ABSOLUTE RULERS
1. The pre democratic Kings and Emperors of cultures around the world have had absolute rule over their societies.
2. AUTHORITY is taken and used to control. When authority is ABSOLUTE people accept this CONTROL as all they have known and therefore do not question it .... until the seeds of revolutionary thought are sowed in the minds of people.
3. In the 16th and 17th centuries ABSOLUTE MONARCHIES ruled countries in EUROPE.
4. Remember modern Monarchs are self appointed autocratic 'Royal' Families with a bloodline that stretches back into the middle ages.
5. Autocratic rule is where supreme power is in the hands of one person.
Remaining countries which have Kings or Queens today.
Louis XIV 1638 - 1715 of France
was an absolute ruler who also believed in the devine right of kings.
1. Louis XIV believed that God had chosen him as King, unfortunately the people at that time also believed in the devine right of kings to rule over them.
2. A monarch who was appointed by God had more power - absolute power. From the 14OO's to the 17OO's this was a common belief structure in society.
3. Louis XIV had a staff of up to 5OO servants to serve him 24/7.
4. Became king officially when he was 19 but was next in line when he was 4 yrs old.
5. He lived in luxury and splendor constructing the magnificent
Palace in Versailles. This became the new seat of French government 2O km from Paris. He allowed many of the nobles to live at Versailles to keep control of them, the palace had 7OO rooms.
6. He was also known as the SUN KING - Roi-Soleil - to add more radiance to his rule and to symbolise that he was the centre of the French nation. 'I am the State'
7. Like the Medici's before him in Florence he did usher in a golden age of arts literature and learning - Académie Française.
8. He did much to fortify the borders of France and improve military tactics on the battle field eg trench warfare.
9. Under his rule French became the intellectual and diplomatic language of Europe.
1O. He died in 1715 after ruling for 72 years but Frence was weakened economically because of the many wars that had been fought.
THE NOBILITY
In European society at this time the Nobility served directly under the king. The nobility ruled over the working artisan population and peasant class. The nobility had hereditary titles like counts, barons, earls.
They were the ARISTOCRACY but were not royalty.
Nobles were required for military service, they wore swords, had the right to duel, to hunt, could own lands but were exempt from land tax. All nobility wished to get closer to the power heirarchy of a king or queen. This system evolved from the fuedal times of the middle ages.
Some nobles became very powerful like Cardinal Richelieu who was the chief minister to XIV father King LOUIS XIII.
Louis XIV was always on guard against an uprising by the nobles.
The distribution of social power in the courts of monarchies was very complex.
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QUEEN ELIZABETH I of ENGLAND 1533 - 16O3
Nearly a century before Louis XIV England had a very powerful Queen ruling over a golden age in England. However she did not believe that her power was absolute like Louis XIV because as far back as 1215 the MAGNA CARTA (great charter of liberties) put limits on English Kings.
1. Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father had broken away from the Catholic church and started the new Protestant Church of England. Now Elizabeth became the head of the church and no longer had to share power with the Pope in Rome.
2. She was well educated speaking French and Italian reading Greek and Latin.
3. Elizabeth never married, a very rare occurance for a monarch.
4. She was very popular with the English people.
5. She avoided war with many European powers except Spain - sending SIr Francis Drake her sea Captain to raid Spanish ships carrying treasures back to Spain from the new world.
6. She prevented religious wars in England that were still fought in Europe after the Protestant Reformation.
7. The stability she established within England allowed a Golden Age to flourish
THE GOLDEN ELIZABETHAN AGE 1558 - 16O3
1. The time of Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre
2. The Royal Navy defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588 after 9 years of war making England the most powerful sea nation in Europe.
3. New lands were claimed in the West Indies the Americas and in California
4. Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.
The Golden Hind Drakes Ship
A Galleon ocean ship was an evolution of the Spanish Caravel
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THE RISE OF THE TSAR OF RUSSIA
Before PETER THE GREAT the MONGOLS
The Mongols ruled what is now Russia for 24O years. Moscow was the main centre, in the 13OO's the Russians in Moscow rebelled against Mongo rule. By 15O5 Prince Ivan of Moscow had brought much of Russia under control.His grandson Ivan the Teribble finished the takeover.
When Peter the Great in 1682 came to power as the first TSAR ruler ( from caesar - absolute Roman ruler), Russian farming was adopting western technology. Russia was basically a Fuedal society and the lord and ruler was the TSAR. Peter wanted to westernise this vast land so he built a new capital in west coast of the country called St Petersburg.
Peter the Great became the absolute ruler of the Russian lands.
Russia had no constitution,
no elected representative assembly,
no democratic processes within the national government,
no high court or court of appeal that could examine or restrain the tsar’s laws
Tsarist government was essentially government by decree: the tsar issued declarations or proclamations and his ministers, governors and bureaucrats implemented them.
Aligned to the Russian ORTHODOX CHURCH.
Tsarist Russia ended 3OO years with the Russian Revolution in 1917.
ABSOLUTE RULE in countries end when CHURCH STATE AND MONARCHY become separate institutions. Before this will happen there will be major revolutions in England, France & America.
RULING A COUNTRY
ABSOLUTE DEVINE RULERS : ROMAN EMPERORS - MEDIEVAL KINGS - AZTEC & INCA EMPERORS - LOUIS XIV - KIM JONG-un present day North Korea
OTHER FORMS OF DICTATORIAL RULE : NAZI FURER- HITLER , FASCIST DICTATOR - MUSSOLINI ITALY , COMMUNIST DICTATORS - STALIN USSR , CALIPHATE ISLAMIC STATE - SAUDI ARABIAN KINGS
THERE IS ALWAYS A TENSION BETWEEN CENTRALISED LEADERSHIP WITH A ONE PERSON RULER AND DISTIBUTED POWER NETWORK IN A DEMOCRACY
PRESENT DAY DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP IS THE CURRENTLY THE MOST COMMON AND SUCCESSFUL FORM OF GOVERNING A COUNTRY
RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT
1.WHAT ARE THE CURRENT MONARCHIES AROUND THE WORLD ?
2. HOW LONG HAVE THEY RULED ?
3. HOW MUCH POWER DO THEY CURRENTLY HAVE ?
RESEARCH : What was the constitutional crisis in Australia in 1975 ?
MAP CURRENT MONARCHIES OF THE WORLD
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