With the invention of gunpowder, the role of nobility started to decrease rapidly. As a result of changes in the balance of power, another variant of Monarchy arose: the Absolutism. It is a monarchical form of government where the king has the power to rule his or her land or state and its citizens freely, with some laws or legally-organized direct opposition in force. Although some religious authority may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an absolute monarchy there is no constitution or body of law above what is decreed by the sovereign (king or queen). The various groups of power present in feudal monarchies (such as landlords) are marginalised, as the absolute monarch rules through his own bureaucratic administration, though wealthy merchants and industrialists have a good deal of influence. As a theory of civics, absolute monarchy puts total trust in well-bred and well-trained monarchs raised for the role from birth.