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AP European History Multiple Choice Questions Period 1

Questions 1-3 refer to the image below of a printing press.

McGraw-Hill Education

1. The development of the printing press like that show in the above image led most directly to which of the following in 15th century Europe?

(A) The spread and influence of humanist thought

(B) A decline in the literacy rate

(C)The growth of traditional ecclesiastical teachings

(D)A rise in the founding of new universities


2. Which of the following is most directly a result or outgrowth of the development depicted in the above image?

(A) An increase in the creation of Latin texts

(B) The availability of inexpensive books

(C)Public access to vernacular literature

(D)A rising demand for hand-written manuscripts

3. Which of the following was a direct long-term effect of the development depicted in the image?

(A) The resurgence of the Catholic church

(B) Socio-economic conflicts between peasants and aristocrats

(C)The rise of religious radicalism

(D)The establishment of Protestantism

Questions 4-6 refer to the passage below.

“The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the works of others as his standard; but if he will apply himself to learn from the objects of nature he will produce good results. This we see was the case with the painters who came after the time of the Romans, for they continually imitated each other and whose art consequently declined from age to age.”

Leonardo da Vinci; from Edward MacCurdy, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

4. Based on the above passage, it can be inferred that Da Vinci was most influenced by which of the following?

(A) Secularism

(B) Humanism

(C)Mysticism


(D)Rationalism

5. Which of the following best reflects how art in the earlier Middle Ages differed from that in Da Vinci’s time?

(A) The art was religious in nature

(B) The art was mainly portraiture

(C)The art was influenced by ancient traditions

(D)The art was stylized and symbolic

6. Which of the following would have been most likely to patronize Da Vinci’s art?

(A) The Church

(B) Monarchs

(C)Wealthy merchants

(D)Civic groups


“Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature. Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.”

Francis Bacon, The New Organon, 1620

7. Bacon’s views in the passage above most clearly reflect which of the following?

(A) Skepticism

(B) Naturalism

(C)Empiricism

(D)Superstition


8. Bacon’s concept of nature is most clearly exhibited in which of the following?

(A) Inductive reasoning

(B) Scholastic studies

(C)Deductive reasoning

(D)Abstract thought

9. Which of the following best reflects the predominant goal of Bacon’s writings?

(A) To influence the development of scientific thought

(B) To create progress through useful knowledge

(C)To reinforce traditional ideas regarding the world

(D)To separate knowledge from subjective beliefs


“What lay behind the origins of witch-hunting (as opposed to magic or witchcraft which were endemic features of the European landscape) was the need to defend particular religious beliefs against both heretical challenges, such as Anabaptism, and inner doubt. As the Jews before them, alleged witches and demoniacs provided tangible proof of the reality of the Christian supernatural realm. And while many ordinary peasant denouncers of local witches were not deeply concerned about the diabolical conspiracy, their social betters and religious leader clearly were.”

Gary K. Waite, historian, Heresy, Magic, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, 2003

10. The development of witch-hunting referred to in the above passage was most directly a reaction to

(A) Widespread epidemics and natural disasters

(B) Peasant revolts

(C)Religious wars


(D)A new scientific culture

11. Which of the following best reflects a common belief regarding witchcraft in early modern Europe?

(A) That some witchcraft can be used for good purposes

(B) That all witches had pacts with the Devil

(C)That witches did not really exist

(D)That witches could be detected by scientific means

12. Which of the following groups would be most likely to be targeted by the witch-hunters referenced in the passage?

(A) Unmarried men

(B) Elderly, independent women

(C)Midwives

(D)Male Artisans


“After 1492 the world’s ecosystems collided and mixed as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans. The Columbian Exchange, as Crosby called it, is the reason there are tomatoes in Italy, oranges in the United States, chocolates in Switzerland, and chili peppers in Thailand. To ecologists, the Columbian Exchange is arguably the most important event since the death of the dinosaurs…

When Europeans brought smallpox and influenza to the Americas, they set off epidemics: sudden outbursts that shot through Indian towns and villages, then faded. Malaria, by contrast, became endemic, an ever-present, debilitating presence in the landscape. Socially speaking, malaria—along with another mosquito-borne disease, yellow fever—turned the Americas upside down.”

Charles C. Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, 2011

13. Which of the following was most directly an effect on Europe of the development described in the passage above?


(A) The influx of New World diseases

(B) A decline in European naval power

(C)A shift of economic wealth to Europe’s Atlantic region

(D)Cultural exchanges with New World populations

14. In addition to the disease referenced in the passage, which of the following best reflects the impact of Europeans on the populations of the Americas?

