Whether the reign of a French monarch such as Hugh Capet or Henry I was historically consequential or relatively uneventful,
its trajectory was shaped by questions of legitimacy and therefore cannot be understood without a corollary understanding
of the factors that allowed the monarch to ______ his right to hold the throne.
disengage
annotate
buttress
reciprocate
Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of the legitimacy of the reigns of
French monarchs such as Hugh Capet and Henry I. As used in this context, “buttress” means to strengthen or defend. The
text indicates that regardless of whether a French monarch’s reign was signiﬁcant or uneventful, each monarch faced
questions about his right to the throne. The text goes on to say that in order to understand the path of a French monarch’s
reign, it’s important to understand what contributed to the monarch’s ability to “hold the throne.” This context suggests that
French monarchs such as Hugh Capet and Henry I had to buttress, or defend, their right to be monarch. 
Choice A is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context to discuss factors that enabled a monarch to “disengage,” or
withdraw his right to the French throne. The text focuses on an examination of people who reigned as French monarchs, not
on people who didn’t choose to rule. Choice B is incorrect because it wouldn’t make sense in context to discuss factors that
enabled a monarch to “annotate,” or add notes to or explain, his right to the French throne. Nothing in the text suggests that
the monarchs were writing notes about their right to the throne; instead, faced with questions about the legitimacy of their
reign, the monarchs defended their right. Choice D is incorrect. Saying that a monarch who is faced with questions about the
legitimacy of his reign was able to “reciprocate” his right to the French throne would mean that he either returned his right to
the throne or that he responded in kind to the challenge. Neither of these meanings would make sense in context because
the text focuses on people who did reign as French monarchs and defended their right to do so.