mas Hobbes was a British philosoph e wrote in the 1600s that a powerfu rch was the best way to unify a nat
Feb 12, 2016
Thomas Hobbes was a British philosopher.He wrote in the 1600s that a powerful
monarch was the best way to unify a nation.
Like Confucius inZhou China, Thomas
Hobbes believedthat kings were
justified in assumingabsolute power
because only kingscould maintain
order.
Absolutism isa political systemwhere a monarch
has absolutepower over his
or hersubjects.
Historians call this period of absolute monarchs the Age of Kings.
In the Age of Kings,many monarchs hadabsolute power over
their subjects. Peopleoften believed thata monarch’s powercame from God.
The belief that a monarch’s powercame from God was known as
Divine Right Theory.
The king wasGod’s deputyon Earth. The
king’s commandsexpressed
God’s wishes.
The king couldnot be
questioned.
Louis XIV of France provided a modelfor other absolute monarchs. Under
his rule, the king’s command waslaw. As the monarch said, “L’etat
C’est moi” or “I am the state.”
To control France’snobles, Louis XIV
built a huge palaceat Versailles. Leadingnobles were expectedto spend most of the
year at Versaillesunder the watchful
eye of the king.
Louis XIV also demanded that FrenchProtestants convert to Catholicism or
leave France!
Louis XIV chose the sun as hisemblem. The sun gave life
to all things and regulated everythingas it rose and set. Like the sun,
life in France revolved around the king.
The tsars or absoluterulers of Russia also
were absolute monarchs.Peter the Great forcibly
westernized and modernized Russia. Catherine the Great
continued to modernize Russia.
Russian nobleswere forced
to cut off their beards!
Absolutism
Definition:
Thomas Hobbes:
Louis XIV:
Peterthe
Great:
DivineRight: