Realities of Living During The Time of Absolutism

Absolutism throughout the 16th and 17th century was a monarchy which the man or women in power has full control. Each monarch brought their ups and downs, but mainly brought tyranny throughout Europe. Examples of tyranny during this time include, war, religious corruption/prejudice, and taxation throughout Europe for centuries.

War was very prevalent throughout the age of absolutism, most not doing much to benefit the countries involved. King Fredrick II led not only himself but his religion into war. His original intention to “extend the territory of Prussia”, instead he was left conflicting with other countries trying to expand their own land as well. The Thirty Years War is another example of war during the time of monarchs. This was a “conflict between the different Protestant groups and the Catholics” that led to a civil war in Germany. Mostly the wars would leave not only the country but the people of the country in debt.

Corruption during the times of absolute monarchs was also much common to the royal families, with acts of savagery and selfishness. First example of corruption in times of absolute monarchy is King Henry VIII. Henry VIII ruled from 1509 - 1547. He was corrupt in that he “manipulated Parliament to get his ways, and broke from the Catholic Church”. Reason for doing so was so that he can get himself divorced form then wife in order to marry another woman so she can bare a boy child for him. Henry VIII would have his former wives killed, and leave his country divided between religious beliefs. Another form of religious corruption comes in yet another English monarch, Queen Mary I, when she would have “over 400 Protestants killed for their beliefs and for heresy”, this accompanied with other rulers such as Ivan the Terrible who were known for going on killing sprees, reason being religious belief and background.

Taxation from monarchs was never light sometimes, costing more than money. Although not a direct tax, King Henry VIII would take land from his people and sell it as his own. Fredrick WIlliam of Germany was infamous for exaggerated taxes during his rule between 1640 and 1688. The excuse for the raise in taxes was to “raised the taxes to bring Prussia power”. Fredrick was disliked for this as he had gotten no consent to raise taxes, but being an absolute monarch he did not need any. Although the raise in tax did allow Germany to grow, many people still disagreed with the tax, for them being too high.

Living during the time of absolute monarchy obviously would not be the ideal choice for most considering the way of life, and rule the monarchs had over the people. Although the monarchies were not all so terrible, it is fair to say the period of time where absolute monarchy was on top, was a time of tyranny throughout Europe. Lastly, what contributed to such tyranny was war, religious corruption/prejudice, and taxes imposed by monarchs.