ABSOLUTE MONARCHS. Louis XIV (France) (ruled from ) Peter the Great (ruled )

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1 Louis XIV (France) (ruled from ) Peter the Great (ruled ) Louis believed that in order to be respected, he had to show how rich and powerful he was. In order to show to people how powerful he was, he built a palace that in today's money would cost two billion dollars! Louis spent much of his early times as King making his country better. After that, he started to care more about expanding his territory (getting new land). To do this, he raised taxes and started making peasants join his army by force. Many people died in his wars and the cost of them left France in major debt. Louis was also a very devout Catholic. He wanted everyone in France to be Catholic. He killed or exiled people who would not convert to Catholicism. Peter s official name was Peter I, but decided to give himself the name Peter the great. Ego aside,peter did drag Russia out of the Middle Ages and into the modern world. As Tsar (King), Peter He centralised government, modernized the army, created a navy, and even had a new, modern city built from scratch, St. Petersburg. He had this new city built so that Russia could have access to a warm water port so that Russia could trade more with the rest of the world. e a wanted pay an ABSOLUTE MONARCHS Peter was so intent on modernizing, he even outlawed beards, which he saw as a symbol of the past. Men who wanted to keep their beards had to pay an annual tax. Philip II (Spain) (ruled ) Henry VIII (England) (ruled ) Phillip II ruled Spain when it was at the height of its power. Phillip s empire spread from Spain to the Caribbean to South America. Phillip believed that he was the defender of Catholicism in Europe, and waged many costly wars against Protestants. He even tried to take over England in Due to bad weather and strategic errors, Phillip s entire armada was destroyed. Of all the absolute monarchs, Phillip II is considered the worst. Unlike the other monarchs, who improved their countries in some way, Phillip used his power to wage costly wars and his policies drove Spain bankrupt. Henry VIII was an absolute monarch in England. He is most known for starting his own version of Christianity with himself as the leader. He started his own version of Christianity, Anglicanism, because the Pope would not grant him a divorce. He seized all church property Henry ended up marrying six times and executed two of his wives when they didn t bear him a son. Henry VIII tried to get rid of most Catholics and was known to have political rivals assassinated. Some sources estimate there were 72,000 executions during Henry s reign, but that number is probably exaggerated.

2 Name : Machiavelli s The Prince One person who summed up the spirit of absolutism was Niccolo Machiavelli. His most famous writing, The Prince, is essentially a guidebook on how to establish and hold onto absolute power. Machiavelli is most famous for teaching that the ends justifies the means. In other words, if you want to get something done, you should whatever methods necessary. The following are excerpts from three chapters in The Prince. CHAPTER XIV: THAT WHICH CONCERNS A PRINCE ON THE ART OF WAR A Prince should have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war; for this is the sole art that belongs to he who rules And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more about their leisure than of war they have lost their countries. And the first cause of your losing power is to neglect war; and what enables you to acquire a country is to be master of war. only not pay attention to Above all things, a Prince should keep his men well organized and drilled, and to hunt regularly. This is how a Prince accustoms his body to hardships, and gets to find out how the mountains rise, how the valleys open out, how the plains lie, and to understand the nature of rivers and marshes, and in all this to take the greatest care. This knowledge is useful in two ways. Firstly, he learns to know his country, and is better able to defend it; afterwards, he understands with ease any other situation that it may be necessary for him to study. makes his body tough But to exercise the intellect the prince should also read histories, and study there the actions of great men, to see how they have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories and defeat, so as to learn lessons from them. CHAPTER XVII. CONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY [FORGIVENESS], AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED THAN FEARED A question each prince must ask himself is this: is it better to be feared or loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but this is impossible. If a prince has to choose, he should always choose being feared over being loved. This is because by nature, people are ungrateful, fickle false, cowardly, and treacherous. As long as you are in power, they will pretend to be loyal but at the first sign of weakness, they will turn against you. Friendships that are bought will not last, and in a time of need cannot be relied on. someone who switches sides easily, someone who is a traitor is fickle

3 In addition, men have fewer problems in offending one whom is beloved. But fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails. Those who fear you will not dream of crossing you [betraying you], for they know their treachery will not go unpunished. insulting, going against Nevertheless, a prince should try to inspire fear in such a way to avoid hatred. A prince who is feared, but not hated, will last a long time. A prince who is both feared and hated may find the hatred his people have for him will eventually overcome their fear, and they will dispose of him. overthrow him We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been feared; the rest have failed. The present King of Spain would not have undertaken or conquered so many if he had been lenient. A prince then ought to care little if he has a reputation for being mean, for it is one of those characteristics which will enable him to govern. Therefore it is wiser to have a reputation for meanness, which brings fear without hatred, than to be compelled to seek reputation for niceness and be loved by his people. For when a prince who gains the reputation of being nice encounters a time when he must be mean, it will only result in hatred from his people, because they are only used to him being nice soft, forgiving feel like you have CHAPTER XXI. HOW A PRINCE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF SO AS TO GAIN RENOWN Nothing makes a prince great as setting a fine example A Prince ought to show himself a patron of ability, and to honor the arts. At the same time he should encourage his citizens to be peaceful and to keep law and order. This way, nobody will fear their possessions being taken away and the kingdom will be prosperous. The Prince ought to offer reward to anybody who contributes to the kingdom. That way, people will want to contribute to their success. Further, he ought to entertain the people with festivals and spectacles each season of the year. Entertainment keeps the people distracted when there are problems, and a happy population is also a peaceful one who will not challenge the prince s power somebody who appreciates something be succesful entertainment like tournaments or plays

4 Right There: Why does Machiavelli say Princes should focus on the study of war? Think and Search: What ways does Machiavelli say a Prince can become effective at the art of war? Right There: Does Machiavelli think it is better for a ruler to be loved or feared? Think and Search: In your own words, why does Machiavelli think this way? Author and You: Do you think it is better to be loved or feared? Why? Right There: Why does Machiavelli say a prince should avoid being hated by his people? Think and Search: Does Machiavelli think a prince should care whether people think he is nice or not? Why / why not? Author and You: Do you think a leader should care if people think he is nice or not? Why / why not? Right There: What does Machiavelli say a prince should do to keep his people happy? Think and Search: Why does Machiavelli think it s important to keep the population happy?

5 AUTHOR AND YOU: Of all the absolute monarchs from the first page, which one best fits Machiavelli s description of a good ruler? Why?

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