ABSOLUTISM

the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch. The essence of such a system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral. Louis XIV, who ruled France during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, furnished the most familiar assertion of absolutism when he said, "L'tat, c'est moi" ("I am the state"). Varying in form, political absolutism has prevailed in much of the world over long periods of time. However, the form originating in early modern European history became the prototype. Its character was definitely monarchical, based on the strong individual leaders of new nation-states created at the breakup of the medieval order. The power of these states was closely associated with the power of their rulers; and, in order to strengthen both, it was necessary to curtail the restraints on centralized government that had been exercised by the church, feudal lords, and medieval customs generally. By claiming the absolute authority of the state against such former restraints, the monarch as head of state claimed his own absolute authority as well. By the 16th century, monarchical absolutism was coming to prevail in much of western Europe, and it was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries. Besides France, whose absolutism was epitomized by Louis XIV, well-known illustrations may be drawn from Spain, Prussia, and Austria. In defense of monarchical absolutism, the simplest argument was that kings derived their authority from God-"the divine right of kings." This view could justify even tyrannical rule as divinely ordained punishment, administered by rulers, for human sinfulness. In its origins, the divine-right theory may be traced to the medieval conception of God's award of temporal power to the political ruler, while spiritual power was given to the head of the Roman Catholic church. However, the new national monarchs asserted their authority in all matters and tended to become heads of church as well as state. Their power was absolute in a way that was impossible for medieval monarchs confronted by a church that was essentially a rival centre of authority. More pragmatic arguments than that of divine right were also advanced in behalf of absolute monarchy. Complete obedience to a single will was said to be essential to order and security; the alternative was the chaos created by challenging or dividing political power. In so justifying submission by subjects on the ground of self-interest, the most elaborate statement was made in the 17th-century work Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. The monopoly of power is also justified by a presumed knowledge of absolute truth. Neither the sharing of power nor limits on its exercise appear valid to those who believe that they know, and know absolutely, what is right.