Absolutism in the Seventeenth Century

Increasing Power in the 17th Century
Governmental systems in both France and England were greatly changing during the 17th Century. In England, absolute monarchies lost power while Parliament gained supremacy. France, on the other hand, saw Louis XIV strengthening his own offices and weakening both the Estates General and the local nobility. Absolutism, a political theory holding that all power should be vested in one ruler, was attempted by James I and Charles I of England, and Louis XIV of France. However, neither English king could establish an absolute monarchy as successfully as L…