Economic Change and Political Consolidation (^) ‹ 87
- C is correct because the passage explicitly calls for an unbreakable “Covenant of every
man with every man, in such manner, as if every man should say to every man, I
Authorize and give up my Right of Governing.” A is incorrect because the covenant
discussed in the passage is not conditional in any way. B is incorrect because the cov-
enant discussed in the passage is not limited in any way. D is incorrect because the
passage makes no reference to any kind of democracy. - B is correct because the passage establishes that Hobbes was an advocate of an
unbreakable political covenant, and one may therefore infer that he was opposed to
the deposing of the reigning monarchy and the establishment of a commonwealth
based on conditional consent. A is incorrect because the passage makes no mention of
any kind of democracy. C is incorrect because the passage indicates the advantages of
centralized power. D is incorrect because the passage establishes Hobbes’s opposition to
any kind of constitution because it would limit the power of the sovereign. - Suggested answer:
Thesis: In the seventeenth century, the people of both England and France experienced
attempts by their kings to consolidate political power around the monarchy. In the English
situation, that effort was complicated by religious differences and was ultimately unsuccess-
ful. In the French case, the power of a dominant Catholic Church was used in the service of
the monarchy, and the effort was ultimately successful.
Paragraph Outline:I. Efforts by the monarchs of England (James I and Charles I) and the monarchs of France
(Louis XIII and XIV) to consolidate power in the seventeenth century
II. Split between the monarchists’ advocacy of the Church of England and the Parliamentarians’
advocacy of further Protestant reform in England. Bourbon use of the Church as a bureau-
cratic mechanism for the consolidation of political power in France.
III. English Civil War and defeat of the monarchists’ efforts to consolidate power in England.
Successful consolidation of political power by the Bourbon monarchy in France.Rapid Review
During the period from 1600 to 1648, the dynamics of the traditional, hierarchical social
structure of European kingdoms came under new pressures. As their economies underwent
a transformation from a purely agricultural base to a more complex system that included
expanding trade and the uneven growth of a middle class of merchants and professionals,
European monarchs attempted to solidify their claims to sovereignty.
In both Britain and France, the power struggle between the monarch and the elites was
won by the side who managed to form an alliance with the wealthy merchant and profes-
sional classes. In the European kingdoms farther east, however, these classes failed to gain
in wealth and numbers as their counterparts in Britain and France had done. As a result,
the stalemate between royal and aristocratic wealth and power remained more balanced,
necessitating compromise.KEY IDEA13_Bartolini_Ch13_081-088.indd 87 27/04/18 1:54 PM