Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
ABSOLUTISM AND THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM - Coggle Diagram
ABSOLUTISM AND THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
ABSOLUTISM: FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV
Throughout the 17th century, the authoritarian monarchies of some kingdoms developed into absolute monarchies.
Absolute Monarchies
An ideology defending the king’s supremacy over all others
Growing centralisation of political and administrative decisions in the royal courts and the monarchy’s governmental bodies
A permanent army of professional soldiers, under the orders of the king
A royal treasury able to raise revenue
Marginalisation of the courts and parliaments of the estates
The courts and parliaments of kingdoms, as representatives of their political communities, were sometimes resistant to the absolutist tendencies of the monarchs.
Sometimes, it led to confrontations, when a dispute ended favourably for the monarchy, it was considered a victory for absolutism.
The most representative example of an absolute monarchy is Louis XIV of France
This was a series of civil wars, with the nobility, cities and provinces with their parliaments fighting on one side, and the king and his supporters on the other.
A Golden Cage for the Nobility
When Louis XIV was very young, he built the Royal Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris to escape the crowds of the capital.
THE PARLIAMENT SYSTEM IN ENGLAND
Unlike the French system, there were other territories where the monarch’s power was controlled by courts and parliaments
After the victory of the Parliamentarian army, led by Oliver Cromwell, Charles I was executed, and a republic was declared under Cromwell’s dictatorial leadership
This led to a new confrontation with the Parliament, resulting in the Glorious Revolution (1688).
The Parliament chose Mary II and her husband, William III of Orange as the new monarchs.
They were selected on the condition that they would sign the Bill of Rights (1689), which limited the monarch’s power and recognised the rights of the individual.
This led to the establishment of a constitutional or parliamentary monarchy because the monarchs had been selected by Parliament and had accepted the Bill of Rights.
English Constitutional Monarchy
Monarch
Appointed the government
Was head of state
Submitted laws for approval
Direct foreign policy
Controlled the Church of England
Called parliament into session
Parliament
Controled the monarchs
Approved laws
Approved new taxes
Controlled government duties
Submited complaints to the monarchs
The English Parliament
It consisted of two chambers, called houses.
The House of Lords consisted of the country’s most important noblemen and the Church of England bishops.
The House of Commons consisted of representatives of the kingdom’s cities and counties.