UNIT 01THE 18th CENTURY: The Enlightenment depotism and parliamentary system
POINT 05: Parliamentarianism and Enlightened depotism
- Absolutism and Parliamentarianism
Absolute Monarchies
They were legitimised by an ideology that supported the superiority of the kings power over all others
the clergy
parliaments
The nobility
guilds,etc.
Some characteristics of absolute monarchies also included
a growing centralisation of political and administrative decisions in the royal courts and the monarchies governtment bodies
A permanent army under the orders of the king
A royal treasury able to raise revenue
and the marginalisation of the courts and parliaments structured in estates
Parliamentary monarchies
They were developed institutional and legal systems that controlled the monarchs power throught
the action of the courts and parliaments made up of major landowners
local corporations and the wealthy classes
England aws the main example
After the glorious revolution in 1688 in which the absolutists claims of the Stuart dynasty were defeated
They were selected on the condition they sign the Bill of Rights,
It limited the monarchs power
and recognaise the rights of individuals
Parliamentary Republican Political systems
They remained in place in some parts of Europe. They were governed by members of the nobility and wealthy middle class elected by local assemblies
These Republics were common in the Holy Roman Empire and on the Italian Peninsula
They achieved
and their inhabitants enjoyed certain individual freedoms
high levels of economic and cultural development
However as they did not make up large states they were weak against the military powers of the great monarchies
The exception was the United Provinces, which formed its own colonial empire
- Enlightened depotism
It was a variant of absolutism that incorporated trickledown reforms inspired by the Enlightenment
Important Enlightenment thinkers worked as government advisers or ministers under absolutist monarchs in
France
Prussia
Spain
Russia
The job of these thinkers was to rationalise how monarchies functioned
To improve their administrative and institutional bodies
and make them more efficient
Additional reforms
there were other common reforms to improve the functioning of monarchies within Enlightened despotism
Economic Reforms
Political Reforms
Their aim was to increase income from royal estate
Improvements in communication routes, agriculture, crafts, commerce were introduced
Parliaments or courts were no longer convened
The provincial government was also reorganised to strengthen the territorial power of the king
Regalist Reforms
Within political reforms, the regalists had their own entity
These reforms were designed to gain privileges within
The Church such as the appointment of high positions like
Bishops
Abbots
and the tax exemptions enjoyed by the clergy
Catherine the Great (1729-1796)
Catherine the II known as Catherine The Great empress Russia between 1762 and 1796, was an example of enlightment depotism
She was in contact with the most important Enlightment thinkers
Diderot
Voltaire
D'Alembert
She only implemented the reformist ideas that strengthened her power
She implemented reforms in central and provincial government, but created different courts for
noblemen
the middle class
and free peasants
POINT 06 SPAIN: The Bourbon Reforms and their limits
- The war of succession and its consequences
When Carlos II of Habsburg died without children, there were two pretenders to the throne
The emperor's son Carlos of Habsburg
Prince Felipe of Bourbon, grandson of Luis XIV of France
Carlos II chose the Bourbon prince as his heir.
Several kingdoms within the Hague Alliance declared war on France and on Felipe V
Causing an international warto break out in 1701
Meanwhile in the hispanic monarchy a civil war broke out in 1705 between supporters
of the Habsburgs
and the Bourbons
The European war ended with the signing of the Peace of Utrecht in 1713
This treaty meant that Felipe V renounced his claim to the French throne and all commercial and territorial concessions to the Alliance powers
The Hispanic monarchy lost its European territories in exchange for being recognised as king of Spain and the Indies
- Political Reforms
Territorial Consequences of the treaties of utrecht and rastatt
He used the Nueva Planta decrees (1707,1711 and 1715) to abolish
The Civil war lasted until 1715
Felipe V punished the territories of the Crown of Aragon as he believed they had betrayed him
The courts
fueros
diputaciones generales
customs
fiscal systems of the kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon
The Spanish Boubons imposed a model of absolute monarchies inspired by the French absolutist system
In the middle of the 18th century it began evolving towars the model of elightened despotism
Felipe V and his successors tried to turn the royal court into the single centre of political decision making
althought their actions were limited they needed the support of the elites
Cabinets
replaced the old habsburg model of govertment with councils and validos acting as prime ministers
these were formed by ministers or secretarios del despacho, who were responsible for the main matters of government
the state
the navy
and the treasury
Regalist policies
were carried out by the Church
The Count of Floridablanca a member of the council of castilla
persuaded the Pope to dissolve the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in 1773
The Jesuiits had been persecuted by the king for being anti-reformist
- Foreign Policy
The dynastic affinity with the French Bourbons and the atlantic expansion of Great Britain
led the Spanish kings to ally themselves with France in what are known as Family Compacts
To take part in the Seven years War (1756-1763)
When the war ended the Treaty of Paris was signed
It confirmed British hegemony in the world
and Spain had to cede Florida to Great Britain but in exchange it received Louisiana from France
