Taking Notes Always copy down the UNIT, the TOPIC, and the DATE for your heading. Always copy anything that is NUMBERED or LETTERED. If something is not NUMBERED or LETTERED, don’t copy it! If a word is highlighted in a different color, it is an important vocabulary word!

REMEMBER: if you are absent, it is your responsibility to copy the notes from that day from a classmate!

Unit: Review Topic: Absolutism Mrs. Johnson September 13, 2011

1. What is absolutism?

Absolutism is a form of monarchical (king or queen) power that is unrestricted by anything (churches, constitutions, or law-making bodies).

The monarch would claim divine right – the power to rule came from God.

2. Major Absolutist Monarchs

King Louis XIV, or the “Sun King,” of France! (1643-1715)

Louis spent a fortune to surround himself with luxury Louis spent a fortune to surround himself with luxury. An observer claimed that the king once devoured four plates of soup, a whole chicken, a partridge in garlic sauce, two slices of ham, a salad, a plate of pastries, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs in a single sitting!

1. Under the Sun King, the French were heavily taxed and this combined with poor harvests led to poverty and famine in France.

King Louis XVI’s reign led to the French Revolution!

Peter the Great (1682-1725) and Catherine the Great helped to modernize and Westernize Russia.

In England there was King Charles II, but his rule led to civil war and eventually he was beheaded!

This led to the Glorious Revolution, in which King William and Queen Mary had to sign the English Bill of Rights, creating a limited monarchy.

3. Problems

When absolutist monarchs can do whatever they want, sometimes they abuse their power. King Henry VIII

People living in a country ruled by an absolute monarch have no say in anything.

Absolute monarchy usually leads to peasant unrest, revolution or war!