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The Ancien Régime lasted mainly from the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, ending with the French Revolution in 1789. This political, social and economic system was characterized by an absolute monarchy, a class society and an agrarian economy. -
Estate Society
Hierarchical structure: Society is organized into rigid estates (nobility, clergy, and commoners) determined by birth.
Legal inequality: There is no equality before the law; privileged estates have tax exemptions and access to positions of power.
Low social mobility: It is very difficult to change estates. Social mobility was minimal, with the exception of entry into the clergy. -
El Concentration of power: The monarch has absolute power and is not subject to a constitution.
Divine authority: The king's power is considered divine, so he is only accountable to God.
Subjects, not citizens: The inhabitants are subjects of the king and not citizens with rights.
Limited power of assemblies: Institutions that could limit the king, such as the Cortes or the Estates General, have little decision-making power. -
Agrarian and Subsistence:The economy depended primarily on agriculture, with low yields.
Production for Consumption: Agriculture was primarily oriented toward peasant subsistence, with little surplus for sale.
Technical Backwardness and Land Ownership: Agricultural techniques were rudimentary, and most peasants did not own the land they worked, which usually belonged to the nobility and clergy.
Industrial Backwardness: Crafts were controlled by guilds, and industry had very limited development. -
It was characterized by promoting reason, critical thinking, and progress to question dogmas and improve society, extending from the intellectual sphere to philosophy, science, and politics. -
The parliamentary monarchy triumphed -
It marked the end of absolute monarchy in England and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. This document severely limited the monarch's powers, consolidated the supremacy of Parliament, and guaranteed fundamental rights. -
John Locke is a fundamental figure of the Enlightenment because he laid the foundations of liberal political thought, proposing natural rights (life, liberty, property), government by consent and the separation of powers. -
He was one of the greatest exponents of the Enlightenment, a French writer, historian, and philosopher known for his critique of absolutism, religious fanaticism, and superstition. He championed freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and the separation of church and state, ideas that spread through his vast satirical, philosophical, and historical works, thus influencing revolutionary movements. -
The most important idea was the separation of powers (legislative, executive, and judicial) to avoid despotism and protect liberty. His main work, "The Spirit of the Laws," criticized absolutism and proposed a government structure that limited power to guarantee the rule of law and individual rights, decisively influencing modern democracies such as the United States and the French Revolution. -
His thought is characterized by the idea that man is good by nature and that society corrupts him, which led him to a radical critique of the progress and civilization so admired by other Enlightenment figures. His influence is notable through works such as The Social Contract and Emile, or on Education, which laid the foundations for Romanticism and the French Revolution. -
Political model of the second half of the 18th century in which absolute monarchs adopted some ideas of the Enlightenment to modernize the State and improve the well-being of the people, while maintaining all political power. -
The American Revolution, the Thirteen Colonies Revolution, or the American Revolution was the revolutionary process of the Thirteen British Colonies in North America that would culminate in the independence of the United States