Absolute monarchy (or
Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitution may exist in some countries.
These are often
hereditary monarchies. On the other hand, in constitutional monarchies, in which the authority of the head of state is also bound or restricted by the constitution, a legislature, or unwritten customs, the king or queen is not the only one to decide, and their entourage also exercises power, mainly the prime minister.
Absolute monarchy in Europe declined substantially following the
French Revolution and
World War I, both of which led to the popularization of theories of government based on the notion of
popular sovereignty.
Absolute monarchies include
Brunei,
Eswatini,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
,
Saudi Arabia,
Vatican City,
and the individual emirates composing the
United Arab Emirates, which itself is a
federation of such monarchies – a
federal monarchy.
Historical examples of absolute monarchies
Outside Europe
In the
Ottoman Empire, the
Sultan wielded absolute power over the state and was considered a
Padishah
Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه; ...
meaning "Great King" by his people. Many sultans wielded absolute power through heavenly mandates reflected in their title, such as "Shadow of God on Earth". In
ancient Mesopotamia
The history of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing i ...
, many rulers of
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
,
Babylonia and
Sumer were absolute monarchs as well.
Throughout
Imperial China, many
emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
and one empress (
Wu Zetian) wielded absolute power through the
Mandate of Heaven. In
pre-Columbian America, the
Inca Empire was ruled by a
Sapa Inca, who was considered the son of
Inti, the sun god and absolute ruler over the people and nation. Korea under the
Joseon dynasty and short-lived
empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
was also an absolute monarchy. Whether or not the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a democracy or a ''de facto'' monarchy is internationally disputed.
Europe
Throughout much of European history, the
divine right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs claimed
supreme autocratic power by divine right, and that their subjects had no rights to limit their power.
Throughout the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, the concept of the divine right to power and democratic ideals were given serious merit.
The
Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...
, known in some countries as the ''Springtime of the Peoples'' or the ''Springtime of Nations'', were a series of
political upheaval
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
s throughout
Europe in 1848. It remains the most widespread
revolutionary wave
A revolutionary wave or revolutionary decade is one series of revolutions occurring in various locations within a similar time-span. In many cases, past revolutions and revolutionary waves have inspired current ones, or an initial revolution has ...
in
European history. By the 19th century, divine right was regarded as an obsolete theory in most countries in the
Western world, except in Russia where it was still given credence as the official justification for the Tsar's power until
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
in 1917 and in the
Vatican City where it remains today.
Kingdoms of England and Scotland
James VI and I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until h ...
and his son
Charles I tried to import the principle of
divine right into Scotland and England. Charles I's attempt to enforce
episcopal polity
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*bisc ...
on the
Church of Scotland led to rebellion by the
Covenanter
Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covena ...
s and the
Bishops' Wars
The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First and ...
, then fears that Charles I was attempting to establish absolutist government along European lines was a major cause of the
English Civil War, despite the fact that he did rule this way for 11 years starting in 1629, after dissolving the
Parliament of England for a time.
Denmark–Norway
Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 da, Kongeloven, lit=
King's Law, label=none of
Denmark–Norway, which ordered that the Monarch: This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the
Council of the Realm
The Council of the Realm ( es, Consejo del Reino) was a corporate organ of Francoist Spain, created by the Law of Succession to the Headship of the State of 1947. Within the institutional complex created to hierarchize the regime of Francisco Fran ...
in Denmark. Absolute monarchy lasted until
1814 in Norway
Events in the year 1814 in Norway.
Incumbents
*Monarch: Frederick VI (until February 7), then Christian Frederick (May 17 – October 10), then Charles II (since November 4)
Overview
1814 has historically been considered the most important y ...
, and
1848 in Denmark
Events from the year 1848 in Denmark.
Incumbents
* Monarch – Christian VIII (until January 20), then Frederick VII
* Prime minister – Poul Christian Stemann (until 22 March), Adam Wilhelm Moltke
Events
* 21 March – A larg ...
.
Habsburgs
Hungary
France
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ve ...
(1638–1715) is often said to have proclaimed french: L'état, c'est moi!, lit=I am the State!, label=none. Although often criticized for his extravagances, such as the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
, he reigned over France for a long period, some historians consider him an absolute monarch, while some other historians have questioned whether Louis' reign should be considered 'absolute', given the reality of the balance of power between the monarch and the nobility, as well as parliaments.
The king of France concentrated legislative, executive, and judicial powers in his person. He was the supreme judicial authority. He could condemn people to death without the right of appeal. It was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them.
Prussia
In
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenz ...
