenment.[WH.20A]
Explain the political philosophies of individuals such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Mon-tesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Thomas Jefferson, and William Blackstone. [WH.20C]
Explain the impact of the printing press on the Renaissance and the Reformation in Europe. [WH.27C]
Describe the origins of the Scientific Revolution in 16th century Europe and explain its impact on scientific thinkingworldwide. [WH.27D]
Absolutism in Europe
The era of absolutism, exemplified by the "Sun King" Louis XIV Bourbon of France, marks the rise of rulersthroughout Europe who had absolute power over their nations. Mercantilism became the primary form of economyof the day, and the issue of religion disappeared in European wars, now replaced by the issue of the balance of power.
Louis XIV (1638-1715), Model of Absolutism
Louis XIV Bourbon of France rose to power in 1643. He was married to Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. Hispower stemmed from the fact that during his reign he maintained a powerful, unified France. Louis and WilliamIII Stuart of Orange were arch-enemies during this time; however, Louis maintained the upper hand and was on theoffensive against William during that time.
Louis desired control over the Netherlands because of its economic power as a result of trade, because he wanted tocrush Calvinists and Protestants, and because he desired increased territory. Indeed, he advised his heir, Louis XV,"Do not imitate me in my taste for war." His aggressive policy demanded to finance the largest European army of280,000 men.
Louis’ wars resulted in horrendous results and poverty for the French people, and Protestants despised Louis. Hiseconomic policy was headed by Colbert, and his nation was a model in enacting mercantilism. During his reign,France became the dominant country in language, culture, and dress.
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Louis allegedly famously declared, "L’etat c’est moi," or "I am the state," and his reign exemplifies absolutism.French Bishop Bossuet declared that it was the divine right of monarchs to rule, concluding that kings were God’sanointed representatives on earth. Louis acted upon this belief, governing France as if he were placed on earth byGod to rule.
Overall, Louis’ foreign goals were territorial expansion and the spread of Catholicism.
Louis was highly successful in his domestic ambitions to achieve absolute power through centralized bureaucracy.He successfully controlled rebellious nobles and made himself the center of French power and culture. Peopledepended upon him for advancement and thrived on his goodwill. Louis also established the palace at Versailles,which took fourteen years to construct. Versailles was modeled by every other major European country, and itsuccessfully kept nobles occupied, distracting them from the desire to have a say in government. In 1685, Louisrevoked the Edict of Nantes, stripping Calvinists of their rights in France.
FIGURE 1.1Louis XIV King of France and of NavarreBy Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)
Divine Right of Kings
Louis, as other monarchs in kingdoms such as Russia and Spain, based his rulership on a concept known as divineright of kings. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the rise of the nation-state and the protestant
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reformation, the theory of divine right was used to justify the king’s absolute authority in both political and spiritualmatters. This theory came to be used in England under the reign of the stuart monarchs, James I (1603-1625)andCharles I (1625-1649), but never gained traction and was discredited in the aftermath of the English Civil War
FIGURE 1.2Portrait of Charles I.
English Civil War (1642-1651)
The English Civil War in response to the behavior of the Stuart monarchs, particularly Charles I, in dealing withParliament as well as the extravagant lifestyle of both monarchs. Furthermore, Charles hoped to unite the kingdomsof England, Scotland and Ireland into a new single kingdom, fulfilling the dream of his father. Many EnglishParliamentarians had suspicions regarding such a move, because they feared that setting up a new kingdom might
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destroy the old English traditions which had bound the English monarchy. As Charles shared his father’s positionon the power of the crown (James had described kings as "little gods on Earth", chosen by God to rule in accordancewith the doctrine of the "Divine Right of Kings"), the suspicions of the Parliamentarians had some justification.Finally, many members of Parliament, a significant portion of whom were members of reformed Protestant churchessuch as the Puritans or Calvinists, distrusted Charles’ motives thanks to his religious policies and the fact he wasmarried to a Roman Catholic. His support of the high ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, aswell as his failure to successfully aid Protestant forces in the Thirty Years’ War further damage his ability to govern.
From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After hisdefeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charlesrefused to accept his captors’ demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 OliverCromwell’s New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executedfor high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth ofEngland was declared. In 1660, the English Interregnum ended when the monarchy was restored to Charles’sson, Charles II.
Thomas Hobbes, a philosopher who lived through the violence and chaos of the English civil war, was alarmed bythe revolutionary upheaval in England. He wrote Leviathan was published in 1651.
Hobbes claimed that before society was organized humans led a “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” existence.Humans were guided not by reason and morals but instead by a struggle for self-preservation.
