Absolute Monarchs
• Kings and Queens who held all of the power within their states’ boundaries.
• Control every aspect of society.• Believe in divine right; God created the
monarchy and the monarch acted as God’s representative on Earth.
• Monarchs answered only to God – not subjects.
Power Grows Because
• Feudalism ends• Cities grow• National Kingdoms help to centralize authority• Growing middle class & merchants back
monarchs because they support business & trade• Wealth of colonies pours into monarchy• Breakdown of church authority allow monarchs to
gain greater control
Crisis lead to Absolutism in the17th Century• Religious & territorial conflicts between
states led to continuous warfare• Monarchs build huge armies & paid for by
levying heavy taxes• Monarchs create government bureaucracies
to control countries’ economic, religious, & social life – frees them from limitations imposed by nobility/parliament
EFFECTS OF ABSOLUTISM
• Rulers regulate religious worship and social gatherings to control the spread of ideas
• Rulers increase the size of their courts to appear more powerful
• Rulers create bureaucracies to control their countries’ economies
Henry VIII 1491-1547
• Becomes king 1509
at age 17
Athlete
Musician
Speaks Latin, Spanish,
French & Italian
Want male heir!!!
Catherine of Aragon
• Daughter of Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain
• 6 births – only one survives: Mary
• Married 18 yrs.• Divorced
Henry…The Act of Supremacy
• Devout Catholic – Pope titles him “Defender of the Faith”
• Asks Pope to annul (set aside) marriage• Pope refuses – Catherine’s nephew is the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Reformation Parliament 1529
• Henry asks Parliament to pass laws ending the pope’s power in England.
• Parliament votes & approves the Act of Supremacy : Henry become official head of the Church of England
• Church land & riches become Henry’s• Grants own divorce to Catherine
Anne of Cleves 1515-1537
• Selected by a painting• (From Germany)• Finds her unattractive• Annulled marriage
after 6 mo.• “King’s Sister”
Cathrine Howard 1522-1542
• Married 3 weeks after divorce from Anne
• Much younger with a lusty reputation
• Past & present affairs• Beheaded
Katheryn Parr 1512-1548
• Loves another but cannot refuse King
• King is 52, she 31• Cares for King until
his death in 1547• Marries former suitor
(Thomas Seymore) but dies 15 mos. after
Mary I 1553-1558
• “Bloody Mary”
Orders heretics and Protestants put to death
Throws Elizabeth into the Tower of London for Treason
Elizabeth I – 1558-1603
• “The Golden Age”• Never marries – but
said to love Robert Dudley (whose wife dies mysteriously)
• England defeats the Spanish Amada and
• Most powerful navy in the world
LOUIS XIV1638-1715• Becomes King at age 5 – takes control of
government at age 22• The Sun King – • “I am the State!”
PROOF OF POWER
• $2.5 billion in 2003• 36,000 laborers & 6,000 horses• 5,000 acres of gardens, lawns, & woods• 1,400 fountains
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