Question

ticket: checking for understanding
question 1
how did the concept of divine right change the relationship between the monarch and their citizens?
question 2
explain how heavy military spending and taxation under absolute monarchs led to the age of revolutions.
question 3
identify one monarch from today’s lesson and describe one enlightened reform they attempted.
submit your answers before leaving the classroom!

Explanation:

1. For Question 1: The Divine Right of Kings framed monarchs as chosen directly by God, so their authority was not accountable to citizens. Citizens had no right to challenge the monarch, as opposing them was seen as opposing divine will, creating a top-down, unchallenged relationship where the monarch held absolute, God-granted power over their people.
2. For Question 2: Absolute monarchs funded large militaries and raised taxes (often targeting the lower and middle classes) to expand power and fight wars. This created extreme financial burden and resentment: the taxed classes had no political representation to protest, while military spending neglected domestic needs. This widespread anger and inequality fueled demands for political change, directly contributing to revolutionary movements like the American and French Revolutions.
3. For Question 3: Catherine the Great of Russia was an Enlightened monarch. She attempted legal reform by commissioning the Nakaz, a legal code based on Enlightenment ideas of equality before the law and individual rights, though the code was never fully implemented.

Answer:

1. The Divine Right concept positioned monarchs as God's chosen rulers, making their authority unaccountable to citizens. Citizens had no legitimate way to oppose or question the monarch, establishing an absolute, one-sided relationship where the monarch held total, divinely sanctioned power over the populace.
2. Heavy military spending and unfair taxation under absolute monarchs imposed severe, unrepresentative burdens on the majority of the population (who had no political voice to push back). This widespread economic hardship and resentment of unaccountable power built up public anger, which erupted into revolutionary movements that defined the Age of Revolutions.
3. Catherine the Great of Russia; she attempted to reform Russia's legal system with the Nakaz, a draft code inspired by Enlightenment principles that emphasized equality before the law and individual liberties, though the reform was never fully put into practice.