TOPIC:

Using the documents, analyze the concepts that rulers had of themselves, as well as
expectations that subjects had of their rulers, during the period from 1450 to 1750.

Document 1
A description of Abbas the Great by his secretary, Eskander Bey Monshi

“As regards his knowledge of the outside world, he possess information about the rulers (both
Muslim and non-Muslim) of other countries, about the size and composition of their armies,
about their religious faith and the organization of their kingdoms, about their highway systems,
and about the prosperity or otherwise of their realms. He has cultivated diplomatic relations with
most of the princes of the world, and the rulers of the most distant parts of Europe, Russia, and
India are on friendly terms with him. Foreign ambassadors bearing gifts are never absent from
his court, and the Shah’s achievements in the field of foreign relations exceed those of his
predecessors.”

Document 2
Elizabeth I of England, an address to her army before the attack of the Spanish Armada

“Let tyrants fear; I have always so behaved myself, that under God I have placed my chiefest
strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects; and, therefore, I am
come amongst you as you see at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved,
in the midst and heat of the battle to live or die amongst you all – to lay down for my God, and
for my kingdoms, and for my people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know I have
the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king – and of a King of
England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to
invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself
will take up arms – I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of everyone of your
virtues in the field…”

Document 3
An inscription by Suleiman the Magnificent on a Turkish citadel

“I am God’s slave and sultan of this world. By the grace of God I am head of Muhammad’s
community. God’s might and Muhammad’s miracles are my companions. I am Suleiman, in
whose name the hutbe [sermon] is read in Mecca and Medina. In Baghdad I am the shah, in
Byzantine realms the Caesar, and in Egypt the sultan; who sends his fleets to the seas of Europe,
the Maghrib and India. I am the sultan who took the crown and throne of Hungary and granted
them to a humble slave. The voivoda Petru raised his head in revolt, but my horse’s hoofs
ground into the dust, and I conquered the land of Moldavia.”
 Document 4
French bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Court preacher to Louis XIV and Tutor to Louis’
son

“God is infinite, God is all. The prince, as prince, is not regarded as a private person; he is a
public personage, all the state is in him; the will of all the people is included in his. As all
perfection and all strength are united in God, so all the power of individuals is united in the
person of the prince. What grandeur that a single man should embody so much!

Behold an immense people united in a single person; behold this power, paternal and absolute;
behold the secret cause which governs the whole body of the state, contained a single head: you
see the image of God in the king, and you have the idea of royal majesty. God is holiness itself,
goodness itself, and power itself. In these things lies the majesty of God. In the image of these
things lies the majesty of the prince.”

Document 5
Peter the Great, Decree on the Invitation of Foreigners

“Since our accession to the throne all our efforts and intentions have tended to govern this
realm in such a way that all of our subjects should, through our care for the general good,
become more and more prosperous. For this end we have always tried to maintain internal order,
to defend the state against invasion, and in every possible way to improve and to extend trade.
With this purpose we have been compelled to make some necessary and salutary changes in the
administration, in order that our subjects might more easily gain knowledge of matters of which
they were before ignorant, and become more skillful in their commercial relations.”

Document 6
Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit Priest, Description of China

“The extent of their kingdom is so vast, its borders so distant, and their utter lack of knowledge
of a transmaritime world is so complete that the Chinese imagine the whole world as included in
their kingdom. Even now, as from time beyond recording, they call their Emperor, Thiencu, the
Son of Heaven, and because they worship Heaven as the Supreme Being, the Song of Heaven
and the Song of God are one and the same. In ordinary speech, he is referred to as Hoamsi,
meaning supreme ruler or monarch, while other and subordinate rulers are called by the much
inferior title of Guam…Though we have already stated that the Chinese form of government, is
monarchical, it must be evident from what has been said, and it will be made clearer to what is to
come, that it is to some extent an aristocracy. Although all legal statues inaugurated by
magistrates must be confirmed by the King in writing on the written petition presented to him,
the King himself makes no final decision in important matters of state without consulting the
magistrates or considering their advice…”