, 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 William (r. 1640–1688), known as the Great Elector, used the uncertainties of the final stages of the
Thirty Years' War to consolidate his territories into the dominant kingdom in northern Germany, whilst increasing his power over his subjects. His actions largely originated the militaristic streak of the
Hohenzollerns.
Frederick William enjoyed support from the nobles, who enabled the Great Elector to undermine the Diet of Brandenburg 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 serfdom and the consolidation of land holdings into vast estates which provided for their wealth.
They became known as
Junkers (from the German for young lord, ''junger 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
Königsberg 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 Cleves.
Russia
Until 1905, the
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
s and
Emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
governed as absolute monarchs.
Ivan the Terrible was known for his reign of terror through
oprichnina.
Peter I the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
reduced the power of the
Russian nobility and strengthened the central power of the monarch, establishing a bureaucracy and a
police state. This tradition of absolutism, known as
Tsarist autocracy, was expanded by
Catherine II the Great and her descendants. Although
Alexander II made some reforms and established an independent judicial system, Russia did not have a representative assembly or a constitution until the
1905 Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
. However, the concept of absolutism was so ingrained in Russia that the
Russian Constitution of 1906 still described the monarch as an autocrat. Russia became the last
European country (excluding
Vatican City) to abolish absolutism, and it was the only one to do so as late as the 20th century (the
Ottoman Empire drafted
its first constitution in 1876).
Sweden
The form of government instituted in
Sweden under King
Charles XI
Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721).
He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...
and passed on to his son,
Charles XII
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of ...
is commonly referred to as absolute monarchy; however, the Swedish monarch was never absolute in the sense that he wielded
arbitrary power
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...
. The monarch still ruled under the law and could only legislate in agreement with the
Riksdag of the Estates; rather, the absolutism introduced was the monarch's ability to run the government unfettered by the
privy council, contrary to earlier practice. The absolute rule of Charles XI was instituted by the crown and the Riksdag in order to carry out the
Great Reduction
In the Great Reduction of 1680, by which the ancient landed nobility lost its power base, the Swedish Crown recaptured lands earlier granted to the nobility. ''Reductions'' ( sv, reduktion) in Sweden and its dominions were the return to the Crown ...
which would have been made impossible by the privy council which comprised the high nobility.
After the death of Charles XII in 1718, the system of absolute rule was largely blamed for the ruination of the realm in the
Great Northern War, and the reaction tipped the balance of power to the other extreme end of the spectrum, ushering in the
Age of Liberty
In Swedish and Finnish history, the Age of Liberty ( sv, frihetstiden; fi, vapauden aika) was a period that saw parliamentary governance, increasing civil rights and the decline of the Swedish Empire that began with Charles XII's death in 17 ...
. After half a century of largely unrestricted parliamentary rule proved just as ruinous, King
Gustav III
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...
seized back royal power in the
coup d'état of 1772, and later once again abolished the privy council under the
Union and Security Act
The Union and Security Act ( sv, Förenings- och säkerhetsakten, fi, Yhdistys- ja vakuuskirja), alternatively Act of Union and Security, was proposed by king Gustav III of Sweden to the assembled Estates of the Realm during the Riksdag of 1789. I ...
in 1789, which, in turn, was rendered void in 1809 when
Gustav IV Adolf was deposed in a coup and the
constitution of 1809 was put in its place. The years between 1789 and 1809, then, are also referred to as a period of absolute monarchy.
Contemporary trends
Many nations formerly with absolute monarchies, such as
Jordan,
Kuwait, and
Morocco, have moved towards
constitutional monarchy. However, in these cases the monarch still retains tremendous power, even to the extent that by some measures, parliament's influence on political life is viewed as negligible.
In
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, the government moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy following planned parliamentary elections to the
Tshogdu
The Tshogdu (Dzongkha: ཚོགས་འདུ་; Wylie: ''tshogs-'du''; "(Bhutanese Grand National) Assembly") was the unicameral legislature of Bhutan until 31 July 2007. The legislature had a total of 150 members. Dasho Ugen Dorje was the la ...
in 2003, and the
election of a National Assembly in 2008.
Nepal had several swings between constitutional rule and direct rule related to the
Nepalese Civil War
The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) throughout the country. ...
, the
Maoist insurgency
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
, and the 2001
Nepalese royal massacre, with the
Nepalese monarchy
The King of Nepal (traditionally known as the Mahārājdhirāja i.e. Great King of Kings; it can also be translated as "Sovereign Emperor" ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजधिराज)) was Nepal's head of state and monarch from 1768 ...
being abolished on 28 May 2008.
In
Tonga, the
king had majority control of the
Legislative Assembly until 2010.
