Absolute monarchy is a
monarchicalThe person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during the ancient and medieval times. A Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or...
form of governmentA form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized in order to exert its powers over a body politic. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government"...
where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an absolute monarchy there is no
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
or legal restriction on the monarch's power. Absolute monarchy, is normally passed on through a hereditary chain.
In theory, an absolute monarch has complete and total power over his or her people and land, including the aristocracy and sometimes the
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
(see
caesaropapismCaesaropapism is the idea of combining the power of secular government with, or making it superior to, the spiritual authority of the Christian Church; especially concerning the connection of the Christian Church with government...
). In practice, absolute monarchs have often found their power limited—generally by one or other of those groups.
Some monarchies have powerless or symbolic parliaments and other governmental bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Despite effectively being absolute monarchies, they are technically constitutional monarchies due to the existence of a constitution and national canon of law.
Historical examples
In the West, the originating form and general institution of monarchy finds many of its institutional origins in the decline and collapse of
democracy in Ancient Rome- Early years :The traditional founding of Rome was in 753 BC. The Etruscans, early Italian settlers of city-states throughout central Italy ruled Rome for over a century; the traditional dates are 616 BC for the accession of the first Etruscan King, Tarquinius Priscus, and 510 BC for the...
.
One of the best proverbial examples of an absolute monarch was Louis XIV of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. His alleged statement,
L'état, c'est moi (I am the state), summarizes the fundamental principle of absolute monarchy (
sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
being vested in one individual). Although often criticized for his extravagance, his best-known legacy being the huge
Palace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, the Île-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles....
, he reigned over France for a long period, and some historians consider him a successful absolute monarch. More recently, revisionist historians have questioned whether Louis' reign should be considered 'absolute', given the reality of the balance of power between the monarch and the nobility.
Until 1905, the
TsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
s of
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
also governed as absolute monarchs.
Peter I the GreatPeter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V....
reduced the power of the
nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
and strengthened the central power of the
TsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
, establishing a bureaucracy and a
police stateThe term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population...
. This tradition of absolutism, known as the tsarist absolutism, was built on by
Catherine II the GreatCatherine II , also known as Catherine the Great, born . She was Empress of Russia from until . Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to modernize along Western European lines...
and other later Tsars. Although
Alexander IIAlexander II Nikolaevich , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor, or Czar, of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
made some reforms and established an independent judicial system, Russia did not have a representative assembly or a constitution until the 1905 Revolution. However, the concept of absolutism was so ingrained in Russia that the
Russian Constitution of 1906The first Russian constitution, known as the Fundamental Laws, was enacted on April 23, 1906, on the eve of the opening of the first State Duma....
still described the tsar as an autocrat.
Throughout much of history, the
Divine Right of KingsThe divine right of kings is a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate...
was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an kings, such as the Tsars of Russia, claimed that they held supreme autocratic power by divine right, and that their subjects had no right to limit their power.
James IJames VI & I was King of Scots as James VI from 1567 to 1625, and King of England and Ireland as James I from 1603 to 1625....
and
Charles ICharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
tried to import this principle; fears that Charles I was attempting to establish absolutist government along European lines was a major cause of the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
. By the 19th century, the Divine Right was regarded as an obsolete theory in most countries in the
Western WorldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, except in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
where it was still given credence as the official justification for the Tsar's power.
In Denmark-Norway the system was underpinned by the 1665
Kongeloven ("King's Law") whose § 2 stipulates that the monarch
shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone. http://www.danskekonger.dk/biografi/andre/kongeloven.html This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm.
Prussia
In
Brandenburg-PrussiaBrandenburg-Prussia was a German monarchy established by the personal union between the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1618.The monarchy was ruled by the branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty that had earlier ruled Brandenburg...
, the concept of absolute monarch took a notable turn from the above with its emphasis on the monarch as the "first servant of the state", but it also echoed many of the important characteristics of Absolutism.
Frederick WilliamThe name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs of the Hohenzollern dynasty:*Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg *Frederick William I , King of Prussia*Frederick William II , King of Prussia...
of Hohenzollern (r.1640–1699) known as the Great Elector, used the uncertainties of the final stages of the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
to consolidate his territories into the dominant principality in northern Germany, whilst increasing his power over his subjects. His actions largely start the militaristic streak of the Hohenzollern.
In 1653, the Diet of Brandenburg met for the last time and gave Frederick William the power to raise taxes without its consent, a strong indicator of absolutism. Frederick William enjoyed support from the nobles who enabled the Great Elector to undermine the Diet and other representative assemblies. The leading families saw their future in cooperation with the central government and worked to establish absolutist power.
The most significant indicator of the nobles' success was the establishment of two tax rates – one for the cities and the other for the countryside, to the great advantage of the latter, which the nobles ruled. The nobles served in the upper levels of the elector's army and bureaucracy, but they also won new prosperity for themselves. The support of the elector enabled the imposition of virtual serfdom and the consolidation of land holdings into vast estates.
They became known as
JunkersJunkers & Co was a major German aircraft manufacturer. It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers, initially manufacturing boilers and radiators. After World...
(from the German for young lord,
jung herr). Frederick William faced resistance from representative assemblies and long-independent cities in his realm. City leaders often revolted at the imposition of electorate authority. The last notable effort was the uprising of the city of Koenigsberg which allied with the Estates General of Prussia to refuse to pay taxes. Frederick William crushed this revolt in 1662, by marching into the city with thousands of troops, a similar approach was used with the towns of Buthole.
