Louis XIV: The Absolute Monarch

During the time of the 17^th century, a new key term called Absolutism was created. Absolutism is a political theory holding that all power should be vested in one ruler/monarch or dictators. Therefore, an absolute monarch is a ruler who governs alone and is not controlled by laws or constitution. Absolutist monarchs consider themselves to be the “Divine Right of Kings” which meant that they were only answerable by God and could be judged by no one but God. An ideal example of an absolute monarch of that time period is Louis XIV who crowned king of France in 1643. There are many key points that show why he was considered an important absolute leader.

Louis XIV was widely known as “France’s Sun King” and had the longest reign in European history (1643- 1715). He brought absolute monarchy to its greatest height, established a court at Versailles and fought most of the other European countries in four wars. During this time period, leaders were allowed to rule for 6 years through democratic elections and only dictators (rulers with absolute power) were able to rule for such a long time. Louis XIV had complete power and dictatorship which is one reason why he was considered an absolute monarch.

The second reason why Louis XIV was considered an absolute monarch was because he was in charge of decision making.  At the age of twenty three, he entrusted the government of his affairs to the Late Cardinal and governed the secretaries and ministers of state. He clearly stated: “You [secretaries and ministers of state] will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no orders except by my command.” They had to obey his orders, advice him, follow his commandments and favor no one but him. This gave the government less democratic freedom because Louis XIV had complete power over them and everyone within the government and that’s why he was such a successful leader.

Louis XIV was able to weaken the nobility of his ministers by getting rid of the high and wealthy nobles and replacing them with nobles that came from new aristocratic families. Nicholas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances, began to show off his enormous wealth as well as luxury and ended up in imprisonment by Louis XIV. Louis XIV also made sure that the local government was increasingly placed under removable civil servants. Louis XIV feared that the high nobilities would overpower him any time and that’s why he relied on the new judicial nobilities because he knew they had no chance of seizing his power. This strategy was a great way for Louis XIV to establish royal power and authority in the provinces.

             By centralizing his power, Louis XIV was able to limit the legislative power which caused the parliament to lose their traditional rights.  The parliament weakened because Louis XIV banned them from creating laws as he started to reform the judicial structure and criminal procedures (1667-1669) by himself.  This shows that he was truly an absolute, dominating ruler.

            Louis XIV created a bureaucracy, which was an organization with administrators and non-elective government officials that were assigned fixed rules and tasks. The ministers could not make their own decisions but could only follow directions of the king. This also led to a more efficient way of taxation and the bureaucracy was one of the major keys to his huge accomplishments.

            With the abundant amount of money Louis XIV had, he glorified his monarchy by using arts and design. Louis XIV ordered paintings that showed his wealth and luxury. He also had extravagance sculptures showing how high and special he was. Finally, he ordered the building of the Versailles Palace. Louis XIV brought in the finest architectures and transformed the place (which was originally a hunting lodge) to a magnificent, luxurious palace with a fairy tale park around it. The palace of Versailles became one of the most classical and fashionable palace within Europe. Although this was a huge accomplishment in France, it took about 40,000 workers to build it. He was impatient and wanted the palace to be done as soon as possible, which meant that they would have to work all day and night. Louis XIV used sculptures, buildings and painting to show off his power and wealth.

Louis XIV also fought in the continental wars that were later called “War of Devolution”. Louis conquered Spanish territories claiming that his wife was to inherit them anyway rather than her half-brother, Charles II who inherited the Spanish throne. More wars were fought later on which expanded France borders even though the size of France was big enough. The purpose of the wars was to demonstrate how independent and powerful he was and to send out a strong image to everyone.

 A major aspect of Louis XIV’s life that strongly expresses freedom was his personality.  He was arrogant man with a large ego and also believed that his symbol/representation was a Greek god. Louis XIV didn’t like being told what to do and considered himself the “Sun King” since everything revolves around him just as the planets circles the sun. Ever since he took over the crown, he wished to become the most powerful reigning king of France. All these characteristics show that he had a great desire to become powerful and to leave a legacy.

