this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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Was the development of absolutism a response to the rising capitalist class, or off republicanism? My knowledge of late medieval history is really not as strong as it could be so I’m interested to hear what people think

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[–] Leon_Grotsky@hexbear.net 12 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

I think, if we are talking "Feudalism in decay" you actually want to be looking closer to the 1600's-1700's, and I think the commenters saying Mercantilism/Absolutism are closer to the mark than the peasant revolts.

The peasant revolts were all within the framework of Feudalism lorded over by Christendom, and largely a question of what kind of local concessions were to be given by The Church as part of local church doctrine.

100 years or so later, we see the waning of The Church's direct authority over the feudal structures as the monarchs mostly give up the pretense of divine mandate and feudal partitioning to the end of centralizing power within the crown itself.

Pentiment is a good shout though, and I agree on the point that "collapse" can be anything from a year to three centuries.