Change and Continuity in Early Modern Europe Quotes
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· 18 ratings · 2 reviews
Start your review of The Myth of Absolutism: Change & Continuity in Early Modern European Monarchy
Oct 27, 2009 Victoria rated it really liked it
This book is deliberately reacting to the 1980s trend of conducting history from the bottom up (which I like), and to the entire tradition of Marxist history (which I hate). In a highly readable format, Henshall deconstructs our assumptions about the absolutist state in France and England, arguing that the monarchies of these states were remarkably similar, and that if we are to apply the absolutist label to the one (France) then we must apply it to the other (England). However, 'absolutism', in This book is deliberately reacting to the 1980s trend of conducting history from the bottom up (which I like), and to the entire tradition of Marxist history (which I hate). In a highly readable format, Henshall deconstructs our assumptions about the absolutist state in France and England, arguing that the monarchies of these states were remarkably similar, and that if we are to apply the absolutist label to the one (France) then we must apply it to the other (England). However, 'absolutism', in the sense that it is currently understood (that is, as a form of autarky), scarcely matches the reality of the monarchical systems in either France or England; and while contemporaries may have used the word 'absolutism' to describe what was going on, it held vastly different connotations for them than it does for the modern reader. Henshall urges historians (of the Baumgartnerian tradition, I suspect) to resist this categorization, and rather to treat the politics of the era on their own terms. Absolutism as it is understood today, Henshall says, "is forever too autocratic, too despotic, and too bureaucratic to catch the subtle balances and compromises of the old order before 1789." (p. 211)
Indeed.
...more
Feb 24, 2013 J.M. Hushour rated it really liked it
An eminently readable and often humorous deflation of the stale notion of "absolutism" in pre-Revolutionary France and the idea of "limited monarchy" in post-Revolutionary England. Demolishing the term, Henshall points out that no mnarch was ever truly absolute or limited during this period. Instead, the ennobled, the masses, and the king were all part of an intricate network of clientelage and patronage which was much more checksy and balancy than historians have usually held. Simply put: kings An eminently readable and often humorous deflation of the stale notion of "absolutism" in pre-Revolutionary France and the idea of "limited monarchy" in post-Revolutionary England. Demolishing the term, Henshall points out that no mnarch was ever truly absolute or limited during this period. Instead, the ennobled, the masses, and the king were all part of an intricate network of clientelage and patronage which was much more checksy and balancy than historians have usually held. Simply put: kings had some power, parlements had some power, and most power was very local- or urban-focused.
Also interesting is Henshall's tracing of how the idea of 'absolutism' evolved in historiography. Cool book, his thesis should be held up to an Ottoman light, probably with interesting results. ...more
Also interesting is Henshall's tracing of how the idea of 'absolutism' evolved in historiography. Cool book, his thesis should be held up to an Ottoman light, probably with interesting results. ...more
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