The Ancien Régime and Absolute Monarchies

The Ancien Régime: Definition

• A social, economic, and political system, prevalent in Europe during the Early Modern Age, characterized by absolute monarchy.

Absolute Monarchies: Origin and Measures

• Emerged from the social and economic crisis at the end of the Middle Ages, weakening the privileged classes and allowing monarchs to consolidate power.
• Employed language, history, and religion to fortify state identity, developed bureaucracy leading to efficient tax collection, and created permanent armies for protection and expansion.

Absolute Monarchies: Power and Problems

• The divine right of kings justified power, asserting monarchs' right to rule came directly from God, thus opposition was seen as defying God's will.
• Monarchs centralized power, limiting parliaments, and abolished nobility and clergy privileges.
• Louis XIV of France's proclamation 'I am the state!' exemplifies this absolute power.
• Monarchs considered the state their family heritage, aiming to expand it with economic and technical support from the emerging bourgeoisie.
• Enlightenment thought challenged absolute monarchies in the 18th century, leading to Enlightened despotism through reformist policies.

England's Parliamentary Monarchy

• Contrasting absolute monarchies, England established a parliamentary monarchy in the late 17th century following two revolutions.
• The first revolution (1649-1660) was caused by Charles I's absolute monarchy clashing with Parliament, leading to civil war and the king's execution.
• England became a republic under Oliver Cromwell, but the monarchy was later restored with Charles II.
• James II's attempts to reinstate absolute monarchy sparked the Glorious Revolution of 1688, resulting in William of Orange signing the 1689 Bill of Rights, establishing parliamentary monarchy.

Parliamentary Monarchy: Limits and Powers

• The new government system restricted the monarch's power, requiring Parliament's consent for creating laws, raising armies, and imposing taxes.
• Executive power was held by the government, accountable to Parliament, which possessed legislative power in two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
• Judicial power was vested in independent judges.

The Economy: General Characteristics

• The Ancien Régime's economy was based on traditional, low productivity agriculture, small craft industries in cities, growing rural manufacturing, and thriving state controlled trade favored by the bourgeoisie, who used maritime routes.

The Economy: Agriculture

• Over 80% of the population lived in rural conditions working in agriculture.
• Land was majoritively owned by the nobility or the Church
• Manorialism dictated relations between peasants and landowners.
• Low productivity resulted from archaic techniques (such as leaving land fallow), basic tools and vulnerability to weather.
• Peasants paid rent to landowners, they paid tax to monarchs and paid tithes to the clergy and often faced extremely difficult conditions.
• Productivity increased from the 17th century in some regions from new methods and crops.
• Landowners increased profits given changes in colonial situations.

The Economy: Industry

• Manufacturing in urban conditions was organized by guilds.
• The guilds oversaw/regulated materials used, production and prices.
• Rural industries developed in country areas.
• Domestically/rurally made goods were often of lower quality
• Merchants sold these wares at lower prices and so satisfied demand.

The Economy: Trade

• Domestic trade was slow due to internal tariffs and poor roads, while international trade developed and increased.
• Colonial expansion spurred global trade.
• European powers fought to control markets and trade routes.
• Mercantilism drove states to maximize precious metal stocks.

The Triangular Trade

• Involved a system of three trade routes started in Europe.
• European goods were exchanged for African slaves who were sold to the Americas.
• These proceeds were then used to purchase colonial materials for shipment back to Europe.
• Spain and Portugal led the early global capitalist economy in the 16th Century.
• From the 17th Century power shifted to the United Proviences and Great Britain.
• The abolitionist movement grew as more slaves were needed, slavery is now considered a crime against humanity and slavery abolition day is celebrated on December 2nd.

Demographics and Society

• Less than 20% of the world's population lived in Europe during the Ancien Régime.
• High birth rates, high death rates, and low life expectancy characterized the era, with deaths before the age of 50.
• Weak population growth was caused by high infant mortality rates, famine, poor hygiene, disease, and war with slow growth in the 16th and 17th centuries, and faster growth in the 18th century.
• Improved hygiene, medicine, and food led to falling death rates, transitioning Europe to a new demographic stage.

Society: Social Groups and Privileges

• Ancien Régime society was structured into the nobility, clergy, and the Third Estate, with the first two having privileges.
• The nobility was a small, hereditary group with monarchs at the top, followed by the aristocracy and lesser nobility.
• Noble status passed to both sons and daughters.
• Daughters were largely expected take part in strategic marriages for their parents.

Society: The Clergy

• The clergy managed religious life with societal influence.
• Wealth within it being stratified across both genders, from Bishops down the the Nunneries.

Society: The Third Estate

• The Third Estate lacked privileges, comprising most of the population, primarily rural peasants working land owned by the nobility and clergy.
• The bourgeoisie in urban areas, including merchants, professionals, and businessmen, lacked political power but desired nobility status.
• The urban workers were poorer than the bourgeoisie.
• The the lowest class were the outcasts, beggars and prostitutes.

Daily Life and Ways of Thinking: Education and Housing

• Dependent on gender and social class, education ranged from domestic tasks for daughters to private tutors for nobility and bourgeoisie sons.
• Housing varied from one-room dwellings to multi-room houses for the privileged.

Daily Life and Ways of Thinking: Values and Lifestyles

• The Nobility believed work was dishonourable and lived off rents.
• They went into debt from maintaining palaces and residences and had many servants and and lived lifestyles of luxury.
• Serfdom and slavery declined, but still existed.
• Religion had a significant impact, overseen by Clergy.
• The nobility sought assistance from wealthy bourgeois families via strategic marriages to enhance social positions.

Threats: Instability and Disease

• The population faced famine, war, disease, and natural disasters.
• Agriculture was reliant on weather.
• Epidemics of diseases spread.

Threats: Violence and Warfare

• Violence was common and wars impacted civilian life, ruining crops, looting properties, and spreading diseases.

The Enlightenment: Core Beliefs

• The Enlightenment was a movement aimed at dispelling ignorance through knowledge, championing human understanding and reason.
• promoted religious freedom, free thought, education, and social mobility, advocating political reform and systems based on popular sovereignty and separation of powers.

The Enlightenment: Economic Principles

• Thinkers opposed mercantilism, stating a country's wealth should be defined by its agriculture and its production.
• Economic liberalism was promoted by Adam Smith, which opposed protectionism and promoted free markets, free production and state respect.

The Encyclopedia creation and criticism:

• A compilation of human knowledge promoted human knowlege, the values of the enlightenment, as well as critisisms of the Ancien Régime and social Stratification.

Enlightened Despotism: Definition and Examples

• A political system arising from absolute monarchs adopting reformist policies influenced by the Enlightenment, characterized by 'Everything for the people, nothing by the people!
• Rulers such as Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia sought to increase power through economic, cultural, and military expansion.
• Promoting agricultural, industrial development, economic liberalism, education, science, technology, cultural development, and patronizing the arts.