Systems of Government
Absolute Monarchy
Also Known As Absolutism
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An absolute monarchy is a system of government in which a single hereditary ruler holds legally unlimited authority, not subject to regular check by a legislature, court or electorate. Its clearest historical expression was in early modern Europe, associated with rulers such as Louis XIV of France, though the term also applies to present-day monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Eswatini and Oman, where a king or sultan still exercises executive, legislative and often judicial power directly. A constitutional monarchy, by contrast, binds the same office to a constitution and, in most modern cases, an elected government.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearAbsolute monarchy as a general form of rule is far older than any single dynasty and has no defensible single founding date; 1661 marks Louis XIV of France's assumption of personal rule after Cardinal Mazarin's death, the reign most often cited in the reference literature as the paradigm case of a European monarch ruling without a chief minister or an effective check from the nobility or an estates general. Founding ContextHistorically justified in Europe through the theological doctrine of the divine right of kings. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names France directly: "with rulers such as Louis XIV of France, though the term also applies to present-day monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Eswatini and Oman, where a king or sultan still exercises executive..."
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