(A) Assimilation of European culture

(B) Conversion to Christianity

(C)Adaption of European agricultural technology

(D)Subjugation through forced labor

15. Which of the following was a direct long-term effect of the of the development described in the passage above?

(A) The ability of European communities to avoid frequent devastating famines

(B) The declining influence of European culture

(C)European independence from imported cash crops

(D)Increased agricultural diversity in the Americas


“Therefore, if God has given grace to some good women, revealing to them by his holy scriptures something holy and good, should they hesitate to write, speak, and declare it to one another because of the defamers of truth? Ah, it would be too bold to try to stop them, and it would be too foolish for us to hide the talent that God has given us, God who will give us the grace to preserve to the end. Amen.”

Marie Dentiere, Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre and Preface to a Sermon by John Calvin, 1500s

16. Which of the following best reflects John Calvin’s doctrine regarding the status of women?


(A) Women were guilty of original sin and unworthy of salvation.

(B) Women should remain subordinate to men according to God’s plan.

(C)Women were equal to men in God’s eyes.

(D)Women were by nature more pure and therefore superior to men.

17. Based on the passage above, Dentiere’s views on women’s roles in the church are most closely described by which of the following?

(A) Women were equally qualified to interpret and teach scripture.

(B) Women’s religious callings should be confined to monastic settings.

(C)Women should have a marginally larger role in religious service.

(D)Women should participate fully but only in traditional gender roles.

18. Which of the following most closely reflects the public reaction to Dentiere’s views in the passage above?

(A) Wide distribution of and support for her beliefs

(B) Her writings were not acknowledged and mostly ignored

(C)Confiscation and suppression of her writings

(D)Limited support within certain Protestant communities

Questions 19-21 refer to the excerpt below.

“There is no point which is more keenly contested, none in which our adversaries are more inveterate in their opposition, than that of justification, namely, as to whether we obtain it by faith or by works. On no account will they allow us to give Christ the honor of being called our righteousness, unless their works come in at the same time for a share of the merit.”

John Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, 1540s

19. Which of the following beliefs is most closely associated with John Calvin’s teachings?


(A) Transubstantiation

(B) Predestination

(C)Consubstantiation

(D)Nominalism

20. Which of the following most closely reflects John Calvin’s main theological argument regarding salvation?

(A) It could only be obtained by living a Christian life.

(B) It could only be obtained through baptism.

(C) It could only be obtained through penitence and contrition.

21. Which of the following best reflects the relationship between Calvinists and secular authority?

(A) Calvinists rejected subordination to any state or government.

(B) Calvinists submitted to governance by kings only.

(C)Calvinists self-governed through their own secular communities.

(D)Calvinists accepted governing through elected secular bodies.

Questions 22-25 refer to the image below by Flemish artist, Simon Bening, entitled Gathering Twigs, c. 1550.


Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

22. The farming practice depicted in the above image is most clearly reflected by which of the following?

(A) Growth of only enough crops to provide for a family unit

(B) Shifting cultivation used by nomadic groups

(C) Large scale crop production for sale at market

(D)Pastoral farming for the production of livestock

23. Farmers in 16th century Europe, like those depicted in the image above, most likely worked under which of the following social systems?

(A) Freeholder

(B) Debt bondage

(C)Serfdom

(D)Indentured servants

24. Which of the following developments led most directly to changes in the agricultural practices depicted in the image above?


(A) A decline in grain demand and markets

(B) The rapid growth of inflation

(C)The emergence of global trading markets

(D)A rising middle class

25. Which of the following best reflects differences in social structures between peasants of Western and Eastern Europe after changes in the agricultural market?

(A) Eastern peasants held traditional land rights

(B) Western peasants were forced to render unpaid labor services

(C)Eastern peasants were allowed to marry and learn a trade

(D)Western peasants were free people under the law

Questions 26-28 refer to the image below of King Philip II.

©Pixtal/age Fotostock

26. During the early years of King Philip II’s reign, which of the following most closely reflects the concept of religious loyalty in Europe?


(A) Loyalties were secondary to national unity(B) Loyalties created an atmosphere of religious toleration(C) Loyalties were tempered by political boundaries(D)Loyalties created mistrust and conflict among countrymen

27. Which of the following most clearly reflects the difference between Philip II and previous kings of Spain?

(A) Philip regarded himself as a ruler on an international level.

