What is an absolute monarch?
1 Answer
A monarch whose power is unlimited
Explanation:
Absolute monarchs such as Louis XIV are famous for being able to rule either the executive power, the judiciary power and the legislative. England is known to have a limited monarchy since the Magna Carta in 1215, nevertheless the Tudors reintroduced it and the Glorious Revolution in 1688 put a definite end to any absolute ambition in England. Absolute monarchies were then associated with Catholicism and King James II was then hated for being Catholic.
The French Revolution put a definite end to the absolute and then Napoleon through his invasions throughout Europe(escept in Russia) managed to put an end to all of them by enforcing the principles of the French Revolutions. He forced the French Bourbons(who had come in power after the war of Spanish succession between 1704 and 1712) to abdicate in Spain for instance.
Absolute monarchies meant the monarch could freely enact any law he wanted, levy taxes according to his will and arrest anyone that he deemed. For instance the French Revolution started on the 14th of July in 1789(and later became national day) when insurgents tried to besiege the Bastille in which political prisoners were detained. It was symbolic since only seven people were imprisoned.
In Britain, the MC forced the king to have the agreement of his Parliament and the 1689 Habeus Corpus forced the monarch not to detain anyone without due process of law. Monarchists who defend this kind of regime claim that the word absolute (detached from in Latin or separate from) means that these regimes were independent from financial and capitalistic magnates, which was not the case in Britain. The French Revolution was mostly driven by the middle class and not by the masses.
