The following have appeared as essay questions:

• In his play As You Like It, William Shakespeare famously penned that “All the world’s a stage, And all men and women merely players”. How accurately does this statement represent the historical realities of the Elizabethan Age?
• A recent biographer of Philip II has written that “all of Philip’s great protagonists — Elizabeth of England, William of Orange, Henry of Navarre — became legendary heroes in the memory of their own people. They did so in part because of their opposition to him. Philip alone failed to leave his mark.” Why isn’t Philip II, arguably the most powerful man of the second half of the 16th century, remembered as a hero of Spain? Please be specific with your answer (i.e. provide facts).
• Assess the following statement by Johna Huizinga: “The rebellion against Spanish authorities was a conservative revolution and could not have been otherwise — in those days, it was not the rebels but the lawful governments who were the reformers and innovators.”

The following have all appeared as multiple choice questions:

• What were Huguenots?
• Despite the title of ‘most Christian king of France,’ which of the following families was the true head of the Catholic faction in France during the religious wars of the 16^th century?
• The Dutch Declaration of Independence is the first modern expression of which principle?
• Which of the following occurred as a result of Lepanto?
• Why, according to Victor David Hanson, why did true market economies never develop in the Muslim world?
• Which of the following better captures the meaning of ‘Historicism’ as outlined in Karl Popper’s The Poverty of Historicism (and discussed in Carr)?
• Which of the following better captures the essence of the so-called Cleopatra’s Nose argument?
• In terms of state policy, which of the following was not a major concern of Philip II when he inherited the Spanish Empire in 1555?
• Which of the following pertains to Sir Francis Walsingham?
• The so-called Spanish Fury occurred as a result of…
• With only four great-grand parents and only six great-great grandparents, it’s no wonder this tragic inbred son of Philip II never attained the throne.
• Geoffrey Parker (among others) has posited that a Military Revolution took place in Europe 1550-1750. Which of the following is not an element of this argument?
• Which of the following pirate-slavers and Vice-Admirals of the Royal Navy was primarily responsible for the refitting of the English fleet prior to the Year of the Armada, which included the construction of faster and more maneuverable ‘race-built’ ships?
• Which of the following acted least like a politique?
• What was the ‘Escorial’ and why was it important?
• Which of the following better characterizes the Baroque?
• How did William of Orange earn his nickname?
• What prompted Philip II to dispatch the Duke of Alba and his Spanish troops to the Netherlands in 1567?
• The Treaty of Nonsuch provided for…
• Which of the following is not part of the so-called Black Legend?

The following have all appeared in short answer sections:

• Historians speak of proximate and immediate causation. Provide two proximate and two immediate causes for England going to war with Spain in 1585
• Historians deal in a multiplicity of causes. Provide 3 causes for the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
• Provide 3 personal characteristics of Philip II that played a role in the fortunes of Spain in the 16^th century.
• Provide 3 specific grievances against Philip II, as stated in the Dutch Declaration of Independence, which led to the separation of the United Provinces from Spain.
• Provide two major consequences of the Battle of Lepanto.
• What was the significance of the Edict of Nantes?
• What was the effect on Scotland of a jousting accident in celebration of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis?
• Provide 3 personal characteristics of Philip II that played a role in the fortunes of Spain in the 16^th century.
• Provide 3 specific grievances against Philip II, as stated in the Dutch Act of Abjuration (Dec of Independence), which led to the separation of the United Provinces from Spain.
• Provide 3 causes for the defeat of the Spanish Armada.