Absolute Monarchy and the Increasing Power of the European States

Despite the legal mechanisms restraining the absolute kings’ power, they were still powerful enough to transform their kingdoms into great states. They did so internally through the expansion and rationalization of their administrations.

At the same time, they sought to expand the scope of their authority externally, a trend which led to a continuous grappling for hegemony among the different European kingdoms.

9.5.1 The Technical Advantages of Absolutism

If the absolute kings were all despots and tyrants, it is hard to explain why the absolutist model became widespread throughout Europe and, above all, why it lasted for several centuries. The explanation for the entrenchment and consolidation of absolute monarchy is partly to be found precisely, in the fact that, generally, the absolute kings headed strong governments which managed to maintain domestic order and ensure expansion abroad. This is why Louis XIV, the paragon of absolutism, became the model to be emulated across Europe, essentially because France during his reign was the Continent’s most powerful state. Thus did the last Stuart kings in England in the second third of the seventeenth century, seek to follow the legal and political model imposed by the Sun King.

From the point of view of the history of the modern state, it is also indisputable that absolute monarchy became the tool which broke the power of those groups which had hitherto constantly threatened government stability through their infighting and struggling vying for power: the nobles, local oligarchies, cities and religious sects (Wallerstein 2011, 132-163). The people perceived a king wielding overwhelming power as the only force capable of bringing all these privileged classes to heel, dissolving estate-based society and assuring the implementation of the principle that all subjects were equal before their king.

The French Calvinist Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), in his Historical and Critical Dictionary (1695-1697), wrote that “the only way of preventing civil war in France is the absolute power of the sovereign, vigorously sustained and armed with all necessary force so that is duly feared”.^{^[434]}

It is telling and significant that the establishment of regimes of absolute monarchy was invariably preceded by situations of anarchy. In Castile, royal authority was overwhelmingly buttressed by the Catholic Monarchs after half a century of long wars between factions of Castilian nobles, which had taken a considerable toll on the kingdom. The strengthening of royal authority was consolidated by Charles I as a result of the “Rebellion of the Communities”.^{^[435]} Similarly, in France, Henry IV, the first Bourbon, rose to the throne after the ordeal of the Wars of Religion. The strengthening of royal authority was relentlessly continued by Cardinal Richelieu (the chief minister of Henry’s son, Louis XIII) who took on the nobility and the Protestants to create a powerful monarchy. The absolutism of Louis XIV was a reaction against the fear and humiliation that the young king suffered during the regency as a result of the Fronde Rebellion, backed by the Parliament and the nobles. The absolutism of the Tudors in England was accepted because it brought an end to the dark chapter of civil strife and anarchy among the nobility spawned by the War of the Roses. Henry VIII was also a popular king because he was able to tame the nobility and even the Church, as he nationalized the secular clergy, dissolved the monasteries and expropriated ecclesiastical holdings.^{^[436]}

Most astonishing of all, as Sevillia (2003, 135) points out, is that when we read memoirs, personal diaries, and private letters from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we realize that absolutism, as a concept, was not widely contested. A concrete measure of the king’s might be unpopular, or his ministers criticized, but the monarch’s supreme authority and functions went largely unquestioned.

Perhaps this was because, as Anderson (2013, 18) points out, the absolute monarchs were able to pacify the nobles by convincing and reassuring them that their policies would not favor the nascent bourgeoisie in such a way that the traditional elite’s position would be threatened. In the same line Dessert (2000, 8) argues that Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy was not an autocratic regime, but a centralized and unifying system under which monarchical authority tended to dominate all the dissenting groups and bodies that aspired to play a political role, administrating the country through commissioners named by the king and entirely committed to his authority.^{^[437]}

It also should be considered that public opinion throughout Europe began to shift as people realized that royal, absolute governments were more orderly and efficient than the ones which had preceded them under feudalism, especially when absolute monarchs were instilled with the mercantilist ideas of the Modern Age, which endorsed the protection of national economies and favored a conception of the economy better suited to the times, promoting national prosperity.

9.5.2 The Administrative Expansion of Absolute Monarchies

Finally, we must identify as one of the major factors giving rise to the absolutist model of the state, the growing complexity of the government and its administration, which justified the professionalization of governmental tasks and consolidated what Ertman calls the triumph of “Patrimonial Absolutism” (1999, 90).

The absolute ruler personally wielded executive power, as he was able to decide all questions of domestic and international policy, including declarations of war and signings of peace. Consequently, the task of governing became so complex and constraining that kings usually appointed men to the most important administrative offices, and could even delegate the government to trusted individuals. Such was the case with a number of powerful chief ministers during the era, who effectively served as de facto rulers: Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)^{^[438]} and Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661) in France; Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1471-1530), and Chancellors Thomas More (1478-1535) and Thomas Cromwell (1485) in England, under Henry VIII.

Spain’s Catholic Monarchy featured influential royal secretaries such as Francisco de los Cobos (1477-1547), who served under Charles I, and Mateo Vazquez and Antonio Perez under Philip II. Beginning with the reign of Philip III (1598-1621), there appeared the figure of the valido, responsible for handling all matters of government in the name of the king,^{^[439]} the first of these officials being the Duke of Lerma. The most famous of these validos was the Count Duke of Olivares, who effectively governed the Catholic Monarchy during the first phase of Philip IV’s reign, beginning in 1621, and during the Portuguese and Catalonian rebellions of 1640.

The exception was Louis XIV, who after Mazarin’s death in 1661, personally governed France for more than half a century, though assisted by able ministers and advisory bodies such as the “High Board” (Conseil d’en haut)^{^[440]} whose members were freely appointed by the monarch, their function being to counsel the king, who made final decisions (Harouel et al. 2007, 342-348). Also noteworthy was the case of England, with its Privy Council (Dicey 2009) under Elizabeth I, chaired successively by William Cecil (1520-1598), and his son Robert Cecil (1563-1612). Under the Spanish Catholic monarchy, affairs of state were handled by different councils, both territorial (Castile, Aragon, Italy, Flanders and America) and specialized (the Councils of State, Treasury and Orders)—all entities created since the era of the Catholic Kings, and consolidated under Charles I and Philip II.^{^[441]} As Strayer (1970, 103) notes, the principle of collegiality was a practical solution that allowed the monarch to use experienced, professional councilors freely without delegating too much power to any one of them.

The substantial growth of royal administration and the ensuing consolidation of the state as an institution, proved that the triumph of absolute monarchy was not, however, so much the product of jurists’ theoretical constructions as it was the result of significant economic and political transformations experienced by European kingdoms in general after 1500, which demanded a significant bolstering of royal power.

As Mulgan (1998,1) observes, the rising administrative costs of the new monarchies spurred each government to make its financial machinery more effective and to better administrate its resources. The final aim was to augment the wealth of the state through “mercantilism”, a protectionist approach by which monarchies sought to bolster their national economies, favoring their industries and establishing a favorable balance of trade, exporting more than importing and monopolizing as many trades as possible. This vision of the economy and national power, encouraged Europe’s kings to compete and even clash in a sort of protonational competition; some authors think that the absolute monarchies might be fairly called “national monarchies”.

9.5.3 Towards a Europe of “National” Monarchies

However, can we speak of “national” sentiments before the rising of the nationstate at the end of the eighteenth century? It is true that, as Strayer (1970, 109) points out, nationalism is such a vague term that it is not easy to say when it evolved, or how it differs from mere xenophobia, its relationship to old local and regional loyalties, or what its connections are to religious, cultural and linguistic differences. Despite this, it is clearly possible to affirm that in the seventeenth century, there arose signs of what might be called nationalism in the long- established kingdoms of England, France, and Spain, and that it tended to strengthen those states.^{^[442]}

As Anderson (2013, 38-39) explains, the royal states during the absolutist period did not disdain to foment patriotic sentiments amongst their subjects during the political and military conflicts which constantly brought the various monarchies of Western Europe into conflict with one another. In his view, we cannot speak of proto-nationalism, as in Tudor England, Bourbon France and Habsburg Spain these feelings did not emanate from a loyal people who felt invested in, and identified with, their land and its institutions.

In fact, in his view these “national passions” under absolutism, though they may have appeared to be significant, were in reality highly contingent and volatile, as power and political legitimacy were of a dynastic nature, constantly vulnerable to manipulation by grandees and sovereigns.

Regardless of the abovementioned debate, it is quite clear that after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), the idea of a universal Christian empire was replaced by an international order based on the struggle between different secular “national monarchies” that would struggle to impose their hegemony through successive wars during the next three centuries.

TIMELINE

Fifteenth Century

1494-1497

1496

First Italian War between France and Spain.

With the conquest of the island of Tenerife, the occupation of the Canary Islands initiated by the Crown of Castile in 1477 comes to an end.

1497

1498-1504

1498

Conquest of Melilla by the Castilian knight Salvador de Estopifian. Second Italian War.

April. Portugal’s Vasco de Gama reaches India.

Sixteenth Century

1500 1502	April. Portugal’s Pedro Alvares Cabral discovers Brazil. On his third voyage, begun in 1501, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) realizes that he has discovered a new continent, which is named for him: America.
1504 1506 1512	December 26. Isabel the Catholic dies. May 19. Christopher Columbus dies in Valladolid. Conquest of the Kingdom of Navarre (territory located south of the Pyrenees) by Ferdinand the Catholic.
1513 1515 1516 1519	Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) publishes The Prince. Francis I becomes the King of France (serving until 1547). Charles I, King of Spain (Serving until 1556). June 28. Charles I is elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. November 8. Hernan Cortes enters Tenochtitlan (Mexico).
1520-1521	War of the Communities (April 23, 1521). Spain. The comuneros are defeated at Villalar).
1521	April. Martin Luther defends the Protestant Reformation before Charles V at the Diet of Worms.
1522	September 6. Juan Sebastian Elcano completes the first circumnavigation of the world.
1525	February 24. The Battle of Pavia. Charles V captures Francis I of France.

Sack of Rome. Charles V’s troops, at war with Pope Clement VII, pillage Rome.

Charles V is crowned Emperor in Bologna by Clement VII. Francisco Pizarro conquers Peru.

After his marriage to Anne Boleyn (1533) Henry VIII of England (1509-1547) severs the Church of England from Rome (Act of Supremacy).

October. Jacques Cartier founds Quebec in Canada. The beginning of the French colonization of North America.

The papacy authorizes the founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), created by Ignacio de Loyola.

Charles I promulgates the “New Laws”. Inspired by Bartolome de las Casas, they are an instrument to protect indigenous peoples in the Americas from abuse by Spanish colonists.

The Council of Trent begins (ending in 1563).

Francis I of France dies, succeeded by Henry II, who marries Catherine de Medici.

Mary Tudor is Queen of England (until 1558). Catholicism gains ground. She marries the future Philip II of Spain on July 25, 1554. The Peace of Augsburg. The conflict with the Protestants ends in a stalemate (cuius regio e ius religio).

Charles V abdicates, leaving to his son Philip II all his domains, except those of the Empire. He will continue to hold the imperial title until his death.

August 10. The Battle of St. Quentin. Momentous Spanish victory on the Feast Day of St. Lawrence.

September 21. Charles V dies at Yuste.

November 17. Mary Tudor dies in London. Isabel I rises to the throne (1558-1603).

April 2. The Treaty of Cateau Cambressis. The beginning of Spanish hegemony.

July 10. Death of Henry II of France. Beginning of the regency of Catherine of Medici.

July. Madrid becomes the capital of the Spanish monarchy.

The Council of Trent comes to a close (begun in 1545).

July. Revolt of the Sea Beggars in the Netherlands. The Calvinists attack Catholic churches.

August 28. The Duke of Alba reaches Brussels at the head of an army.

June 5. Execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horn.

The anti-Spanish rebellion in the Netherlands spreads.

October 7. The Battle of Lepanto.

August 24. The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Killing of Protestants in Paris.

1576 1579	Jean Bodin (1529-1596) publishes The Six Books of the Republic. Union of Utrecht. Splitting of the Netherlands: The northern, Protestant provinces (Holland) separate from the Catholic provinces in the south.
1580	June. The Duke of Alba invades Portugal at the head of Philip II’s troops.
1581	April 15. The Portuguese Cortes recognize Philip II as King of Portugal. In exchange the monarch agrees to respect the traditional jurisdiction and privileges of the Portuguese kingdom. On July 27 Philip II arrives in Lisbon, remaining in the Portuguese capital until February 11, 1583.
1588 1589	Failure of Spain’s invasion of England (the Invincible Armada). After converting to Catholicism (“Paris is worth a mass”) Henry IV becomes the first king of the House of Bourbon (King of France, until 1610).
1590 1591	Philip II’s Secretary, Antonio Perez Aragon, flees. Spanish troops under the command of Alejandro Farnesio occupy Paris in support of the Catholic party (until 1595).
1592	Las Cortes de Tarazona. Philip II puts an end to the Aragonian revolt, suppressing the lifelong appointment of the Chief Justice of Aragon.
1598	April 13. Henry IV signs the Edict of Nantes. Protestantism is tolerated in France. The “Wars of Religion” which had plagued France (1562-1598) ended. September 13. Philip II of Spain dies.