To stop people from destroying each other, people created the idea of the social contract and agreed to form a state.Hobbes referred to the state as a great Leviathan that is responsible for peace and defense. Furthermore, Hobbesargued people in the state agreed to be governed by an absolute ruler who possessed unlimited power. Rebellion inhis view should be suppressed. Hobbes believed absolute power was needed to preserve the social order.
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement in the eighteenth century composed of intellectuals who weregreatly impressed with the achievements of the Scientific Revolution. They were very much concerned with the ideaof reason, meaning the application of the scientific method to help understand all of life. They hoped that by usingthe scientific method, they could make progress toward a better society than the one they had inherited. Reason,natural law, hope, progress—these were common words to the thinkers of the time.
The Enlightenment was especially influenced by the ideas of two seventeenth-century Englishmen, Isaac Newtonand John Locke. To Newton, the physical world and everything in it was like a giant machine (the Newtonian world-machine). If you could discover the natural laws that governed the physical world, then it was possible to discoverthe natural laws that governed human society.
John Locke’s theory of knowledge also greatly affected eighteenth-century intellectuals. In his Essay ConcerningHuman Understanding, Locke argued that every person was born with a blank mind (known as table rasa). Further-more, he suggested that people were molded by the experiences they gained from the world around them
Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, the Baron de Montesquieu, was a French noble.
His most famous work, The Spirit of the Laws, was published in 1748. In this study of government he tried to usethe scientific method to find the natural laws that govern the social and political relationships of human beings.
Thus, in his work Montesquieu identified three basic kinds of governments: a. republics, suitable for small states; b.despotisms, ideal for large states; and c. monarchies, appropriate for moderate sized states.
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FIGURE 1.3John Locke’s Kit-cat portrait by GodfreyKneller, National Portrait Gallery, London
Montesquieu believed that England’s government had three branches: the executive (the monarch), the legislative(parliament) and the judicial (the courts of law). This government functioned through what is known as the separationof powers. By separating the powers of each branch, Montesquieu believed that each one would act as a check onthe other. Because it prevents any one person or group from gaining too much power, he argued this system providesthe greatest amount of freedom and security, not for the people, but for the state.
Rousseau
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MEDIAClick image to the left or use the URL below.URL: http://www.ck12.org/flx/render/embeddedobject/168903
By the mid-eighteenth century, a new group of philosophers had come of age. The most famous of this latergeneration was a man named Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As a young man he wandered France and Italy holdingvarious jobs. Eventually, he found himself in Paris where he became a member of the circle of philosophes.
In his Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind, he argued that people adopted laws and governmentin order to preserve their private property. In the process of doing so, however, they had become enslaved by thegovernment. What then, should people do in order to regain their freedom and throw off the chains of bondage?
In a famous work published in 1762 titled The Social Contract, Rousseau presented his concept of the social contract.Through this device an entire society agrees to be governed by the general will. If an individual wishes to followhis/her own self-interest, they must be forced to abide by the will of the majority. “This means nothing less thanthat [they] will be forced to be free,” said Rousseau. Therefore, according to Rousseau, liberty is achieved by beingforced to follow what is best for the general will because it is what is best for the community at large.
Interactive Notebook Assignments
Create a six-panel storyboard that chronicles how the new ideas introduced in the Scientific Revolution and En-lightenment changed the world. The first panel of the storyboard should depict scientific reasoning prior to theintroduction of new scientific ideas during the sixteen century. Subsequent panels should reflect changes thatoccurred in scientific and political thought following the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment.
Review Questions
1. What is absolutism and where did it take place?2. How was Louis XIV a model of absolutism?3. What is Enlightenment and how did it affect western societies?4. Who are the Enlightenment thinkers?5. How did the Enlightenment thinkers challenge old beliefs and ways of thinking?
Assessment
Conduct a historical inquiry as a group, partnership, or individually by choosing a historical topic of interest relatedto the Unit.
Research a chosen topic by:
• creating a compelling question to research• locating, analyzing, and interpreting primary and secondary sources• synthesizing information from sources• drawing conclusions that address the compelling question
Present the research findings in a paper, an exhibit, a documentary, or as a website. The presentation must include:
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• a thesis, which encompasses the research findings• evidence to support the thesis• use of proper grammar and spelling• a bibliography of sources, properly cited
Vocabulary
TABLE 1.1:
absolutism A system of government in which a king or queen hasunlimited power and seeks to control all aspects ofsociety.
Blackstone, William An English jurist whose published lectures would ex-plain the rights of the English people and become thefoundation of English common law.
Constitutional monarchy A form of government whereby a monarch’s power islimited by written law.
Divine right A form of government whereby a monarch’s power islimited by written law.
