The correct answer to this open question is the following.
According to the text, the Protestant Reformation contributed to the rise of absolutism because the conflicts and wars made monarchs rise to power and instituted an absolutist form of government, which means that the king was the absolute ruler with no rivalry at all. The king exerted total control over the reign. Nations needed the order to be reestablished again after so much turmoil and the absolute monarchy was the answer. The kings weakened the pope's power, the influence of the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire in general. Some kings appointed themselves as head of the Protestant churches in their kingdoms.
