A seventeenth-century bishop defended kings as God's representatives, answerable to no earthly court. Which claim about monarchy is this?

A ruler insists that the final authority to make policy, command officials, and direct the kingdom belongs to the crown, not to provincial assemblies. What idea is he defending?

A king claims he may keep troops and raise revenue by royal command rather than wait for a representative vote. Which form of monarchy fits that claim best?

Which claim would supporters of divine-right absolutism most likely reject?

Which monarch inherited Spain's crowns in 1556, controlled the Low Countries and major Italian possessions, and ruled until 1598?

Which Bourbon king ruled France and Navarre from 1643 to 1715 and made Versailles the center of his court?

Which Romanov ruler governed Russia from 1682 to 1725 and took the title Emperor of All Russia in 1721?

Which Hohenzollern ruled Brandenburg, Ducal Prussia, and Cleves-Mark from 1640 to 1688 and is known as the Great Elector?

Which Prussian king ruled from 1713 to 1740 and was the father and predecessor of Frederick the Great?

Which Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperor in 1711 after earlier fighting for the Spanish throne in the War of the Spanish Succession?

In 1685, which action by Louis XIV ended legal toleration for Huguenots and drove many Protestants from France?

Which action did Philip II take in 1588 against Protestant England?

Which ruler founded a new city on the Baltic in 1703 and used it to pull Russia closer to western Europe?

Which ruler used taxes and troops to reduce the power of Brandenburg-Prussia's provincial Estates and build a standing army?

Who earned the nickname Soldier King by expanding Prussia's army and organizing the state around military needs?

Which ruler issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to keep the Habsburg lands together and secure his daughter's succession?

After victory at White Mountain, which Habsburg emperor annulled Bohemian Protestant privileges and strengthened Catholic Habsburg control?

Which Habsburg emperor's reign included the 1683 Ottoman siege of Vienna and later Habsburg gains in Hungary?

Through the 1620s and 1630s, which French minister broke Huguenot political power and attacked noble fortresses for Louis XIII?

Which minister under Louis XIV reorganized finances, promoted manufactures, and expanded royal trading companies?

Which minister under Louis XIV reorganized the army and helped turn military administration into an instrument of royal power?

Louis XIV sent royal agents into the provinces to supervise local authorities and economic development. What were these officials called?

Why did Louis XIV require many nobles to spend time at Versailles after the court moved there in 1682?

At Versailles, nobles competed for chances to attend the king's getting-up and going-to-bed ceremonies. What political purpose did this serve?

Philip II's El Escorial combined a monastery, royal palace, library, and dynastic tomb. What message did that building project send?

Philip II's wars in the Netherlands, Mediterranean, and against England strained his treasury. What was one financial result?

What was one cost of Louis XIV's 1685 religious policy toward Huguenots?

The War of the Spanish Succession consumed Louis XIV's final years. What did this show about the cost of absolutist warfare?

After 1689, England's crown could not raise taxes or keep a peacetime standing army without Parliament's consent. What best contrasts England with France under Louis XIV?

Peter the Great's Table of Ranks made nobles climb a service ladder in the army, court, or bureaucracy. What did this cost old elites?