How much power does a monarch really have? How much autonomy do they enjoy? Who regulates the size of the royal family, their finances, the rules of succession?

Recounts the history of present and former ruling families of continental Europe and speculates on the role of monarchy in the future.

This sweeping book explores the profound shift in the way European kings and queens were regarded by their subjects between the Reformation and the Enlightenmen

Conventionally, ``absolutism'' in early-modern Europe has suggested unfettered autocracy and despotism -- the erosion of rights, the centralisation of decision-