(B) Philip considered himself a defender of the Catholic faith.

(C)Philip believed in the concept of monarchial absolutism.

(D)Philip regarded himself as a crusader against the Turks.

28. Which of the following most closely reflects the reaction among European provinces under Spanish rule in the 16th century?

(A) Some uprisings along religious lines only

(B) Revolts and opposition based on nationalism

(C)Economic and religious cohesion

(D)Anarchy and civil war

Questions 29-31 refer to the image below of a navigational instrument.


JUPITERIMAGES/ABLESTOCK/Alamy

29. Which of the following best reflects the most important contribution of improved navigational tools, such as the one depicted in the image above, by the 16th century?

(A) Increased speed of sailing vessels

(B) Ability to sail in open seas for significant distances

(C)The capacity to compete with China in global exploration

(D)Improved mapmaking skills

30. Which of the following developments most directly led to European maritime exploration in the 16th century?

(A) The rising use of astronomical tables

(B) The publishing of the first modern global atlas

(C)The use of onboard artillery to protect against piracy

(D)The discovery of trade winds and ocean currents


31. Which of the following best reflects the effect of maritime explorations on European society in the 16th and 17th centuries?

(A) Increased political cooperation among competing European nations

(B) Creation of economic opportunities through trade and colonization

(C)Decline of religious wars and conflicts

(D)The strengthening of manorialism throughout Europe

Questions 32-34 refer to the image below by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, entitled The Milkmaid, c. 1660.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

32. Which of the following best reflects the main labor system used in early modern Europe and represented in the image above?

(A) Urban guilds


(B) Apprenticeships

(C)Cottage industry

(D)Indentured servitude

33. Gender roles within the labor force in early modern Europe were most clearly defined by which of the following?

(A) Separate responsibilities for men and women working side by side

(B) Completely different spheres of work for men and women

(C)Equal responsibilities regardless of gender

(D)Family based responsibilities for all except children

34. The above image best reflects which of the following 16th century developments?

(A) The decline of the nuclear family

(B) The emergence of a middle class

(C)Changing traditional roles for women

(D)The increase in numbers of women entering domestic service

Questions 35-37 refer to the two excerpts below that address views on the nature of kingship.

“And as ye see it manifest that the king is over-lord of the whole land, so is he master over every person that inhabiteth the same, having power over the life and death of every one of them; for although a just prince will not take the life of any of his subjects without a clear law, yet the same laws whereby he taketh them are made by himself or his predecessors, and so the power flows always from himself…”

King James VI of Scotland (later King James I of England) True Law of Free Monarchies, 1598; from G. W. Prothero (ed.), Select Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents Illustrative of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I, 1913


“The interests of the Prince and those of the people are one. The tranquility of subjects depends only on their obedience: less harm results to the public if it bears rule with submission than if it finds fault with even bad government by Kings, whom God alone can judge. What they seem to be doing in opposition to law is more often based on reasons of State, which form the first of all laws, but are the least understood by all who do not govern.”

French King Louis XIV, from a letter to his son on the nature of kingship; from Theodore K. Rabb (ed.), Origins of the Modern West, 1993

35. Based on the evidence in the above excerpts, the writings depict most clearly which of the following?

(A) Despotism

(B) Royal absolutism

(C)Dictatorship

(D)Constitutional Monarchy

36. Which of the following would best reflect limits to the political power articulated in the above excerpts?

(A) Obligations to the law

(B) Religious traditions

(C)Representative assemblies

(D)Financial subsidies

37. Which of the following was a direct long-term effect of attempts to limit monarchial power in 17th century England?

(A) Legislative laws reforming the king’s powers

(B) Localized rebellions among the elite classes

(C)Monarchical repression and religious persecution

(D)Civil conflicts resulting in changes to government structure


Questions 38-40 refer to the excerpt below.

“Even when these old-style nobles held power, they had to share it with a new, politically prominent group of rich families emerging out of international commerce, banking, and manufacturing. A new urban upper class that we call patricians emerged from the coalescence of these two groups: noble and mercantile. During the Renaissance, these patricians worked to consolidate their position, limiting political competition from other city constituencies and hindering social ascent into their caste.”

Elizabeth Storr Cohen, Thomas Vance Cohen, historians, Daily Life in Renaissance Italy, 2001

38. Which of the following developments led most directly to the creation of the new class referenced in the above excerpt?

