Cardinal Mazarin was the Chief Minister to Louis XIV throughout the King's childhood and early adult life. Mazarin was responsible for crushing a revolt of the French nobility and for strengthening the power of the French monarchy.

The 1815 Congress of Vienna took place in the immediate aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Its primary concern was establishing what has come to be called "The Concert of Europe." Essentially, this means balancing the territory of all the major European nations to discourage them from engaging in warfare with one another (restoring the balance of power). Its secondary concern was ensuring the continued rule of Europe's absolute and constitutional monarchs and preventing the transition towards Republicanism.

The Russian legislature was called the Duma. It was created by the Tsar to give in to calls for democracy, but in reality, it had limited powers to effect legislation.

The Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II. The institution of serfdom was very similar to the institution of slavery and underpinned the whole feudal system of economic and social life throughout much of Europe from the fall of the Roman empire until the Industrial Revolution. It is worth noting that the emancipation of the serfs in Russia and the slaves in the United States happened at very much the same time. Clearly there was a global movement away from forced labor.

The Magna Carta is often referenced as the beginning of British, and therefore American, democracy. It created a Great Council of Lords and Barons with whom the King had to consult before making any significant decisions. This is clearly hardly democracy— it's more like an oligarchy—but this council would one day evolve into the British Parliament, from which true democracy would eventually flow. The signing of the Magna Carta is also significant in that it may be seen as the very beginning of the English nation-state. It is a foundational legend upon which the British government and people can trace their shared history and legitimacy back eight hundred years.

The Courtier is an important literary work of the Italian Renaissance. It was written by Baldassare Castiglione in the early sixteenth century. In the book, Castiglione describes the ideal Renaissance Man: how he should be artistic, athletic, scientifically-minded, etc.

All of these individuals were involved with Portugese exploration except for Christopher Columbus, who was actually born in Italy but sailed to the New World under the patronage of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.

Gustavus Adolphus was the commander of the Swedish forces throughout the Thirty Years' War. Victory of his army at the Battle of Brietenfield prevented the Hapsburg forces from reunifying the German-speaking world under the Catholic faith.

During the Italian Renaissance, the country we now know as Italy was divided up into several independent city-states. All of the answer choices were city-states except for the United Provinces. The United Provinces refers to territory in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium during the time when this territory was under Spanish control.

The Rurik family ruled over Russia from its inception in the ninth century until 1613 when they were replaced by the Romanov family. The Romanovs ruled from 1613 until they were ousted from power during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Notable Romanovs include Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, Alexander I and II, and Nicholas I.