Corruption Of Absolute Monarchy

An absolute monarchy is a government in which a king/queen’s power is unlimited and he/she is above the law. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The power of one person deciding the lifestyle of an entire kingdom, like their religious choice or their freedom can be disastrous. Kings were given their power by right of birth only. Therefore, the kingdom could not control if they were getting a good ruler or not. On the other hand, some monarchs did create some positive changes like improving culture and education for their people or trying to improve their living conditions. Monarch’s controlled religious choice . Many monarchs, believing their power came from god, decided what their people’s religious beliefs would be. Anyone going against those beliefs would not be tolerated and, in many cases, wars broke out to eliminate anyone who did not share the same beliefs. For example, Charles V confronted the Lutheran Church and tried to outlaw Protestantism. He called Martin Luther's beliefs about the Catholic Church being corrupted “an argument between monks”. Another example was Philip II who saw himself as the guardian of the Roman Catholic Church and defender against Protestantism. Philip’s battle against the

For example, Joseph II sold monasteries to help pay for schools and hospitals to improve the lives of his people. Catherine the Great, from Russia, tried to improve language skills for her people by encouraging them to learn French. Peter the Great also walked around cities to note the conditions of their homes and lifestyle so he could look for ways to improve upon them. Louis XIV made many schools for artistic studies and replaced the Italian culture with French culture. These actions were good examples of how some monarchs tried to improve the lifestyle of the peasants in their