Louis XIV was indeed a prefect epitome of an absolute monarch. He was in charge of decision making, centralized his power, glorified the monarchy and had total authority over the government. All of this proves that Louis XIV was a powerful, “God-given” dictator and that’s why he’s a great example of an absolute monarch.

The Ottoman Empire Essay

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest, richest and longest Turkish Muslim empires in history. With Constantinople as its capital city, it became the center of trade between the eastern and western world. Constantinople was in the middle of the black and Mediterranean Sea so they were able to control the trade routes and especially the Silk Road. By the 16^th century, the lands under Ottoman rule stretched from central Europe to the deserts of the Arabia. The people were trained to follow a neat power structure which spread incessantly across the Islam world. Moreover, the Ottoman culture was influenced by the traditions of the land they conquered.

There were many factors that led the Ottoman Empire to great success. The main factors that I’m going to talk about are: the equality of the social classes, their authority over religion and lifestyle (architecture, arts, music and dance). All of these topics played a major role in the Ottoman civilization.

The first reason why the Ottoman culture led to a well-organized empire was because of its social class. The Ottoman social class had the commander on top (sultan) and the slaves on the bottom (rayyah) but however, your social level could change anytime. The Sultan dealt with the decision of politics and state wealth. Under the Sultan were the wealthy leaders that defended the empire. The Sultan invested wealth and leaders protect it while the rayyah had to pay part of their profits from industry in form of taxes. Anyone could raise his or her social level by being loyal to the Sultan, practicing the Islam religion and following the Ottoman traditions. If a rayyah possessed all these qualities, he could become one of the wealthy leaders but if a leader is lacking one or more of these qualities, he will be removed from his position and become a rayyah again.  Everyone in the Ottoman social class was treated fairly and equally and that’s what made it a peaceful government.

 The second reason why the Ottoman culture led to a strong empire was because of the Ottoman toleration.  The Ottoman Empire enforced the practice of Islam and an extra tax was paid to be a non-Muslim in return for tolerance of religious practice and protection of the Islam state. Christians and Jews prayed in their own churches and trained their religion in their own schools and seminaries. Each religious community had its own court, school and welfare system (this was called the Millet System) and the Ottoman government was relieved because they didn’t have to provide these needs.  Rulers had to be Muslim and were not allowed to convert to other religions, nor could non-Muslims attempt to convert Muslims. Religion was considered as the most important element of personal identification. The Ottoman toleration was so unique because it prevented people from revolting and that was why it was stable for so long.

            The third reason why the Ottoman culture led to a great civilization was because it was influenced by land they conquered which were Persia, Arabia and Persian Greek. The architecture of the Ottoman Empire was influenced by the Arab world and also European traditions.  The Orthodox catholic structures in the Byzantine Empire were very similar to the Ottoman structures. Their artistic designs of windows, gates and roofs share characteristics with the Italian architecture and their basic structures found in mosques were adopted from the people of Anatolia.  The Ottomans collected different ideas from other countries and made them into one magnificent piece which is why architecture was a major aspect of Ottoman culture.

            Another main advancement in the Ottoman Empire was in technology.  Science and technology emerged in the Ottoman Empire due to the establishment of educational institution by Mehmet II. Scholars started to work ranging from metaphysics to mathematics to surgery. By the 16^th century, cartographers of the Ottoman Empire made great development in map-making. Other geographical works included navigation, nautical astronomy and lastly the invention of the mechanical astronomical clock was made during this period
            Writing was really important to the Ottoman Empire and they managed to build a large collection of libraries. Mehmet II ordered a Greek scholar to translate and make available to the Ottoman educational institutions the geography book of Claudius Ptolemy who was a famous mathematician, geographer and astronomer.  The purpose of this might have been because of their desire to conquer more land by learning about their developments.  During that period, mathematicians emerge and the Piri Reis map was discovered in 1929 in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
            The Ottoman Empire had an excellent strategy during their time period. They made sure that everyone had equal rights and the rules applied to everyone. They accepted other religions and gave them the freedom to run their own communities.  With their powerful leaders, they were able to control lands and developed their own lifestyle and culture based on the areas they conquered. They had new advancements in science, technology and got into new ideas brought in from other places. The Ottoman Empire was greatly admired, successful, strong, well-organized and anyone would be proud to be called an “Ottoman”.

