Period Of Absolutism Essay

Was absolutism a period of prosperity or tyranny in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries? Anyone could answer based on opinion. Many successful events happened that had helped all the kings become better rulers with strong armies and a strong nation. There were many deaths that made people call this period of time a time of tyranny instead of prosperity. Many kings were considered obsessed with themselves or ego centered, but they improved their nations by adding roads. Although, in my opinion this period of time was a time of tyranny simply because of how the kings ruled the deaths caused by them and the way the government ran. During the 16 ­17th century all the kings that had ruled, ruled in their own type of style. Although if one were to look back to Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, they would notice how most of the rulers had ruled by following the guidelines from his book. Though, some of these rules and guidelines made the kings seem selfish. Machiavelli had said in his book how a ruler should be feared but not hated because if the kings seemed to friendly, then he wouldn’t be taken seriously. â€Å"Kings James I of england for example felt that kings should be treated like gods†(Doc 2). He felt that the government should’ve been ruled with more divine power. He felt like the only way he could be respected was to be treated like a God.