Spain
This Spanish king ruled during the height of Spanish power in the 16th century and inherited an enormous empire.
Charles V
This French monarch was known as the Sun King and famously declared, “I am the state,” a phrase often associated with his absolute rule.
Louis XIV
This Prussian ruler, known as the Soldier King, greatly expanded the army and strengthened the state's military institutions.
Frederick William I
This powerful royal family ruled Austria and controlled a diverse collection of European territories.
The Habsburgs
This English king clashed with Parliament over taxation, religion, and royal authority before the English Civil War.
Charles I
Known as the “Most Catholic King,” this Spanish monarch ruled from 1556 to 1598 and sent the Spanish Armada against England.
Philip II
This magnificent palace outside Paris became the center of Louis XIV's royal court and government.
This Prussian king, known as Frederick the Great, expanded Prussian territory and won major victories during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.
Frederick II
This Habsburg ruler fought to preserve her inheritance during the War of the Austrian Succession and promoted administrative reforms.
Maria Theresa
This Parliamentarian military leader helped defeat the royalists, oversaw the execution of Charles I, and later ruled England as Lord Protector.
Oliver Cromwell
The defeat of this Spanish naval force in 1588 weakened Spain's plans to invade England.
Spanish Armada
Louis XIV used this system of government to strengthen the monarchy by centralizing authority in the king.
Absolutism
This Russian ruler traveled to Western Europe, modernized the army and navy, and built St. Petersburg.
Peter the Great
This Habsburg ruler, son of Maria Theresa, introduced reforms intended to improve education, reduce the power of the Church, and centralize government.
Joseph II
This 1688 event forced James II from the English throne and brought William III and Mary II to power.
The large amounts of silver arriving from the Americas contributed to inflation and helped Spain finance its wars, but did not prevent these recurring financial problems.
Government debts and bankruptcies
This finance minister under Louis XIV promoted mercantilism, encouraged manufacturing, and sought to increase French exports.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
This Russian empress corresponded with Enlightenment thinkers, expanded Russian territory, and continued to rely on noble support and serfdom.
Catherine the Great
Unlike more culturally unified states, the Austrian Habsburg monarchy faced this challenge because it ruled many ethnic and linguistic groups.
The challenge of governing a multiethnic empire
Passed in 1689, this document limited royal power and affirmed Parliament's rights, including protections against certain abuses of authority.
English Bill of Rights
Despite Spain's wealth and vast empire, these economic weaknesses contributed to its long-term decline.
Dependence on American silver, inflation, costly wars, and weak domestic manufacturing
In 1685, Louis XIV revoked this edict, ending official toleration for French Protestants and prompting many Huguenots to leave France.
Edict of Nantes
The Prussian victory in the War of the Austrian Succession that secured Silesia helped establish Prussia as a major European power.
Conquest of Silesia
Maria Theresa and Joseph II tried to strengthen the Habsburg state through these changes, which included improving tax collection, reorganizing administration, and expanding state oversight.
Centralizing administrative reforms
Unlike the absolute monarchies of France and Russia, England's political system increasingly established this principle, under which the monarch's authority was limited by law and Parliament.
Constitutional Monarchy