2. There were four main obstacles that existed in the seventeenth century to building a strong state. Without telephones, paved roads, or other modern technology, it took weeks to convey orders from the central governments to the provinces. Rulers also suffered from a lack of information about their realms, making it virtually impossible to police and tax the population effectively. Local power structures that held legal privileges, such as nobles, the church, provincial and other national assemblies, town councils, and guilds, could not easily be rescinded. Many people also spoke a language different from that of the Crown, further decreasing their willingness to obey its commands.
4. The Thirty Years War began as a religious civil war between …show more content…
Absolutism is a political theory in which all power should be gathered and under the personal control of one ruler. Louis XIV was taught from an early age the doctrine of the divine right of kings. Louis ruled his realm through several councils of state and insisted on taking a personal rule in many of their decisions. He selected councilors from the recently ennobled or the upper middle class to ensure his own absolute power. Louis never called a meeting of the Estates’ General, therfore depriving nobles of united expression or action. Louis also did not have a first minister. Despite his claims to absolute authority, Louis was obliged to rule in a manner consistent with virtue and benevolence according to his status as a divine ruler. He had to uphold the laws introduced by his royal predecessors. In addition, Louis also relied on the collaborations of nobles, who maintained tremendous prestige and authority in their ancestral lands.
12. Scholars characterize the art and literature of the age of Louis XIV as French classicism. The artists and writers of the late seventeenth century imitated the subject matter and style of classical antiquity. Their work resembled that of the Renaissance Italy; French art possessed the classical qualities of discipline, balance, and restraint. With Versailles as the center of European politics, French culture grew in international prominence. French became the language of polite society and worldly diplomacy, gradually replacing Latin …show more content…
The level of religious toleration accepted by each new English monarch played a major role in its effect on political controversies. Many Puritans during the early seventeenth century felt that the Protestant Reformation had not gone far enough; they were dissatified by the Anglican Church previously put into place by Henry VIII. James I response, “No bishop, no king”, worked to further antagonize these religious sentiments. This lack of religious toleration resulted in uprisings of the Presbyterian Scots and Catholic gentry of Ireland. The finances needed to put down these revolts often required a meeting of the Parliament, leading to increased political focus and controversy regarding the methods of each monarch. Religious issues during the reign of Oliver Cromwell also worsened relations between England and Ireland. Although Cromwell himself favored some degree of religious toleration, resentment still remained towards the Roman Catholics. The English eventually banned Catholicism in Ireland, resulting in the long-lasting Irish hatred for