How Did Louis Xvi Contribute To The Rise Of Absolutism

The period of the Enlightenment began around 1650 and lasted until the end of the eighteenth century yet its’ ideas pervaded for a much longer time after. A great philosopher, or philosophe as the French referred to them as, defined the Enlightenment as “man’s release from his self- incurred immaturity.” What he meant by this was that people were stuck in a state of immaturity because they were not thinking for themselves. However, they could “release” themselves from this immaturity by using their own reason and thoughts. But the philosophes believed that enlightenment was a gradual process that took place overtime rather than a “distinct phenomenon”. The philosophers or philosophes as the French called them were able to gather this awareness and attention through the printing press. The printing press was key. As the cost of the printing press declined, more works than ever before were being published. More people than ever before had access to the writings

Absolutism was when one person in the government held all of the power. Louis XVI was an absolutist ruler. “By the 1670s [he] had amassed more power than any of his predecessors”. He amassed all of this power through several different ways. Louis wasn’t readily contested at the time because people believed he had derived his power and authority directly from God. This was the same for other nobility members. It was thought that he had a “divine right” to rule and that his power should not be shared with anyone else. Louis didn’t disregard his supposed responsibility from God, he took it seriously, yet he interpreted it in his own way. Because of this he was for the most part able to do what he wanted and “with his constant wars, made a great many people suffer cruelly. People blindly followed the authority of government during this time period and abided by the laws without thinking on their