Absolutism

Absolutism, also called the Age of Absolutism, is a historiographical term for a form of monarchical power unrestrained by other institutions such as churches, legislatures or social elites, and it is dated roughly from 1610 to 1789. It is used chiefly of European monarchs during the transition from feudalism to capitalism, though monarchs described as absolute appear from the sixteenth century through the nineteenth, with medieval precursors. Absolutism is characterized by the end of feudal partitioning, the concentration of power in the monarch, the rise of state power, unified state law and a decline in the influence of church and nobility. Absolute monarchs are associated with professional standing armies and bureaucracies, codified law, and ideologies that justified the system, above all the divine right of kings. Historians disagree about how far monarchs really achieved such control: Perry Anderson holds that many did, while Roger Mettam disputes the concept itself.