Absolutism

Absolutism is a form of monarchy in which a ruler claims extensive, centralized authority, often justified by divine right and constrained weakly by representative institutions.

Divine right of kings: The doctrine that monarchs receive authority from God and answer to God rather than earthly subjects. It supplied a religious justification for monarchs claiming authority beyond ordinary political checks.
Louis XIV: King of France from 1643 to 1715, associated with the consolidation of royal authority and the court at Versailles. His reign became the best-known European example of an ambitious absolutist monarchy.
Early modern period: The historical period spanning roughly the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries, between the Middle Ages and modernity. Absolutist claims and institutions took shape amid early modern state-building.
Constitutional monarchy: A monarchy in which a constitution or established laws limit the ruler’s authority. It contrasts with absolutism by placing formal limits on the monarch’s governing power.
Sovereignty: The supreme authority to make and enforce rules within a political territory. Absolutism concentrated sovereignty in the monarch rather than dividing it among institutions.
Versailles: A palace and royal complex near Paris that served as the principal court of Louis XIV. Its court life made royal presence and hierarchy instruments of political control.
State formation: The historical process through which political authorities build durable institutions and control over territory. Absolutism emerged alongside efforts to centralize administration, taxation, and military power.
Parliamentary sovereignty: The principle that a legislature has supreme legal authority within a political system. It locates ultimate authority in a representative legislature rather than the monarch.
Bureaucracy: An administrative system in which officials carry out policy through defined offices and procedures. Royal officials extended centralized decisions into provinces and local communities.
Peter the Great: Russian tsar who ruled from 1682 to 1725 and pursued military, administrative, and social reforms. He strengthened centralized rule while transforming Russia’s army and state institutions.

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