Compare and contrast French and English political development during the 17th century. Whose development was most influential and why?

English and
French political developments in the seventeenth century are a study in contrasts. Through a
civil war and a later, non-violent deposition of a monarch, the English moved decisively towards
a parliamentary monarchy. The French, in contrast, moved decisively towards absolutist monarchy
in the same time period.

In the early years of the century, both countries
were headed toward absolutist governments based on the concept of Divine Rights of Kings. James
I and his son Charles I took a much more aggressive stance towards asserting the powers of the
monarch than had Elizabeth I. In England, however, this blew up into a Civil War, in part
because of the existence of a robust Protestant religious resistance to what was seen as James'
and Charles' closet papacy. The Royalists lost the war, and Oliver Cromwell took power, ending
the monarchy in England for a time. After the Restoration, fears of papacy and Spanish influence
again led to an uprising, this one nonviolent as the...