| Nevertheless, even absolute monarchs or totalitarian dictators are constrained by forces beyond their control. |
| We have to remember that territorial states in early modern Europe were governed by absolute monarchs who regarded the state as their property. |
| One reason why absolute monarchs in Europe in the seventeenth century required large standing armies was to defend their extensive borders. |
| The English and French monarchs were kings and queens of the land and not the people. |
| But after the ignominious recapture of a king who appeared bent on internationalizing his plight, other monarchs were alarmed. |
| He served as a principal secretary to four successive Tudor monarchs, from Henry VIII to the early reign of Queen Elizabeth. |
