Absolutism

Absolutism is a form of government in which the royal power is not limited by any constitutional check. The great era of absolutism in Europe was that which followed on the downfall of the feudal system. The form of monarchy then established was based on the subordination both of the nobles and the church to a strong centralising power, with large revenues and a regular army. The central power was represented by a monarch whose will was supreme. The old feudal nobles were transformed into courtiers. Not only the church, but law, science, and the universities were taken into his service. A professional army took the place of the old feudal militia. For the needs of such a state, a regular revenue, paid in money instead of the feudal payment in kind, was essential. Louis XIV., with his celebrated dictum, L'état, c'est moi (I am the state), may be regarded as the representative absolute monarch. We had a milder form of it in England under the House of Tudor, the so-called personal monarchy. It should be recognised that the absolute centralising monarchy was a necessary stage in the evolution of the modern state. The centralising tendency was necessary for self-defence, and could be effected only by a strong monarch. The ruin of Poland was chiefly due to the fact that it never had a central government vigorous enough to repress the anarchic nobles, and weld the nation into one. The era of absolute monarchs has been virtually closed by the revolutionary movements of 1789 and 1848, the effect of which has been to establish representative institutions in most civilised countries. See AUTOCRACY.