Liechtenstein has moved towards expanding the power of the monarch: the
Prince of Liechtenstein
The prince regnant of Liechtenstein (german: Fürst von und zu Liechtenstein) is the monarch and head of state of Liechtenstein.Principality of Liechtenstein Family - Die fürstliche Familie (in German) The Liechtenstein family, after which t ...
was given expanded powers after a
referendum amending the
Constitution of Liechtenstein
The Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: Verfassung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein) was promulgated on 5 October 1921, replacing the 1862 constitution. It was granted by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and established ...
in 2003, which led the BBC to describe the prince as an "absolute monarch again".
Current absolute monarchies
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, and according to the
Basic Law of Saudi Arabia adopted by Royal Decree in 1992, the King must comply with
Shari'a (Islamic law) and the
Qur'an.
The Qur'an and the body of the
Sunnah (traditions of the Islamic
prophet,
Muhammad) are declared to be the Kingdom's Constitution, but no written modern constitution has ever been promulgated for Saudi Arabia, which remains the only Arab nation where no national elections have ever taken place since its founding.
No political parties or national elections are permitted and according to ''
The Economist's'' 2010
Democracy Index, the Saudi government is the eighth most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated.
[
]
Scholarship
There is a considerable variety of opinion by historians on the extent of absolutism among European monarchs. Some, such as Perry Anderson
Francis Rory Peregrine "Perry" Anderson (born 11 September 1938) is a British intellectual, historian and essayist. His work ranges across historical sociology, intellectual history, and cultural analysis. What unites Anderson's work is a preoc ...
, argue that quite a few monarchs achieved levels of absolutist control over their states, while historians such as Roger Mettam dispute the very concept of absolutism. In general, historians who disagree with the appellation of ''absolutism'' argue that most monarchs labeled as ''absolutist'' exerted no greater power over their subjects than any other ''non-absolutist'' rulers, and these historians tend to emphasize the differences between the absolutist rhetoric of monarchs and the realities of the effective use of power by these absolute monarchs. Renaissance historian William Bouwsma summed up this contradiction:
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
, sociology, and ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and object ...
as well as various other disciplines such as political science attempt to explain the rise of absolute monarchy ranging from extrapolation generally, to certain Marxist explanations in terms of the class struggle
Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor.
The forms o ...
as the underlying dynamic of human historical development generally and absolute monarchy in particular.
In the 17th century, French legal theorist Jean Domat
Jean Domat, or Daumat (30 November 162514 March 1696) was a French jurist.
Life
Domat was born at Clermont in Auvergne. He studied the humaniora in Paris, where he befriended Blaise Pascal, and later law at the University of Bourges. Domat clo ...
defended the concept of absolute monarchy in works such as ''"On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy"'', citing absolute monarchy as preserving natural order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
as God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
intended. Other intellectual figures who supported absolute monarchy include Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
and Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-parl ...
.
See also
* Autocracy
* Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...
* Constitutional monarchy
* Criticism of monarchy
Criticism of monarchy can be targeted against the general form of government—monarchy—or more specifically, to particular monarchical governments as controlled by hereditary royal families. In some cases, this criticism can be curtailed by le ...
* Democracy
* Despotism
* Dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
* Enlightened absolutism
* Jacques Bossuet
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...
* Monarchomachs
The Monarchomachs (french: Monarchomaques) were originally French Huguenot theorists who opposed monarchy at the end of the 16th century, known in particular for having theoretically justified tyrannicide. The term was originally a pejorative wor ...
* Presidential system
* Theonomy
Theonomy, from ''theos'' (God) and ''nomos'' (law), is a hypothetical Christian form of government in which society is ruled by divine law. Theonomists hold that divine law, particularly the judicial laws of the Old Testament, should be observed ...
* Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
* Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
* Tyranny
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to r ...
Footnotes
References
Further reading
* Anderson, Perry. (1961, 1974). ''Lineages of the Absolutist State''. London: Verso.
* Beloff, Max. ''The Age of Absolutism From 1660 to 1815''.
* Blum, Jerome, et al. (1970). ''The European World'', vol 1, pp 267–466.
* Blum, Jerome, et al. (1951). ''''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
* Kimmel, Michael S. (1988). ''Absolutism and Its Discontents: State and society in seventeenth-century France and England''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
* Méttam, Roger. (1988). ''Power and Faction in Louis XIV's France''. New York: Blackwell Publishers.
* Miller, John (ed.) (1990). ''Absolutism in Seventeenth Century Europe''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
* Wilson, Peter H. (2000). ''Absolutism in Central Europe''. New York: Routledge.
* Zmohra, Hillay. (2001). ''Monarchy, Aristocracy, and the State in Europe – 1300–1800''. New York: Routledge.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Absolute Monarchy
Monarchy
Political theories