Amanda Jones about World History II document-Based

During the sixteen hundreds there were many autocratic leaders in Europe, specifically Spain and France. An autocrat is an dictator or ruler who reigns with absolute power. Leaders such as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Louis XIV of France reigned as autocrats and effected their country with the actions of absolute power. I do not support absolute rule because of the negative effects it had on France and Spain, based on Charles V and Louis XIV use of absolute power.

Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire ruled in ways that can be viewed as helpful but yet hurt his country. He was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, and believed 45.125

Louis XIV of France was an autocratic ruler who used his power in ways that hurt his country and people. When Louis XIV became king, to centralize power he implemented reforms, reorganized the French army, and disempowered rebellious nobles. Louis viewed himself as a direct representative from God, which gave himself divine right and allowed him to rule with absolute power, therefore making him an autocrat. Using his power, Louis built Versailles in France where he moved his government and the nobility. At Versailles, Louis was expected to be treated with the utmost respect by anyone including the nobility. According to Document 2 “ The nobles could not be discourteous or disobedient to the king while they lived in his house and ate at his table. Almost without knowing it, Louis’s noble guests fell into the habit of trying to please him.” Document 2 shows how Louis used his power to manipulate the nobles by making them feel obliged to do what he says because he had given them a place to live and food to eat. He made the nobles do what he wanted and used Versailles as a place to watch over them and show his status and power. In addition to building Versailles, Louis decided to revoke religious tolerance in France. In the early 1600s Henry IV created the Edict of Nantes for the Huguenots that granted religious tolerance in an effort to restore religion. However, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes in an effort to persecute and covert Protestants. In the action of removing the Protestants “Louis launched a reign of terror. He refused to allow French Protestants to leave the country…..[But] two hundred and fifty thousand fled abroad to escape prosecution.”(Document 3) The result of revoking the Edict of Nantes took a toll on the economy and population of France. This caused a decrease in the population of France and was an overall negative effect of absolute rule.