English bill of rights An Act of the English Parliament passed in 1689 andpresented to William and Mary after the Glorious Rev-olution, inviting them to become joint sovereigns ofEngland. It marked the final shift of power from themonarch to Parliament.
English Civil War 1642-1649) A conflict in which Puritan supporters ofParliament battled supporters of England’s monarchy,resulting in the execution of King Charles I and theassertion of Parliament’s supremacy over the monarch.
Enlightened despotism An Act of the English Parliament passed in 1689 andpresented to William and Mary after the Glorious Rev-olution, inviting them to become joint sovereigns ofEngland. It marked the final shift of power from themonarch to Parliament.
Enlightenment An 18th century European movement in which thinkerschallenged the practices of hereditary privilege and ab-solutism and attempted to apply the principles of reasonand the scientific method to all aspects of society.
Hobbes, Thomas An English thinker and contemporary of John Locke,who defended absolute monarchy. He believed peopleto be naturally "nasty and brutish," and that a pow-erful, central authority was needed to maintain peaceand order, thus originating the idea of the relationshipbetween a government and its subjects as a "socialcontract." He believed kings were justified in seizingabsolute power to assure social stability.
Limited monarchy The practice of some 18th century monarchs to rulejustly in accordance to Enlightenment ideas and torespect the rights of their subjects.
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TABLE 1.1: (continued)
Locke, John An English philosopher of the Enlightenment whoargued that a government’s power comes from theconsent of the people and that the people have theright to rebel against unjust rulers. His ideas laid thefoundation for the emergence of modern democracy.
Louis XIV Known as the Sun King, he was king of France from1661 to 1715, the longest-reigning king in Europeanhistory and the most powerful of the absolute kingsof his time. He built the Palace at Versailles, andreportedly made the classic absolutist boast, "I am thestate."
Montesquieu, Baron de A French writer of the Enlightenment who proposedthat a separation of powers within government wasnecessary in order to keep any individual or group fromgaining total control the government.
Henry VIII King of England from 1509 to 1547. Because of hisdispute with the Catholic Church over its refusal togrant him a divorce from his Spanish, Catholic queen inorder to secure a male heir to the throne, he separatedthe Church of England from papal authority, dissolvedthe Catholic monasteries, and established himself as theSupreme Head of the Church of England.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques One of the most influential thinkers of the 18th centuryEnlightenment, his writings would inspire the idealsof the French Revolution. He argued that governmentshould be based upon a "social contract" freely formedthrough the "general will" of the people and theirgovernment. He argued that all people were equal andthat all titles of nobility should be abolished.
Internet Resources
Charles V and Holy Roman Empire by Crash Course
humanism - an intellectual and philosophical emphasis on the importance of individuals as creative and criticalthinkers
Renaissance - a rebirth or resurgence; has been applied to the time period between 1450-1750 in Europe character-ized by the rediscovery of the classical works of Greece and Rome, but can refer to any general cultural resurgence
Reformation - the process of updating an institution or practice; has been applied to refer to the 16th century eventsin Europe that resulted in the establishment of Protestant churches and changes to the Roman Catholic Church
Protestant - refers to Christian church denominations, teachings, and individuals during the Reformation thatrejected Roman Catholic Church doctrines
sacraments - sacred religious practices or ceremonies first introduced by the Roman Catholic Church
secularism - refers to the belief that religion and politics should operate in separate spheres as well as the rejectionof religion in the public sphere
vernacular - language used by the common people
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scientific method -the use of hypothesis, observation and experimentation to reach conclusions about the naturaland physical world
heliocentric theory -idea that the sun is the center of universe
Enlightenment -to gain understanding or knowledge; has been generally applied to an intellectual movement inEurope during the 18th century in which philosophers sought to find natural laws by which to govern societies
social contract - political philosophy that argues that the populous and the ruler/government enter into a mutualrelationship
natural rights - liberties and freedoms inherent to being human
Related Vocabulary
TABLE 1.2:
· heresy· annulment· excommunicate
· recant· indulgence· movable type
· universal law of gravity· natural law· philosophe
References
1. . "Louis XIV of France" by Hyacinthe Rigaud - wartburg.edu[dead link]. Licensed under Public Domain viaWikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg#/media/File:Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg .
2. . "King Charles I after original by van Dyck" by After Anthony van Dyck - http://www.she-philosopher.com/gallery/lely.html (original upload); http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/important-old-master-paintings-n08825/lot.197.html (higher resolution upload). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Charles_I_after_original_by_van_Dyck.jpg#/media/File:King_Charles_I_after_original_by_van_Dyck.jpg .
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