Population, Economy and Society in the Absolute Monarchies and Enlightenment

TMA 1

Characteristics of the population and economy of the Old Regime

- The population was in the first stage of the demographic cycle. Malnutrition, lack of hygiene and scarce resources, together with high mortality, very low life expectancy and high birth rates, were the characteristics of this stage. Years of economic prosperity and production increases were unable to feed the growing population, while the crisis of subsistence caused demographic crises, and these crises were responsible for demographic stagnation.

- The economy was land-based and the first strong basis was characterized by production for home consumption. Industry was hindered by the internal customs barriers that impeded domestic trade.

Characteristics of the estates society

- Society was divided into three estates: the clergy (who ensured the spiritual care of the people and divine protection), the nobility (who fought and protected the community) and the third estate (whose function was to produce material goods). These were closed groups, as birth circumstances made social ascent very difficult.

The clergy did not pay direct taxes but received income from the tithe and from urban and rural property. Within the clergy there was a high clergy, who lived with the nobility, and a low clergy, who lived without luxuries or privileges.

The nobility were owners of most of the land and enjoyed honorific, economic and fiscal concessions. Within the nobility there was the court nobility, who were rich and lived at court, and the provincial nobility, and the nobility of the robe.

The third estate was made up of different social sectors. The bourgeoisie, a dynamic and economically powerful group, was differentiated into the rentier bourgeoisie, who lived from the income of their properties; the financial bourgeoisie; and the manufacturing bourgeoisie. Also included were artisans, small merchants and liberal professionals. The urban popular class was distinguished from the peasantry, which included free peasants, day laborers and serfs.

Characteristics of the absolute monarchies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

- The origin of the monarchy was divine authority: the monarch was accountable only to God, and in him were concentrated the three powers. In practice, there were institutions that executed the monarch's orders and mandates; the main body was the Council of State, and there were also secretaries of state who handled the ordinary affairs of the state. The monarch did not share power with any institution, such as the Estates General, nor was he accountable to anyone or subject to any control. The power was held to derive from divine law, and the subjects were considered to have no natural right to defend their fundamental rights against despotism. The provincial administration in many states was carried out by governors who could apply laws, maintain order, direct public works, industry, and any matter of commerce and territorial affairs. The government officials and bureaucrats were in charge of executing the royal orders, administering justice and collecting taxes.

Characteristics of enlightened despotism

- Enlightened despotism is the political concept within absolute monarchies that preferentially includes philosophical ideas, according to which the state must be guided by reason. The monarchs of this doctrine had in common centralizing absolutist features, streamlining the administration, promoting education and economic modernization, and encouraging agricultural and industrial development and free trade. The contradictions of these reformist policies opened the way to liberal revolutions.

Characteristics, trends and main political thinkers of the Enlightenment

- The Enlightenment was a movement of the intellectual climate of the eighteenth century, which inspired the American independence and the French Revolution. The main Enlightenment figures included Isaac Newton, who introduced scientific methods based on experimentation and observation, and John Locke, who laid the foundations for the critique of absolute power and the division of powers. The Enlightenment thinkers advocated the use of reason as the means to understand and explain the world. The new philosophers opposed the medieval conception of the world, centered on revelation and tradition. Most were rationalists, who held the supremacy of reason over any other source of knowledge and over religion, and they condemned religious intolerance. They hoped that reason would spread and that it was the source of natural justice and human happiness.

Key concepts

Mercantilism: a set of economic policies characterized by the intervention of a strong state in the economy. It consisted of a series of measures that aimed to unify the domestic market and to build the strongest possible nation.

Triangular trade: the commercial route established in the Atlantic Ocean, involving three continents (Europe, America and Africa), forming a triangular route.

Enlightened despotism: the political concept of absolute monarchies in which philosophical ideas, guided by reason, are preferentially included.

Manufacturing: the transformation of raw materials into finished products, mainly for consumption.

Domestic system: a form of production in which work was done in the homes of workers.

Locke: English philosopher and empiricist thinker, considered a founder of modern liberalism.

Voltaire: French writer and philosopher, one of the main representatives of the Enlightenment.

Rousseau: writer, philosopher and musician, usually classified as an Enlightenment thinker, whose ideas greatly influenced the French Revolution and the development of republican and nationalist movements.

Montesquieu: theorist and essayist of the Enlightenment, most relevant for his work on the separation of powers.