HST 111 Lecture 18: 11.9.15 - 17th Century Absolutism
Document Summary
While they were seen as divine, they still needed backing. Came about in the dutch republic and england. Through rebellion, civil war, revolution: more formal checks and balances would be placed on monarchs, effectively reigning monarchs in: absolutism . What we see are monarchs that gain more and more power and personal control. They come up with ways to constrain and tame the nobility, church and people, taking power for themselves. A theory that monarchs should, could and would do such. Czar of russia (1689-1725) 36 year reign. Nothing he enjoyed more than a good belching contest, or a crude joke. He would also impale people, roast them alive, and burn beards. Left russia in the 1690s and left russia to extensively travel europe: england, holland, northern germany and austria, what he saw were societies that were more organized, industrialized and efficient than russia.
