ABSTRACT
The various dimensions of the myth of absolutism contribute to the present uncertainty surrounding its origins and development. There seems little agreement as to when it emerged, what drove it forward, whether it progressed through distinct phases and when it came to an end. These issues are often clouded further by a failure to distinguish clearly between the impulses behind the political transformations variously identified as absolutism, and the justifications and means employed by contemporaries to advance political centralisation. Finally, there has been a tendency to generalise from specific examples, and to impose rigid theoretical models on disparate historical experiences. This chapter intends to remove these difficulties by unravelling the controversies and identifying what may be specific for central European state formation, and what is of more general application for the continent.
