Preview

Was the Age of Absolutism a Period of Prosperity or Tyranny?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
709 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Was the Age of Absolutism a Period of Prosperity or Tyranny?
Morgan Bradley
10/10/14
History Was absolutism a period of prosperity or tyranny in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries? Anyone could answer based on opinion. Many successful events happened that had helped all the kings become better rulers with strong armies and a strong nation. There were many deaths that made people call this period of time a time of tyranny instead of prosperity.
Many kings were considered obsessed with themselves or ego centered, but they improved their nations by adding roads. Although, in my opinion this period of time was a time of tyranny simply because of how the kings ruled the deaths caused by them and the way the government ran. During the 16­17th century all the kings that had ruled, ruled in their own type of style.
Although if one were to look back to Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, they would notice how most of the rulers had ruled by following the guidelines from his book. Though, some of these rules and guidelines made the kings seem selfish. Machiavelli had said in his book how a ruler should be feared but not hated because if the kings seemed to friendly, then he wouldn’t be taken seriously. “Kings James I of england for example felt that kings should be treated like gods”(Doc
2). He felt that the government should’ve been ruled with more divine power. He felt like the only way he could be respected was to be treated like a God. In my opinion, i agree with the thought that kings should be feared but not hated.

In this certain age of time, many citizens were murdered. Though, most of these deaths were caused by Peter The Great. After Peter had won land in sweden, he decided to build a city.
His city was named after himself, named St. Petersburg. The only way he could build the city was to order over tens of thousands of serfs to clean and drain the swamps. Thousands and thousands of those serfs died while working for Peter the Great. These monarchs believed in what Bishop Jacques Bossuet

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    nation. In order to become a true absolute ruler Louis xiv needed to make sure…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As well as having only limited power, the kings could also be punishmed for mis condunct, or even deposed. A king could be fired if a battle was a failure, or if things in gernal were going wrong within the city, the King would be blamed. This was due to the fact that they, as the city's priests, were held responsible for keeping the Gods…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    His/115 Clash of Cultures

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    | |kingdoms that oversaw and |votes on projects and taxes. Laws |run by Royal or Proprietary y |governor and a council appointed |kingdoms that oversaw and |…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli is not a diabolic political figure in search of power. He is instead an astute politician who uses his extensive knowledge of politics to analyze various princes and principalities in order to educate future…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is an absolute monarchy ? An absolute monarchy is a form of government in which a ruler has absolute , unrestricted power over his people .The absolute monarch of a country is head of state and government , they are not limited by any kind of constitution or law . Absolutism is mostly passed by heredity but there are some few exceptions. During the 1500 and 1600s western europe was pretty much completely ruled by different absolute monarchs .these monarchs could chose the style of their rule , whether they wanted to be a ruler of respect and trust or fear and anguish . the 16th and 17th century in europe proved to be a time of prosperity even through the absolutism ,shown by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan ,Bishop Jacques and the acts…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Absolutism Dbq Analysis

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the more common forms of government was absolutism. Rulers believed they should have complete control over the country. An excerpt in document 1 states that Prince Machiavelli believed the best way to rule was to be aggressive and feared and thought that the only way the citizen would follow his rule was if he emulated his power and social status. He thought that if he showed kindness and generosity that he would be overthrown. Most of the monarchs believed in divine right, this meant that they thought that they were chosen by God to rule. One of rulers that believed in divine right was King James 1st, his ideas were expressed in document 2 one of his quotes: “….God has the power…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Enough food, the water was unusable, and they didn’t have enough workers with the right skill…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    King James I also believed that absolutism was the way to rule. He thought that kings were like Gods therefore he believed in Divine Right. Divine Right is the belief that kings get their authority from God. "The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself they are called gods". What he means by this is that Kings have every right and power needed to rule. With Kings having every right to rule there would be no questions as to whether or not a King is fit to rule…

    • 967 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, Machiavelli shows that in order to be an effective prince, one must disregard the morality of one’s actions in certain times for the welfare of the state. This strong belief shows that Machiavelli’s best interests are in the state and not in the general population. Because he…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Two forms of government that were used during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were democracy and absolutism. Though both of these forms of governments were effective in there own ways, absolutism was more effective. Machiavelli, who wrote The Prince, felt that the best way to rule was to be feared. He wrote in his book The Prince, Men have less hesitation in offending a man who is loved than one who is feared, for love is held by a bond of obligation which, as men are wicked, is broken whenever personal advantage suggests it (Document 1). King James I also believed that absolutism was the way to rule. He thought that kings were like Gods therefore he believed in divine right. Divine Right is the belief that kings get their authority from God. "The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself they are called gods" (Document 2). Another person that ruled in absolutism was Thomas Hobbes. He felt that people were naturally cruel unless controlled strictly by law.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many monarchs, particularly those of European descent, employed the flourishing absolutist philosophy during their reign in the seventeenth century. Defined as the "absolute or unlimited rule usually by one man," absolutism is virtually equivalent to the philosophy of despotism. A ruler incorporating the absolutist philosophy has complete control of his subjects and the highest authority with which to govern. With origins dating back to the Ancient Greeks, absolutism found root in some of Aristotle's theories: "Aristotle despotic government (nearly convertible with tyrannical) is that of a single ruler that rules, not for the public good but for his own." And from Roman political theory "regarding the power of the monarch, there had survived, particularly, a legacy of ideas associated with the position and prestige of a ruler which greatly strengthened the power of a dynasty.” Based on this Greek foundation in Aristotelian thought and Roman political theory, absolutism rose in other schools of philosophy as it gained prominence in the political world.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An absolutist state, or absolutism is a form of government where the king had the entire control of the government. Absolutism emphasized the glory of the king and the sovereignty of the state and the king’s rights to stand above the interests of its subjects. The…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    were the status quo, and people believed that monarchs ruled by divine right, the idea THAT…

    • 807 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Absolutism is someone having complete power and control over something, while The Enlightenment is time where people thought more about everything and questioned things…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli’s The Prince is a work that, despite its bleak assessment of human nature, remains firmly grounded in the Renaissance humanist tradition. No more apparent is Machiavelli’s emphasis on individual freedom of choice and the authority of observation, as opposed to that of religion, than in the above passage. While the author concedes that fortune plays an integral role in the life of a prince or aspiring prince by, for example, providing opportunity (Machiavelli 26), these humanistic tenets drive the essence of Machiavelli’s argument that the ends ultimately justify the means.…

    • 626 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays