Editing Absolute monarchy (section)

===Europe===
{{Main|Absolutism (European history)}}
Throughout much of European history, the [[divine right of kings]] was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs claimed [[Tsarist autocracy|supreme autocratic power]] by divine right, and that their subjects had no rights to limit their power.

Throughout the [[Age of Enlightenment]], the concept of the divine right to power and democratic ideals were given serious merit.

The [[Revolutions of 1848]], known in some countries as the ''Springtime of the Peoples''<ref>{{cite book |author=Merriman, John |year=1996 |title=A History of Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the present |page=715}}</ref> or the ''Springtime of Nations'', were a series of [[political upheaval]]s throughout [[Europe]] in 1848. It remains the most widespread [[revolutionary wave]] in [[European history]]. By the 19th&nbsp;century, divine right was regarded as an obsolete theory in most countries in the [[Western world]], except in Russia where it was still given credence as the official justification for the Tsar's power until [[February Revolution]] in 1917 and in the [[Vatican City]] where it remains today.

====Kingdoms of England and Scotland====
[[James VI and I]] and his son [[Charles I of England|Charles&nbsp;I]] tried to import the principle of [[divine right of kings|divine right]] into Scotland and England. Charles&nbsp;I's attempt to enforce [[episcopal polity]] on the [[Church of Scotland]] led to rebellion by the [[Covenanter]]s and the [[Bishops' Wars]], then fears that Charles&nbsp;I was attempting to establish absolutist government along European lines was a major cause of the [[English Civil War]], although he did rule this way for 11&nbsp;years starting in 1629, after dissolving the [[Parliament of England]] for a time.<ref>{{cite news |title=Charles I of England |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Charles_I_of_England/ |access-date=17 April 2023 |work=World History Encyclopedia |archive-date=4 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904043102/https://www.worldhistory.org/Charles_I_of_England/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Denmark–Norway====
{{Further|Denmark–Norway}}

Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 {{langx|da|Kongeloven|lit=[[King's Law]]|label=none}} of [[Denmark–Norway]], which ordered that the Monarch: {{Blockquote|...shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kongeloven af 1665 |publisher=Danske konger |language=da |url=http://danskekonger.dk/kilder/kongeloven |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330135036/http://danskekonger.dk/kilder/kongeloven |archive-date=2012-03-30}}</ref><ref>A partial English translation of the law can be found in<br/>{{cite journal |first=Ernst |last=Ekman |year=1957 |title=The Danish Royal Law of 1665 |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=102–107|doi=10.1086/237987 |s2cid=145652129 }}</ref>}} This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the [[Rigsraad|Council of the Realm]] in Denmark. Absolute monarchy lasted until [[1814 in Norway]], and [[1848 in Denmark]].

====Habsburgs====
[[File: Anton von Maron 006.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor]]]]
{{See|House of Habsburg}}
The House of Habsburg is currently extinct in its male line, due to the death of the childless [[Charles II of Spain]] in 1700. However, the [[House of Hapsburg-Lorraine|House of Habsburg-Lorraine]] still carries the female line of the House of Habsburg.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

The first member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was [[Joseph II]], a sovereign raised during the Enlightenment. Joseph II [[Serfdom Patent (1781)|extended full legal freedom to serfs]] in 1781. [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]] was [[Emperor of Austria]] from 1848 until his death in 1916 and was succeeded by [[Charles I of Austria]]. Charles I was the last Emperor of Austria and abdicated on 12 November 1918 due to [[Austria-Hungary]] losing [[World War I]].

====Hungary====
{{See|King of Hungary|Kingdom of Hungary}}
{{Expand section|date=August 2021}}

====France====
[[File:Louis XIV of France.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Louis XIV]] of France]]
{{Main|Absolute monarchy in France}}
[[Louis XIV of France]] (1638–1715) is said to have proclaimed {{langx|fr|[[L'état, c'est moi]]!|lit=I am the State!|label=none}}.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.history.com/topics/france/louis-xiv|title=Louis XIV|work=HISTORY|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en}}</ref> Although often criticized for his extravagances, such as the [[Palace of Versailles]], he reigned over France for a long period, some historians consider him an absolute monarch, while some other historians{{who|date=October 2018}} have questioned whether Louis' reign should be considered 'absolute', given the reality of the balance of power between the monarch and the nobility, as well as parliaments.<ref>Mettam, R. ''Power and Faction in Louis XIV's France'', Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988.</ref>{{Request quotation|date=October 2018}}

The king of France concentrated legislative, executive, and judicial powers in his person. He was the supreme judicial authority. He could condemn people to death without the right of appeal. It was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them.<ref>Mousnier, R. ''The Institutions of France under the Absolute Monarchy, 1598-2012 V1.'' Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.</ref>

====Prussia====
{{Further|Prussia}}
[[File:Friedrich der Große - Johann Georg Ziesenis - Google Cultural Institute (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|200 px|King [[Frederick the Great|Frederick II]] of Prussia, "the Great"]]
In [[Brandenburg-Prussia]], the concept of absolute monarch took a notable turn from the above with its emphasis on the monarch as the "first servant of the state", but it also echoed many of the important characteristics of absolutism. Prussia was ruled by the [[House of Hohenzollern]] as a [[feudal monarchy]] from 1525 to 1701 and an absolute monarchy from 1701 to 1848, after which it became a [[federalism|federal]] [[Constitutional monarchy|semi-constitutional]] monarchy from 1848 to 1918 until the monarchy was abolished during the [[German Revolution]].<ref>''The Western Experience'', Seventh Edition, Boston: [[McGraw-Hill]], 1999.</ref>

