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.