Glossary · Term · government
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy concentrated all power in a hereditary ruler answerable, in theory, to God alone. Justified by Bodin, Hobbes and the doctrine of divine right, it built the armies, bureaucracies and courts of early modern Europe, from Louis XIV’s France to Frederick the Great’s Prussia, before revolutions between 1688 and 1917 replaced it with constitutional government almost everywhere.
Mentioned in 17 profiles
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See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Absolute monarchy. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/absolute-monarchy
- MLA
- “Absolute monarchy.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/absolute-monarchy. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Absolute monarchy.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/absolute-monarchy.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Absolute monarchy’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/absolute-monarchy (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