Why Did Royal Absolutism Develop In France Essay

Europe was stuck in a time of profound struggle. During the Late Middle Ages, Europe was characterized by the severe population decline due to devastating plague and warfare. Societal advancements and growth appeared to be at a standstill until the mid 15th century, where the agricultural economy boomed and people flocked into the cities.

Why did royal absolutism develop in france? The turn of the 17th century marked a new era for France. Throughout the Middle Ages, disease and war caused a sharp decline in the population. France operated under a feudalistic social system that limited the King’s rule. Mass amounts of people fled their country homes, and cultivated in the cities following industrialization. This movement brought new opportunities,

During his reign, French royal absolutism grew to its maximum power. Jean Baptiste Colbert, the King’s minister of finance, played an important role in mercantilism and the government’s complete control over all parts of the state. Mercantilism allowed the absolute monarchy in France to dominate in an economic position, where citizens were not able to make their own profit or move out west. King Louis XIV then decided to evoke the Edict of Nantes, which took away the protection of protestants in the predominantly Catholic nation of France. In 1682, the Sun King opened the Palace of Versailles to the public. This monument became the center of France’s absolutist government, as well as a “combination of all other cultures at a grand level” (RD Notes). King Louis XIV invited poets, philosophers, and artists to cultivate inside of his extravagant palace. The place was built to elevate his status, and solidify his image as the powerful King of

Prussia was a small nation, yet benefited from generations of dominant and influential leaders. Frederick William, known as the Elector of Brandenburg, devoted years to constructing Prussia into a powerful administration. He is commonly referred to as the father of absolutism in Prussia. Frederick William prioritized the growth of the army, thus ingraining its military into the state and society. Taxation and marchantilism were also used to help grow their exceptional army. His grandson, Frederick William the “Soldier King”, continued his formation of Prussia’s military-centered bureaucracy into the absolutist state. He began with incorporating “the landowning Junker class into the government and the army by keeping the taxpaying peasants in the status of serfs” (Perry, 396). In return for their service to the King, the Junker class, or Prussian nobility was allowed full power over the