Seventeenth Century

1601	Philip III of Spain (1598-1621) moves the capital of the monarchy to Valladolid.
1603 1605 1606 1607	March 24. Death of Elizabeth I of England. Publication of the first part of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Madrid is once again the capital of the Catholic Monarchy. The English found their first settlement in North America: Jamestown (John Smith and Pocahontas) in Virginia.
1609	April 9. Felipe III, under pressure from the Duke of Lerma, signs the Twelve Years Truce with the United Provinces of the Netherlands. On the same day the decree is issued expelling the moriscos (Moors) from the Iberian Peninsula. The effective expulsion would remain in effect until 1614.
1610	Assassination of Henry IV of France. Louis XIII (1610-1643) takes the throne. The regency of his mother, Marie de Medici, lasts until 1614.
1616	April 23. Miguel de Cervantes dies in Madrid. On the same day William Shakespeare dies in Stratford upon Avon (England) (May 3 on the Gregorian calendar).

Defenestration of Prague. The Thirty Years War begins.

November 11. The Mayflower reaches the coast of North America (Cape Cod, Massachusetts). On November 21 the occupants of the boat sign the Mayflower Compact, a landmark document and harbinger of self-rule in the American colonies.

March 31. Philip II of Spain dies. Philip IV (1621-1665) rises to the throne. The Count Duke of Olivares takes charge of the government (until 1643). Cardinal Richelieu becomes Chief Minister to Louis XIII.

Charles I, King of England (until 1649).

Philip IV (1621-1665) proclaims the “Union of Arms”, a plan advanced by the Count Duke of Olivares to create a common army composed of troops hailing from all across Spain’s territories in the service of the Spanish Monarchy.

Richelieu takes La Rochelle. The Protestants are politically subdued by the king of France.

November 10. Richelieu becomes Louis XIII’s all-powerful chief minister. Grotius publishes his work De iure belli ac pacis.

Catalonian and Portuguese revolts against Philip IV.

December 4. Cardinal de Richelieu dies in Paris.

May 14. Death of Louis XIII. Regency of Anne of Austria and Mazarin (until 1661).

May 19. Major Spanish defeat at Rocroi.

August 28. Death of the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius (born in Delft, 1583). January 30. Execution of Charles I of England, the first time a monarch is publicly beheaded in Europe. Oliver Cromwell is the ruler of England until his death (1658).

August 26. The Fronde Rebellion begins against the Regent Anne of Austria and Mazarin.

October 24. Treaties of Westphalia. The Thirty Years War ends. Spain recognizes the independence of the United Provinces (Northern Netherlands). Triumph of the “Europe of nations” over imperial universalism.

February 11. Death of French philosopher Rene Descartes.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) publishes The Leviathan.

End of the Fronde Rebellion (begun in 1658) with the victory of Mazarin and Anne of Austria.

Velazquez (1599-1660) paints Las Meninas.

September 3. Death of Oliver Cromwell.

November 7. Signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. End of Spanish hegemony. The “French Century” begins.

May 30. The Stuarts regain the throne in England, with Charles II (until 1685).

March 9. Death of Mazarin. Start of the personal rule of Louis XIV (until 1715).

1665 Philip IV of Spain dies, succeeded by Charles II (1665-1700). The regency begins, lasting until 1676.

1673 February 17. Death of French playwright МоііЄгє.

1682 May. Louis XIV moves to the Palace of Versailles.

1685 February 6. After the death of Charles II of England, he is succeeded on the throne by James II (1685-1688).

March 21. Birth of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

October 18. Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes.

1688 The Glorious Revolution in England.

1689 The English Parliament passes the Bill of Rights. King William III

(of Orange, 1689-1702), marries the daughter of James II, Mary II (16891694).

1695 April 13. Death of French poet Jean de La Fontaine.

1700 November 1. Death of Charles II.

November 12. Acceptance by Louis XIV of his grandson Philip of Anjou’s inheritance of the Spanish Crown; Philip becomes Philip V of Spain.

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