Currently existing absolute monarchies
The popularity of the notion of absolute monarchy declined substantially after the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
which promoted theories of government based on
popular sovereigntyPopular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with the social contract philosophers, among whom are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke,...
.
Many nations formerly with absolute monarchies, such as
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, have moved towards
constitutional monarchiesA constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
, although the monarch retains tremendous power, to the point that the parliament's influence on political life is very negligible. In
BhutanThe Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by People's Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby state of Nepal to the west by...
, the government moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy following planned parliamentary elections to the
TshogduThe Tshogdu was the unicameral legislature of Bhutan until 31 July 2007. The legislature had a total of 150 members . Dasho Ugen Dorje was the last President of the Tshogdu, with Nima Tshering the Secretary-General.-Composition:...
in 2003, and the election of a National Assembly in 2008.
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
had several swings between constitutional rule and
direct ruleDirect rule is the term for colonisation by installing leaders from the mother country into the government of said countries' colonies,such as, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, to the administration of Northern Ireland directly from Westminster, seat of United Kingdom government...
related to the Nepalese Civil War, the
Maoist insurgencyThe Unified Communist Party of Nepal is a political party in Nepal, founded in 1994 and currently led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, commonly known as Prachanda. Following massive popular demonstrations and a prolonged "People's War" against the monarchy, the CPN became the ruling party during the...
, and the 2001
Nepalese royal massacreThe Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the then-residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly shot and killed several members of his family. As a result of the shooting, ten people died and five were wounded. The...
. The Nepalese Monarchy was abolished on May 28, 2008.
Unusual in a time when many nations are moving towards decreased monarchical power,
LiechtensteinThe Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over 160 km² and it has an estimated population of 35,000...
has moved towards expanding the power of the monarch; the Prince of Liechtenstein was given expanded powers after a
referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
amending the
Constitution of LiechtensteinThere has been a written constitution in the Principality of Liechtenstein since 5 October 1921. It was granted by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and established the rule of parliamentary democracy mixed with that of constitutional monarchy. It has twelve chapters covering the...
in 2004.
Among the few nations where the monarch claims full power (both head of state and government) are
Vatican CityVatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy...
,
SwazilandThe Kingdom of Swaziland , sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II.Swaziland is a small country, no...
,
BruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
,
OmanOman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
,
QatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally ', is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula...
, and
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
. In
TongaTonga , officially the Kingdom of Tonga , an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprises 169 islands, 36 of which are inhabited, and stretches over a distance of about 800 kilometres in a north-south line...
the king has majority control of the parliament.
Scholarship
AnthropologyAnthropology is the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time....
,
SociologySociology is the scientific or systematic study of human societies. It is a branch of social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, often with the goal of applying such...
, and
EthologyEthology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
as well as various other disciples such as
Political SciencePolitical science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is often described as the pragmatic application of the art and science of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how",...
attempt to offer explanations for the rise of absolute monarchy in particular cultures ranging from extrapolation of the dominance groups found in the
great apesGreat Apes may refer to*Great apes, species in the biological family Hominidae, including humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans*Great Apes , a 1997 novel by Will Self...
generally, to
Marxist explanationsThe coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate...
in terms of the
class struggleClass struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, leading ideologists of communism, wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle".Marx's notion of class has...
as the underlying dynamic of human historical development generally and absolute monarchy in particular.
According to Norbert Elias's
The Civilizing ProcessThe book The Civilizing Process written by German sociologist Norbert Elias is an influential work in sociology and Elias' most important work. It was first published in 1939 in German as Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Because of the World War it was virtually ignored, but republished in the...
, the reason why monarchs like Louis XIV could enjoy such great power is to be found in the layout of the societies of that time, more precisely in the fact that they could play off against each other two rival classes, namely the rising
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
, who received growing wealth from commerce and industrial production, and the
nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
, who lived off the land and administrative functions.
In the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, the nobility served a useful function—fighting wars—which justified their wealth to some degree. After the development of the
longbowFor the military helicopter, see Apache LongbowA longbow is a type of bow that is tall ; this will allow its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw . A longbow is not significantly recurved...
and
firearmA firearm is a device which projects either single or multiple projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion. The firing is achieved by the gases produced through rapid, confined burning of a propellant. This process of rapid burning is technically known as deflagration...
s made the heavy
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
less useful than before, the nobility's position became harder to justify.
See also
- Absolutism
The term Absolutism may refer to:* Absolute idealism, an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G.W.F. Hegel. It is Hegel's account of how being is ultimately comprehensible as an all-inclusive whole...
- Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by any other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
- Constitutional Monarchy
A constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
- Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator, without hereditary ascension. It has three possible meanings:...
- Enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories...
- Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, remembered today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory.Hobbes also contributed to a diverse array of fields,...
- Jacques Bossuet
- Democracy
Democracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
- Monarchomachs
The Monarchomachs were originally French Huguenot theorists who opposed absolute monarchy at the end of the 16th century, known in particular for having theoretically justified tyrannicide...
(opponents of absolute monarchy in the context of the French Wars of ReligionThe French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants...
, who theorized the right of rebellion and legitimized tyrannicideTyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant. Typically, the term is taken to mean the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good. The term "tyrannicide" does not apply to tyrants killed in battle or killed by an enemy in an armed conflict...
s)