Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a system of government where the monarch holds all political power, with no limits imposed by a constitution, a legislature, or any other authority. Throughout history, many rulers have governed this way, including famous figures like Louis XIV of France and Frederick the Great of Prussia. Today, most sources agree that Brunei, Eswatini, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are absolute monarchies. Some also classify Bahrain, Bhutan, Jordan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Morocco, Tonga, Vatican City, and the United Arab Emirates as such.

Outside Europe

While some absolute monarchies have been backed by written legal documents—such as the King's Law of Denmark–Norway—they differ from constitutional monarchies, where a monarch's power is limited by a legislature, unwritten customs, or other officials like a prime minister, as seen in the United Kingdom or the Nordic countries. Absolute monarchies are also distinct from hereditary dictatorships, such as those in North Korea, Duvalier's Haiti, or Ba'athist Syria. In the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan held absolute power and was called Padishah, or "Great King." Many sultans claimed authority through heavenly mandates, using titles like "Shadow of God on Earth." In ancient Mesopotamia, rulers of Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer were also absolute monarchs. In Imperial China, emperors—and one empress, Wu Zetian—ruled absolutely under the Mandate of Heaven.

In the Americas before Columbus, the Inca Empire was governed by a Sapa Inca, considered the son of the sun god Inti and an absolute ruler. Korea under the Joseon dynasty and its short-lived empire was also an absolute monarchy. In Europe, the divine right of kings often justified absolute monarchy. Many monarchs claimed supreme power came directly from God, and that subjects had no right to limit it.

Europe

In England and Scotland, James VI and I and his son Charles I tried to introduce divine right. Charles I's attempt to impose episcopal governance on the Church of Scotland sparked the Bishops' Wars and rebellion by the Covenanters. Fears that he aimed to establish absolutist rule like other European monarchs were a major cause of the English Civil War, though he ruled without Parliament for 11 years starting in 1629. Denmark–Norway saw the first written constitution underpinning absolutism in Europe in 1665.

This law authorized the king to eliminate all other centers of power, most notably the Council of the Realm in Denmark. Absolute monarchy there lasted until 1814 in Norway and 1848 in Denmark. The House of Habsburg is extinct in its male line after the death of childless Charles II of Spain in 1700, but the House of Habsburg-Lorraine continues through the female line. Joseph II, raised during the Enlightenment, was the first Habsburg-Lorraine ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

He granted full legal freedom to serfs in 1781. Franz Joseph I of Austria reigned from 1848 until 1916, followed by Charles I, who abdicated on 12 November 1918 after Austria-Hungary lost World War I. In France, Louis XIV (1638–1715) concentrated legislative, executive, and judicial powers in himself. He was the supreme judge, could condemn people to death without appeal, and had the duty to punish and prevent crimes. From this judicial authority came his power to make and annul laws.

In Brandenburg-Prussia, absolute monarchy took a different turn, emphasizing the monarch as the "first servant of the state." The House of Hohenzollern ruled as a feudal monarchy from 1525, then as an absolute monarchy from 1701 to 1848, after which it became a federal semi-constitutional monarchy until the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Frederick I became the first King in Prussia in 1701. Frederick the Great adopted the title King of Prussia in 1772, the same year he annexed most of Royal Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. He practiced enlightened absolutism until his death in 1786, introducing a general civil code, abolishing torture, and establishing that the Crown would not interfere in justice.

He also promoted advanced secondary education, the forerunner of the German gymnasium system, which was later emulated in countries including the United States. In Russia, the tsars and emperors governed as absolute monarchs until 1905. Ivan IV ("the Terrible") was known for his reign of terror through the oprichnina. After the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century, the traditional alliance of autocratic monarchy continued.