The Paths Separate: The Age of Absolutism, the Rise of Constitutionalism in England and The Netherlands, and the Era of Enlightened Despotism
Overview
Feudalism died gradually. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), which devastated France and exhausted its nobility, indirectly led to a strong monarchy. Peace encouraged commerce, which gave rise to a taxable middle class that could support a national army independent of the nobility. From the middle of the 15th century to the second decade of the 16th, the monarchs of France centralized the state, recruited bourgeois administrators into government and strengthened the army. Through most of the 16th century, the foreign adventures of two strong kings and the upheaval caused by the Reformation weakened the monarchy. Under the intelligent guidance of Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister to Louis XIII, the central government brought peace, prosperity and stability to the realm during the first half o f the 17th century. The Golden Age of France was during the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV (1643-1715), whose absolutist monarchy dominated all classes in Europe's wealthiest and most populous country, upset the balance of power on the continent and claimed the "divine right" of rule.
The strong government that developed in France contrasted with the constitutional system that evolved in England. The powers of the English kings had been checked by the nobility as far back as the 13th century, with the Magna Carta. The Tudors took the English throne in the 15th century as a compromise among the claimants who battled over it in the War of the Roses. Having only a tenuous hereditary right to the monarchy, they were forced to work through parliament, which gradually represented a greater and greater portion of English society and therefore avoided the class distinctions that divided France. The Reformation had its effects on English government: The independence of the Anglican Church from the papacy strengthened the monarchy and parliament; the puritan Revolution established the supremacy of parliament over the king and nurtured the tradition of constitutionalism.
A third system of government appeared during this era, inspired by the writings of the Enlightened philosophes - - Enlightened Despotism. The ideal Enlightened Despot was a ruler who aimed for the advancement of society by fostering education, aiding the economy, and promoting social justice. Since Voltaire and many of the philosophers, and certainly most of Europe's monarchs, believed that the mass of people were incapable of self-government, Enlightened Despots stayed in power while promoting the good of their people.
Essential Questions
* What observations may be made about the significance of western Europe in the development of modern civilization since about 1650?
* Explain the nature of the "balance of power" that employed against Louis XIV. Why did his foreign policy arouse the opposition of the rest of Europe?
* Describe Dutch cultural and commercial accomplishments in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. How did the Dutch come into conflict with England during the 17th century? with France during the time of Louis IV?
* Why did Parliament come into conflict with the Stuart kings? With what results?
* How glorious was the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89? Why?
* If absolutism and constitutionalism are completely different paths toward governing the people, where would you place the 'enlightened despots'?