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WorksheetsUnit 3: Absolutism and Constitutionalism Introduction
Total questions: 30
Worksheet time: 15mins
Which statement best distinguishes absolutism from constitutionalism in seventeenth-century Europe?
Absolutism expanded representative institutions widely
Constitutionalism concentrated unchecked royal power
Absolutism centralized royal authority over nobles
Constitutionalism subordinated parliaments to monarchs
A student claims both absolutism and constitutionalism sought stability. Which consequence more closely aligns with constitutionalism?
Redefining ruler–subject ties through royal centralization
Embedding limits on monarchy and expanding representation
Replacing parliaments with royal councils entirely
Consolidating noble power under a single monarch
Which statement best captures James I’s view of royal authority?
Royal power derived directly from God alone
Kings ruled by a contract with Parliament
Authority came from popular consent of gentry
Monarchs should share sovereignty with bishops
What was a key provision of the 1628 Petition of Right presented to Charles I?
The Book of Common Prayer replaced Presbyterian worship
Bishops could appoint judges without oversight
Taxes required Parliamentary approval before collection
Soldiers must quarter in private homes without pay
Why did Charles I recall the Long Parliament in 1640 after previously dissolving Parliament?
To raise funds to fight the Scottish resistance
To enforce Puritan control over the Anglican Church
To pass reforms limiting royal prerogative powers
To negotiate marriage alliances with Catholic states
Which action best characterizes Oliver Cromwell’s rule after the execution of Charles I?
Restored the House of Lords immediately
Established a commonwealth and later became Lord Protector
Expanded royal prerogative and divine right
Abolished Parliament and crowned himself king
Parliament split into Whigs and Tories primarily over which succession concern during Charles II’s reign?
Funding for wars against the Dutch
Creation of a new Anglican prayer book
Whether the Catholic Duke of York should inherit
Support for a republican constitution
Which development best explains why many Whigs and Tories invited William and Mary to take the English throne in 1688?
William of Orange pledged to strengthen absolute monarchy
James II reduced taxes with broad Parliamentary support
Mary promised to maintain James II’s Catholic policies
James II promoted Catholic influence in government
Which provision in the 1689 English Bill of Rights most clearly limited royal authority and advanced constitutional monarchy?
The monarch could dissolve Parliament at will
Parliamentary debates were publicly recorded
Taxation required Parliamentary permission
The monarch appointed all judges for life
An investor in 16th‑century Spain wants to profit from rising prices. Which factor most directly created this inflationary environment?
Gold and silver inflows from New World mines
Higher tariffs on imported Asian textiles
Peasant emancipation lowering labor obligations
Declining population after plague outbreaks
Why did entrepreneurs expand the Putting‑Out System in rural Europe, and what was a primary outcome?
To fund state militaries; cannon production replaced textiles
To control colonial markets; shipbuilding rapidly declined
To bypass restrictive guild rules; output of cloth increased
To centralize labor in cities; factory wages stabilized
Which development best explains how the Commercial Revolution contributed to England’s overseas expansion?
Growth of a large English middle class financed exploration
Establishment of absolute monarchies controlled all trade
Reduction of urban markets discouraged maritime investment
Decline of joint‑stock companies limited colonial ventures
Which statement reflects a core principle of mercantilism adopted by early modern nation‑states?
Global wealth was finite and power required resource control
Open competition increased wealth without state regulation
Wealth grew mainly through agricultural self‑sufficiency
Free trade balanced imports and exports automatically
Which pairing correctly matches a Columbian Exchange transfer with its direction?
Horses to Europe; tobacco to Africa
Potatoes to Europe; smallpox to the Americas
Turkeys to Europe; rice to Europe
Coffee to the Americas; maize to Asia
Which factor most directly helped the Dutch Republic become Europe’s leading commercial power in the 17th century?
Abolition of all forms of monarchy
Militarization under an absolute ruler
Plantations increased Spanish gold and silver
Shipbuilding created the world’s largest fleet
A merchant in Amsterdam chooses to settle there in the 1600s. Which combination best explains why Amsterdam attracted such merchants at that time?
Absolute monarchy and heavy trade tariffs
Religious toleration and a strong banking system
State-run guilds and a feudal land system
Military conscription and closed sea routes
Louis XIV’s expansionist aims and the response of other powers best illustrate which principle of European politics after the Thirty Years’ War?
Isolationism favored over intervention in conflicts
Permanent alliances based on religious solidarity
Uncontested hegemony of a single absolutist state
Collective security through balance of power coalitions
During the War of the Spanish Succession, European states formed the Grand Alliance primarily to prevent which development?
English control of the Atlantic slave trade monopoly
Union of French and Spanish thrones under one dynasty
Ottoman expansion into the Spanish Netherlands territory
Austrian annexation of France’s eastern natural borders
Which provision of the Treaty of Utrecht best reflects balance of power goals while limiting French dominance?
England ceded Canadian colonies back to the French
Philip V became Spanish king without throne union
France annexed the Spanish Netherlands permanently
Habsburg control over Rhine river trade expanded
Which factor most directly weakened the Holy Roman Empire’s central authority in the seventeenth century?
Election of an emperor without fiscal or military power
Unification of German states under a single monarch
Increased revenues from overseas colonial trade
Establishment of a powerful imperial standing army
Why did the Republic of Poland become vulnerable to partition in the eighteenth century?
Religious unity created resistance to foreign influence
Unanimous noble veto and elected monarch limited power
Strong centralized bureaucracy and efficient taxation
Rapid industrialization strengthened military logistics
After the Battle of Vienna, what long‑term consequence followed for the Ottoman Empire?
Immediate collapse and dissolution of the empire
Permanent alliance with Austria and Poland
Renewed advance into Central Europe and dominance
Cessation of westward expansion and gradual decline
Advances in early modern military technology most benefited states that could do what?
Avoid fortifications and favor light cavalry raids
Reduce bureaucracies to cut administrative costs
Rely on feudal levies and decentralized command
Levy high taxes to fund large standing armies
Which feature best characterizes political absolutism in early modern Europe?
Monarch subordinated to national assemblies
Monarch represented state sovereignty directly
Monarch shared power with independent nobles
Monarch relied on papal military authority
In 1598, which action by Henry IV most directly aimed to stabilize France’s religious divisions?
Revoked privileges of the sword nobility
Created intendants to oversee provinces
Issued the Edict of Nantes for Huguenots
Sold venal offices to raise revenues
Why did Cardinal Richelieu’s role under Louis XIII strengthen the French monarchy compared with the situation under Henry IV?
He abolished the nobility’s tax exemptions permanently
He centralized authority through ministers like intendants
He replaced standing armies with feudal levies
He expanded the Edict of Nantes into full equality
What was a primary purpose of the French intendant system under royal authority?
To empower clergy over secular officials
To create independent noble-led districts
To expand serfdom across rural provinces
To weaken nobles while strengthening monarchy
During the Thirty Years’ War, Cardinal Richelieu’s foreign policy mainly aimed to
Support Catholic powers against Protestants
Weaken the Habsburgs to elevate France
Restore feudal privileges for nobles
Annex England to secure the Channel
How did The Fronde shape Louis XIV’s later approach to ruling?
It led him to control nobility tightly
It made him distrust professional administrators
It persuaded him to abolish standing armies
It convinced him to decentralize governance
Which belief best explains Louis XIV’s claim to absolute authority?
Mercantilism mandated shared sovereignty
Social Contract granted power from people
Divine Right meant power came from God
Natural Rights required limited monarchy