Bibliography;
Oakwood Mgt. "The Ottoman Empire: Focus on Society." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/ReportEssay/History/European/Ottoman_Empire_Focus_On_Society.htm

The American Forum of Global Education."Turkish Toleration." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html

BBC. "Introduction:The Ottoman Empire." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml

Ehow. "Ottoman Culture."  Accessed December 9th,2011.
http://www.ehow.com/about_6069925_ottoman-culture.html

Ruggiero, Adraine. The Ottoman Empire:cultures of the past.Benchmark Books,2002.

Bibliography

Source one:
Oakwood Mgt. "The Ottoman Empire: Focus on Society." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/ReportEssay/History/European/Ottoman_Empire_Focus_On_Society.htm

Source Two:
The American Forum of Global Education."Turkish Toleration." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html

Source Three:
BBC. "Introduction:The Ottoman Empire." Accessed November 30,2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml

Source Four:
Ruggiero, Adraine. The Ottoman Empire:cultures of the past.Benchmark Books,2002.

Factors explianing how ottoman culture led to a great civilzation *outline and Intro

     The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest, richest and longest Turkish Muslim empires in history. With Constantinople as its capital city, it became the center of trade between the eastern and western world. Constantinople was in the middle of the black and Mediterranean Sea so they were able to control the trade routes and especially the Silk Road. By the 16^th century, the lands under Ottoman rule stretched from central Europe to the deserts of the Arabia.The people were trained to follow a neat power structure which spread incessantly across the islam world. Moreover, the Ottoman culture was influenced by the traditions of the land they conquered.

There were many factors that led the Ottoman empire to great success. The main factors that i'm going to talk about are: the equality of the social classes,their authority over religon and lifestyle (archieture, arts, music and dance). All of these topics played a major role in the Ottoman civilization.

The first reason why the Ottoman culture led to a well-organized empire was because of its social class. The Ottoman social class had the commander on top (sultan) and the slaves on the bottom (rayyah) but however, your social level could change anytime. The Sultan dealt with the decision of politics and state wealth. Under the Sultan were the wealthy leaders that defended the empire. The Sultan invested wealth and leaders protect it while the rayyah had to pay part of their profits from industry in form of taxes. Anyone could raise his or her social level by being loyal to the Sultan, practicing the Islam religion and following the Ottoman traditions. If a rayyah possessed all these qualities, he could become one of the wealthy leaders but if a leader is lacking one or more of these qualities, he will be removed from his position and become a rayyah again.  Everyone in the Ottoman social class was treated fairly and equally and that’s what made it a peaceful government.

 The second reason why the Ottoman culture led to a strong empire was because of the Ottoman toleration.  The Ottoman Empire enforced the practice of Islam and an extra tax was paid to be a non-muslim in return for tolerance of religious practice and protection of the islam state.Christains and Jews prayed in their own churches and trained their religon in their own schools and seminaries. Each religous community had its own court,school and welfare system (this was called the Millet System) and the Ottoman goverment was relieved because they didnt have to provide these needs.  Rulers had to be muslim and were not allwoed to convert to other religons, nor could non-muslims attempt to convert muslims. Religon was considered as the most important element of personal identification.The Ottoman toleration was so unique because it prevented people from revolting and that was why it was stable for so long.

 The third reason why the Ottoman culture led to a great civilzation was because it was influenced by land they conquered which was Persia, Arabia and Persian Greek. The architecture of the Ottoman Empire was influenced by the arab world and also european traditions.  The Orthodox catholic structures in the Byzantine empire and similar to the Ottoman structures. The artistic designs of windows, gates and roofs share characteristics with the italian architecture and the basic structures found in mosques and tekkes were adopted from the people of Anatolia.
 Music in the Ottoman empire brought music elements found in different nations of the empire together.  Writing was really important in the Ottoman empire.

