Jia Jia

Excerpts from the family diary of one Mary Fletcher, whose granddaughters and grandsons continued to provide the book with information on absolute rulers:

Excerpt 1, by Mary Fletcher: Ivan the Terrible

                A young ruler has taken the new title of tsar in Russia. His past, which was filled with abuse and neglection by the boyars who killed his mother, has caused him to exert incredible authority on his subjects. He executed one of the Shuiksy family just to give the opposing family, the Glinskys, more power.

                He does many other things to ascertain his power as well as killing; he reformed government so that aristocracy had less say in the inner workings of the kingdom, and also made it harder for peasants to escape from their land and poverty. He reformed the churches in his area to limit land expansion of churches, clergy supervision, and rules on how to paint things such as rosaries. He ordered wealthy nobles into the army to control them even more. In fact he just imposed his rules on every citizen and controlled the lives of his people.

                The control may have paved the way to expand more of Russia, though. His quests to regain land lost to the Mongols began Russia’s expansion.

                After his wife Anastasia’s death, Ivan became a recluse and repeatedly accused his officials of treason. He banished all his advisers except for those who just followed his rulings. His actions caused his decisions to become less and less effective for his subject. He also killed his eldest son in a fit of rage, causing the next successor to be less than worthy. And, of course, as an absolute ruler, he got away with it.

-Mary Fetcher, 1581

Excerpt 2, by Joan Retied: Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots

                Mary has gone back to her homeland, Scotland, after her betrothed stay in France to Francis. She should have stayed, in my opinion- she had a great education which consisted of singing, music, sewing, and a study of several languages which included Latin.

                Mary was not exactly an absolute ruler, although she was the only one who had a say in what reforms were made. She still consulted a parliament and invited great musician, scholars, and artists to her court. But, she did ruin herself thorough her quest for power. She attracted several horrible men, such as Henry Darnley, who through his jealousy started a riot that caused Mary to hide from the masses. She was also accused of the murder of Elizabeth I, who she had argued with for the throne to England. She confessed and was killed in 1587.

-Joan 1588

Excerpt 3, by little Claire, aged 14: Maria Theresa

                Maria Theresa of Austria may have just become one of my role models. She’s very pretty, and is clever- she managed to rule without any sort of previous education in politics or economics. Although, she does have her controlling parts.

                To begin, she decided that her home country of Austria needed several inner reforms, and that included reforms of things such as taxes, budget, and Catholic reform. She only allowed Catholicism! She also managed to become allies with many of her neighboring countries, which were once her county's enemies. 
Her downfall started with her horrible family relations. She alienated her son, which caused her son to have less popularity as her successor.
-Claire, 1780

Excerpt 4, by Marc Lemieux: Louis XIV

                Louis XIV has become the first absolute monarch in France.  He first gave his prime minister all his authority, and then joined his army against the Spanish, but then he came back and married Maria Therese of Austria. At this point, he became so powerful that he was the most powerful monarch in Europe. How scary.

                Then the next year, he told all his officers and ministers and told him that he would “henceforth rule his state alone.” He disallowed any form of signing or creating any law or decree by anyone! It was all his to control. I, as an advisor to my town’s official, could not do anything to anyone. It was quite frustrating. And this type of ruling is absolutely new! No other monarch has ever disconnected himself from his advisors.

                King Louis did do some things that helped France. He started a budget, and also caused art and music to flourish in his empire. Even so, King Louis has also taken all the power from the nobles. Instead of allowing those to advise him, he set a new kind of monarchy- one where only his personal trusted advisors would be allowed near the king.

                Louis XIV also did some reforms that caused his downfall. He raised taxes so much just to benefit himself that his subjects became unhappy. He also ordered a grand home, which took over 20 years to make. The worst part though? It’s cost almost 25 million livres, the form of currency in France. It’s amazing to think what he, as a king, can get away with!

-Marc, 1680

Excerpt 5, by Brien Fletcher: Yong le Emperor

                I met Zhu di, who is the Yong le Emperor, today. He started the Ming dynasty, and he commissioned several public works, one of which was his new Capital in Beijing, the Forbidden City.

But, even though he is constructing such a peaceful and beautiful capital, he seems to have taken a bloody path to the throne. He attacked his nephew to get the crown, which caused his nephew’s supporters to revolt. To ascertain his absolute rule, he killed all the revolters. He still continues to condemn his critics.

                He may have been ruthless, but he had goals other than just political power and the best military. He still has the goal of establishing trading ties with as any other countries as he can. He wanted to further his country’s economy. But he also seems to have an ulterior motive: being the strongest country around meant that other countries had to rely on him, and that meant he could monitor and check that country’s power.

                The constant construction of his city and other amazing works caused his empire to fall, though. The cost of these projects, such as his great trading expeditions and his Grand Canal, was so high that his trade ties gradually broke, and the country’s economy failed after Zhu di’s death.

-Brian Fletcher, 1392

                Based on the monarchs I’ve researched, Absolutism seems to be an acceptable form of government that serves to further the country, but only if the monarch themselves is capable. Not only that, but absolutism also serves to unite the kingdom. This system eliminates the constant battle for power within the kingdom. Also, the citizens of a country are united under one person. This means that the King’s religion is their religion, and that reduces religious conflict. Not only that, but an absolute monarch is usually well-educated, since the line is passed down. Since the royal family has money, they could easily pay for an heir’s education. This takes away the possibility for an uneducated monarch to ascend the throne. Another point one could make about absolutism is that decisions are made much faster. There are no groups trying to block a reform for the wrong reasons, and there doesn’t need to be continuous consultations. The king should also be educated enough that his decisions will not be too detrimental. This way, if a potential riot for something is about to start, the king could just issue a decree without letting the situation get out of hand.

                The only problem with absolutism is that a good reign will only last for a lifetime. After that, there is only the heir to pass on and continue the ideas that the previous monarch had. Since absolutism means that only one ruler has all the power, no one else could possible understand the workings of the county that the King himself has set up. Another problem is that the monarch can get away with anything he wants, including stealing from the treasury, murdering innocents, and overriding being thrown from the throne, as Mary Stuart did. Also, what if the king does not interact with his people? How will he know what they need and if his reforms are actually the best for his subjects?

                Absolutism in the Modern era really did further Europe and Asia’s countries. The countries finally unified, and many reforms which could have been delayed were put into action with ease.

Sources:

"Maria Theresa." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 16 May 2014.

Warnicke, Retha. "Mary Stuart." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 16 May 2014.

 "Louis XIV." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 16 May 2014.

 "Ivan IV." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 16 May 2014.

"Absolutism." Absolutism. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/absolutism.html>.

Lesione, Kevin. "Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots." Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. King's College, 2007. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marystuart.html>.

Spielvogel, Jackson. "Reign of Louis XIV." Reign of Louis XIV. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/classes/louisxiv.html>.

"The Palace Museum 故宫博物院." Forbidden City Palace Museum 故宫博物院 Beijing. University of Farmington, n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/HistoricBeijing/Forbidden_City/>.

“HIST 4401." HIST 4401. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~raboyd/hist.4401.3.html>.

Visko, Brian. "Maria Theresa,  Archduchess of Austria." Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria. King's College, n.d. Web. 16 May 2014. <http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/mariatheres.html>.

"Absolute Terror: Ivan the Terrible (And You Thought Your Nickname Was Bad. . .)." Ivan Terrible. Marquette Univerity, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/ivan-terrible.htm>