(A) The decline of the mercantile economic system

(B) Expansion of global non-European markets

(C)The collapse of the urban guilds

(D)The creation of joint stock companies

39. The old-style nobles referenced in the above excerpt differed most clearly from patricians by which of the following?

(A) Their rank was based on ownership of land

(B) Their rank was received through inheritance

(C)Their rank was rural in nature based on agriculture

(D)Their rank was purchased through judges and administrators

40. Which of the following most closely reflects similarities between the classes of old-style nobles and patricians?

(A) Involvement in risk taking ventures

(B) Access to available capital

(C)The ability to exploit the labor of others


(D)The desire to create a closed social system

Questions 41-44 refer to the map below of Spanish and Portuguese overseas exploration from 1450-1542.

41. Which of the following best explains the distribution of Portuguese possessions by the 16th century as shown in the map above?

(A) More direct access to Africa and Asia

(B) Expansion of Portuguese naval power

(C)Elimination of the Ottoman Turks as a competitor in global expansion

(D)The signing of the Tordesillas Treaty

42. The European overseas exploration depicted in the map above led most directly to which of the following?

(A) A decline in piracy along established trade routes


(B) Increased cooperation among maritime nations

(C)Creation of colonies in the Americas

(D)The global spread of Christianity

43. Which of the following best reflects the system used by European governments to benefit from overseas exploration?

(A) Non-tariff trade agreements

(B) Commercial capitalism

(C)Laissez-faire economics

(D)Mercantilism

44. The impact of Spanish explorations on non-European populations is best reflected by which of the following?

(A) Improved agricultural diversity through Spanish farming techniques

(B) Assimilation of Spanish culture and religion

(C) Exposure to new diseases and Spanish suppression through forced labor

(D)Massive internal migrations due to Spanish conquest

Questions 45-47 refer to the excerpt below from Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, 1522.

“62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.


67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.”

Martin Luther, 95 Theses, 1522; from Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et al., trans. & eds. Works of Martin Luther, 1915

45. The above excerpt best reflects which aspect of Martin Luther’s ideology regarding the Gospel?

(A) Only the clergy are qualified to interpret scripture

(B) Secular bodies had the authority to interpret scripture

(C) Individuals are free to interpret scripture for themselves

(D)Church doctrine should act as a guide to interpreting scripture

46. Martin Luther’s views regarding the Church, as reflected in the above excerpt, most directly influenced which of the following movements?

(A) The rise of the Anabaptists and other radical movements

(B) The resurgence of Catholicism throughout Europe

(C)Social reforms preventing the exploitation of German peasants

(D)The unification of German states under Lutheranism

47. As reflected in the above excerpt, Martin Luther’s views regarding grace most clearly differed from the Church’s practice of indulgences by which of the following?

(A) Outward acts of goodness could earn grace.

(B) Grace could be bought and sold.

(C)That grace was grounds for social revolution.

(D)Inward grace came directly from God.


Questions 48-50 refer to the two passages below.

Passage 1“ War is said to be a curse to a nation: ‘tis true, but ‘tis only so where the seat of war is, where all is committed to plunder, rapine, fire, flames, and utter destruction. But how many nations have raise their name and rendered themselves famous and rich by war? And what have not advantageous wars brought into this nation?”

Theodore K. Rabb (ed.), Origins of the Modern West, 1993; from The Present War No Burden to England, 1692

Passage 2“The evils of war never fail to drain a nation, and put it in danger of ruin, even while it is most victorious; with how great advantage soever they begin it, they are never sure to end it without being exposted to the most tragic changes of fortune….And though you should hold victory chained in your camp, you destroy yourself in destroying your enemies. You dis-people your country, leave your ground uncultivated, interrupt commerce, nay which is far worse, you weaken your laws and suffer manners to be corrupted.”

Fenelon, Francois, The Adventures of Telemachus, 1699

48. The evidence in the Passage 1 above represents most clearly which of the following?

(A) Warfare based on religious sympathies

(B) Warfare based on sovereignty and independence

(C)Warfare based on political ideology

(D)Warfare based on historical alliances

49. Which of the following best reflects the nature of warfare in the 17th century?

(A) War was still a product of the feudalistic system of castles and knights

(B) Military technology made warfare more deadly

(C)War required disciplined, permanent armed forces


(D)Changes in tactics and strategy allowed waging war with less resources

50. Wars among individual states led most directly to which of the following developments in 17th century Europe?

(A) Militarily weak European states

(B) Unification of European states under a universal monarchy

(C)Complex and shifting political alliances among European states

(D)A rise in European nationalism