[[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick I]] was the first ''[[King in Prussia]]'', beginning his reign on 18 January 1701.<ref name=Beier162>{{cite book|title=Die Chronik der Deutschen|first=Brigitte|last=Beier|publisher=wissenmedia|year=2007|page=162|isbn=978-3-577-14374-5|language= German}}</ref> King [[Frederick the Great]] adopted the title ''King of Prussia'' in 1772, the same year he annexed most of Royal Prussia in the [[First Partition of Poland]], and practiced [[enlightened absolutism]] until his death in 1786. He introduced a general civil code, abolished torture and established the principle that the Crown would not interfere in matters of justice.<ref>David Fraser, ''Frederick the Great: King of Prussia'' (2001) [https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatki00fras/page/n5/mode/2up online]</ref> He also promoted an advanced secondary education, the forerunner of today's German [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] (grammar school) system, which prepares the brightest pupils for university studies. The [[Prussian education system]] was emulated in various countries, including the United States.

====Russia====
{{Further|Russian Empire}}
[[File: Zar Alexander II.jpg (cropped).jpg|Photograph of Tsar Alexander II, 1878–81|thumb|right|200 px]]
Until 1905, the [[tsar]]s and [[emperor]]s of Russia governed as absolute monarchs. [[Ivan the Terrible|Ivan IV]] ("the Terrible") was known for his reign of terror through the ''[[oprichnina]]''. Following the [[Time of Troubles]] in the early 17th century, the traditional alliance of autocratic monarchy, the church, and the aristocracy was widely seen as the only basis for preserving the social order and Russian statehood, which legitimized the rule of the [[House of Romanov|Romanov dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lieven |first1=Dominic |editor1-last=Bang |editor1-first=Peter Fibiger |editor2-last=Bayly |editor2-first=Christopher Alan |editor3-last=Scheidel |editor3-first=Walter |title=The Oxford World History of Empire |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-753276-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nz0HEAAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=The Russian Empire (1453–1917) |page=965}}</ref> [[Peter the Great|Peter I]] ("the Great") reduced the power of the [[Russian nobility]] and strengthened the central power of the monarch, establishing a bureaucracy. This tradition of absolutism was expanded by [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] and her descendants. Although [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] made some reforms and established an independent judicial system, Russia did not have a representative assembly or a constitution until the [[Russian Revolution of 1905|1905 Revolution]]. However, the concept of absolutism was so ingrained in Russia that the [[Russian Constitution of 1906]] still described the monarch as an autocrat. 

Russia became the last European country (excluding [[Vatican City]]) to abolish absolutism, and it was the only one to do so as late as the 20th century (the [[Ottoman Empire]] drafted [[Ottoman constitution of 1876|its first constitution]] in 1876). Russia was one of the four continental empires which collapsed [[Aftermath of World War I|after World War I]], along with [[German Empire|Germany]], [[Austria–Hungary]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In 1918, the [[execution of the Romanov family|Bolsheviks executed the Romanov family]], ending three centuries of Romanov rule.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Decades of Reconstruction |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781107165748 |pages=331 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA331 |editor-last=Planert |editor-first=Ute |editor-last2=Retallack |editor-first2=James |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=11 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211110511/https://books.google.com/books?id=vZokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA331 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Sweden====
{{Further|Swedish Empire}}
The form of government instituted in [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]] under King [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]] and passed on to his son, [[Charles XII of Sweden|Charles XII]] is commonly referred to as absolute monarchy; however, the Swedish monarch was never absolute in the sense of wielding [[arbitrary power]]. The monarch still ruled under the law and could only legislate in agreement with the [[Riksdag of the Estates]]; rather, the absolutism introduced was the monarch's ability to run the government unfettered by the [[Privy Council of Sweden|privy council]], contrary to earlier practice. The absolute rule of Charles XI was instituted by the crown and the Riksdag in order to carry out the [[Reduction (Sweden)|Great Reduction]] which would have been made impossible by the privy council which comprised the high nobility.

After the death of Charles XII in 1718, the system of absolute rule was largely blamed for the ruination of the realm in the [[Great Northern War]], and the reaction tipped the balance of power to the other extreme end of the spectrum, ushering in the [[Age of Liberty]]. After half a century of largely unrestricted parliamentary rule proved just as ruinous, King [[Gustav III of Sweden|Gustav III]] seized back royal power in the [[Revolution of 1772|coup d'état of 1772]], and later once again abolished the privy council under the [[Union and Security Act]] in 1789, which, in turn, was rendered void in 1809 when [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden|Gustav IV Adolf]] was deposed in a coup and the [[Instrument of Government (1809)|constitution of 1809]] was put in its place. The years between 1789 and 1809, then, are also referred to as a period of absolute monarchy.