System of government •King or Queen has complete control over

System of government
•King or Queen has
complete control over
government & its people
Autocracy
Centralized Government
Nation or Modern States
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
•Monarchs based their
claim on Divine Right
Authority comes from God
Similar to “Mandate of Heaven”
•Monarchs are “Above the Law”
•Common features- Strong
armies,limited representative bodies,
high taxes
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Loss of power by
nobility
New government
Bureaucracies
Huge building projects
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Known as “The Sun King”
•Mercantilist policies
•Built the strongest army in
Europe
•Expanded bureaucracy
•Never called the Estates General
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
•Built Versailles
His successors inherited enormous
debts (costly Wars & extravagance)
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
•Grand Embassy tour
Toured Europe
learning new technologies
•Westernization/Modernization
•Introduced western ideas
•Laws, technology, culture
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Won territory
along the Baltic Sea
St. Petersburg becomes
“Window to the West”
Centralized power
Reduced power of the nobility
Brought Orthodox Church under his
control
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
1215 King John forced to sign
Magna Carta
Limited King’s powers
1295 Edward I establishes
Model Parliament
Lawmaking body
House of Lords & House of
Commons
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Parliament
successfully blocked
attempted shifts to
absolute rule
The Tudor
Monarchs(1485-1603)
generally worked well w/
Parliament
Ex. Henry VIII &
Elizabeth I
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Had absolutist
tendencies (Strong belief
in Divine Right)
James I & son Charles
I Consistently clashed
with Parliament over
finance & foreign policy
Angered Puritans
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Known as the Puritan
Revolution (1642)
Charles’s Cavaliers vs.
Roundheads led by
Oliver Cromwell
Charles I is overthrown
by forces loyal to
Parliament
beheaded in 1649
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
England became a Republic with
Cromwell as leader called the
Commonwealth
At first Cromwell & Parliament
share power
•1653 Cromwell assumes Title of
Lord Protector & rules as a
dictator
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
•Upon Cromwell’s death, Parliament
restores Stuart Monarchy to throne
•Charles II & James II became
unpopular due to absolutist policies
•Parliament fears return of
Catholicism(James II)
•Parliament overthrows James II
& asks William & Mary to
assume throne (Glorious Revolution)
Isabel Torralbo Talavera
1688-William & Mary
forced to sign English Bill
of Rights is signed
Guarantees Parliament’s
superiority over the
Monarchy
 England becomes a
Limited Monarchy
(Remains today)
Isabel Torralbo Talavera