Western Civilization II / Unit 1 WC2 0014 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Governments Up 400 Percent: The Theory and the Cost of Absolutism
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The idea
Across the seventeenth century royal governments grew about four hundred percent, the anchor's figure, and standing armies from about twenty thousand to over one hundred fifty thousand. The theory: a king above the nobles, answerable to no one in the kingdom, owing benevolent protection.
In practice
L'état, c'est moi: the king and the government were one.
Where people slip
Not arbitrary: reason of state respected traditional rights.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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