Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Age of Absolutism
I believe that the wave of absolutism that occurred throughout Europe and Asia was not a coincidence. The trade routes that existed between the East and the West linked them together. The numerous goods, people, and news that traveled along those routes all assisted in the coinciding absolutist kingdoms. Not to mention that many different rulers of the time were marrying off their children and relatives in order to strengthen political ties with other absolutist reigns. For example, King Henry VIII's marriage of Catherine of Aragon established a bonded between England and Spain. The mere fact that all these different absolutist reigns were connected and not separate provided the means for which absolutism could prosper.
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I agree that the similarities between the Persian, Indian, Japanese, and European forms of absolutism were not a coincidence. When I looked at the map shown on p. 25 of Faith, Reason, and Power in the Early Modern World, I noticed that the each of the empires during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries touch borders with another absolutist empire (except for France). Even back then, the sharing of ideas and products between nations was inevitable. One country having a successful absolutist form of government would serve as a model for another nation and so on. Each nation wants success, and during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, absolutism was able to provide some success for those countries.
ReplyDeleteI will agree with absolutist rule was not coincidence. The rulers of the various countries want to be able to have total control. But you failed to talk about the significence of the music and art. The rulers, especially France, wanted to fill theiry country with impressive art work that represented their city and to have it last for years. How the rulers controlled the music more than the art because this influence people and what kind of mood the people should be in. Many musicians wrote or played only chamber music, evening music, or music for the church.
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