Pressures toward absolutism came from three needs experienced by heads of state and their advisors: 1 to bring and end to religious discord; 2 to surmount the problems created by changes in the European economy; 3 to enable their military forces to compete successfully in warfare transformed by gunpowder weapons. ... The massacres of Catholic Henry III of France 1589, Protestant William the Silent of the Dutch Republic 1584, and Protestant turned Catholic Henry IV of France 1610 after 19 failed attempts, as well as countless massacres and wars provoked by religious differences, impelled a new...

• Word Count: 1362
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate