An absolute monarchy is a system of government in which a single hereditary ruler holds legally unlimited authority, not subject to regular check by a legislature, court or electorate. Its clearest historical expression was in early modern Europe, associated with rulers such as Louis XIV of France, though the term also applies to present-day monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Eswatini and Oman, where a king or sultan still exercises executive, legislative and often judicial power directly. A constitutional monarchy, by contrast, binds the same office to a constitution and, in most modern cases, an elected government.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearAbsolute monarchy as a general form of rule is far older than any single dynasty and has no defensible single founding date; 1661 marks Louis XIV of France's assumption of personal rule after Cardinal Mazarin's death, the reign most often cited in the reference literature as the paradigm case of a European monarch ruling without a chief minister or an effective check from the nobility or an estates general. Founding ContextHistorically justified in Europe through the theological doctrine of the divine right of kings. 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names France directly: "with rulers such as Louis XIV of France, though the term also applies to present-day monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Eswatini and Oman, where a king or sultan still exercises executive..."
Source Absolutism (Britannica)
Practiced By
Source Qing Dynasty (Britannica)
Source Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Absolute Monarchy (Wikipedia)
WikipediaEuropean history contextQuote, European history context
Throughout much of European history, the divine right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy.
2. Absolutism (Britannica)
Encyclopedia.com: Monarchy
Encyclopedia.com (Gale)Forms of Monarchy sectionQuote, Forms of Monarchy section
In an absolute monarchy, the monarch possesses total power over the land and its inhabitants, and there is no authority or body of law above the monarch.
Qing Dynasty (Britannica)
Practiced By: Qing Dynasty
Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia)
Practiced By: Saudi Arabia, Infobox: government_typeQuote, Practiced By: Saudi Arabia, Infobox: government_type
Absolute monarchy
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