 

II. The social classes and the beliefs to raise you to a higher level.

   a. Sultans had more power while the rayyah had less.

   b. Sultans invested wealth and leaders protect it while rayyah had to pay part of their profits from industry in form of taxes.

c. Evidence

iii. people had less freedom to chose their own religon.

a.  forced people to be islam so everyone had one belief system

 b. People had to pay a price for the ability to follow their own belief with tolerance of other religons.

c. Evidence (christain and jews)

 

IV: Lifestyle of the ottoman empire was based on the eastern and western world

a. Archieture,music, cuisine, language was infulenced by the lands they conquered.

 b. history of the lands they conquered (persian, persian greek and arabia)

c. Evidence

V: conclusion

a. Restate Title.

b. summarize main questions.

Diary Entry - Aztecs

  Dear diary,

   There is always some crazy and adventurous tale told by my grandparents anytime they come for dinner. Although, this time it was somehow different. I was interested in the story, maybe because it had been retold by my ancestors ages and ages ago.

                “In 1519, it was said that white men arrived in the beach shore in big wooden ships looking for gold.  They bought along extremely large deer with insanely long hair, holding along weird sticks that spit out fire. They were the conquistadors, trying to take away our land.  Unfortunately, they were too strong for us. If you ever wondered how that was possible, well you see we were betrayed by our fellow citizen, Malinché. She had helped the conquistadors’ powerful leader, Cortez by teaching him the Aztec language. She was considered a devil, whore and traitor.  Cortez had pale skin, and bright blue eyes. Along with Malinche and the conquistadors came several hundred native Indians, our worst enemies.

                It wasn’t just the sight of that vicious battle that frightened us. It was the fact that Quetzalcoatl, the god of the wind was prophesied to arrived in 1519 for revenge. This haunted our minds and soul, that’s why we had to find a way to get rid of them. So we then decided to drug the Spanish with our harmful juice found in our farm. The conquistadors also disagreed with the demanding of blood for human sacrifice. Clearly, the Spanish represent disaster and chaos. ”

Why did Lutheranism appeal to the Princes?

     Lutheranism is a branch of western christanity founded by Martin Luther in Germany. Martin Luther tried to reform and strengthen the theology and pratice of the church but it led to the Protesant Reformation. It began with the Ninety-Five Theses; writings about the problems with the Roman catholic church, especially the sale of indulgences. The writings spread the idea of the reformation beyond the church's authorites. Many people, including the Princes agreed to the suggestions of changing the Roman Catholic Church. Lutheranism emerged and not only did it become a revolution in religon, but it was also against the political power of Rome. Lutheranism had become a great success to every indivdual, mostly to the German Princes.

      Because of Lutheranism, German Princes had control over more parts of their own territories. They were able to shut down monasteries, seizing  more land and wealth. By getting rid of monasteries, the Princes would be able to collect the abundant amount of money gained by that area which make them really powerful.
     Lutheranism allowed Princes's freedom of political control. They were now able to choose their own ministers. This led to increase in political power, ability assert the primacy over the church and less argument among bishops. German Princes no longer had to fight for power anymore.

   The princes that converted to Luteheranism  no longer had to send money over to the churches in Italy. They didnt have to pay taxes to the Roman Goverment, so therefore they were richer because the money that was supposed to be spent on the church, was now spent on themseleves, and their land.

   The major reason why Princes converted into Lutheranism was because of the idea that catholicism was preaching many wrong beliefs to the people. One of the main argument of Martin Luther was that you had to have strong faith in God in order to go to heaven, while Catholics believed that you just had to do good deeds to recieve God's grace. Also, Luther explained that Jesus, was the head of the church not the Pope and that you dont buy your way to heaven so therefore, the indulgences is just a way of collecting money from the citizens. Therefore, people were worried that they had been following the wrong beliefs for a long time so they converted to Lutheranism, hoping that their souls were saved and they were on the right path to heaven.
  Futhermore, Lutheranism appealed to the Princes because of the huge amount of money, absolute power, freedom and control over everything they know and owned. Most importantly, Luther's message of Catholicsm wrong ways made most of them to switch their religons. The idea of lutheranism and the Reformation in "95 Theses" spread internationally to every one.

Leonardo Da Vinci