Monarch

Imagine yourself in a state-country during the 15th to 17th centuries in Europe. You are throned and made king of a state-country after spending most of your life as a poor peasant. As a king you are faced with responsibilities to make laws and decisions for your subjects. Your subjects are poor and starving. Would you spend the nation’s money on welfare for the poor or build yourself a luxurious palace? You might chose welfare for your subjects but the reality of the matter is most monarchs of this time would rather build a palace. These kings making these rash decisions were absolute monarchs. They believed and practiced absolutism. Absolutism refers to the practice or belief that kings should control every aspect of government. The absolute monarchs were the majority of kings in rule during the 15th to 17th centuries in Europe. These monarchs, because of their uncontrolled power, made very rash decisions and many of their action were selfish and self-centered. To my opinion an absolute monarch is a ruler or leader who is in control of everything in his state-country.

A great example of an absolute monarch is King Louis XIV of France. King Louis XIV was the ruler of France from 1648 till 1715. He was the third Bourbon Monarch to rule France. He is known as the most powerful and most famous of the Bourbon monarchs. Paraphrasing from the notes about King Louis XIV, he stated “‘L’etat c’est moi’-’I am the state’”. During his rule King Louis wrote many speeches praising the absolutism ideas In his speech he states “The head alone has the right to deliberate, and the function of all other members consists only in carrying out the commands given to them”