AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
UNIT 1 PRACTICE TEST
Renaissance and Exploration, c. 1450 to c. 1648
25 questions — modeled on official AP question styles and stimulus formats.
Give yourself 30 minutes. Answers and explanations begin on a separate page after the questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage.
“I have made it my rule to seek among the ancients not what is old but what is fitting... Let those who wish to imitate the
ancients study to grasp their spirit rather than merely copy their words.” — adapted from the writings of a 14th-century
Italian scholar on the recovery of classical texts
1. The scholarly approach described in the passage is most closely associated with which intellectual movement?
A) Scholasticism
B) Renaissance humanism
C) The Protestant Reformation
D) The Scientific Revolution
E) Christian mysticism
2. Renaissance humanists like the one described in the passage most directly emphasized which of the following in
their approach to learning?
A) The exclusive study of Church doctrine and scripture
B) The close reading of classical Greek and Roman texts alongside a focus on individual human potential and
secular subjects
C) Rejection of all pre-Christian literature as morally dangerous
D) The development of vernacular translations of the Bible for mass literacy
E) The mathematical study of planetary motion
3. “Civic humanism,” a variant of the intellectual movement described above, is most closely associated with which
idea?
A) Withdrawing from public life to pursue solitary contemplation
B) Applying classical learning and rhetoric to prepare men for active public service and civic leadership
C) Rejecting classical texts in favor of purely religious study
D) Establishing monastic orders devoted to scholarship
E) Promoting strict adherence to medieval feudal obligations
Questions 4–5 refer to the following passage.
“The wealth generated by banking and long-distance trade allowed prominent Florentine families to commission grand
works of art and architecture, both to display their status and to beautify the city they governed.”
, 4. The passage best supports which explanation for the origins of the Italian Renaissance in cities like Florence?
A) The Renaissance began primarily as a religious reform movement
B) Economic prosperity from trade and banking created wealthy patrons who funded art, architecture, and
scholarship
C) The Renaissance was funded entirely by the Holy Roman Emperor
D) Feudal land grants were the primary source of Renaissance patronage
E) The printing press was the sole cause of the Renaissance
5. Which Florentine family is most closely associated with the kind of art and architecture patronage described in the
passage?
A) The Habsburgs
B) The Medici
C) The Tudors
D) The Bourbons
E) The Hohenzollerns
6. Which of the following best describes a key technical innovation of Renaissance painting, as compared to medieval
art?
A) The use of linear perspective and naturalistic, three-dimensional representations of the human body
B) The exclusive use of abstract, non-representational geometric patterns
C) A complete rejection of religious subject matter
D) The invention of oil paint, which had never previously existed in any form
E) The elimination of color in favor of black-and-white sketches only
Questions 7–8 refer to the following passage.
“I could wish that even the lowliest women should read the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul... I wish they were translated
into all languages, so that they might be read and understood not only by the Scots and the Irish, but also by Turks and
Saracens.” — adapted from the writings of a Northern Renaissance humanist
7. The sentiment expressed in the passage is most closely associated with which Northern Renaissance figure and
movement?
A) Desiderius Erasmus and Christian humanism
B) Niccolò Machiavelli and civic humanism
C) Leonardo da Vinci and naturalistic art
D) Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press alone
E) Copernicus and heliocentrism
8. Christian humanists, as represented in the passage, most directly differed from Italian humanists in that Christian
humanists:
A) Rejected the study of classical texts entirely
B) Applied humanist textual and critical methods specifically to religious reform and scripture, seeking a return to
early Christian purity
C) Focused exclusively on secular political theory
D) Opposed all forms of education for the general public
E) Rejected the vernacular translation of religious texts
9. The invention of the printing press with movable type, developed by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, most
directly contributed to which broader development?
A) The decline of literacy across Europe
B) The rapid and widespread dissemination of Renaissance humanist ideas and, later, religious reform ideas
UNIT 1 PRACTICE TEST
Renaissance and Exploration, c. 1450 to c. 1648
25 questions — modeled on official AP question styles and stimulus formats.
Give yourself 30 minutes. Answers and explanations begin on a separate page after the questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
Questions 1–3 refer to the following passage.
“I have made it my rule to seek among the ancients not what is old but what is fitting... Let those who wish to imitate the
ancients study to grasp their spirit rather than merely copy their words.” — adapted from the writings of a 14th-century
Italian scholar on the recovery of classical texts
1. The scholarly approach described in the passage is most closely associated with which intellectual movement?
A) Scholasticism
B) Renaissance humanism
C) The Protestant Reformation
D) The Scientific Revolution
E) Christian mysticism
2. Renaissance humanists like the one described in the passage most directly emphasized which of the following in
their approach to learning?
A) The exclusive study of Church doctrine and scripture
B) The close reading of classical Greek and Roman texts alongside a focus on individual human potential and
secular subjects
C) Rejection of all pre-Christian literature as morally dangerous
D) The development of vernacular translations of the Bible for mass literacy
E) The mathematical study of planetary motion
3. “Civic humanism,” a variant of the intellectual movement described above, is most closely associated with which
idea?
A) Withdrawing from public life to pursue solitary contemplation
B) Applying classical learning and rhetoric to prepare men for active public service and civic leadership
C) Rejecting classical texts in favor of purely religious study
D) Establishing monastic orders devoted to scholarship
E) Promoting strict adherence to medieval feudal obligations
Questions 4–5 refer to the following passage.
“The wealth generated by banking and long-distance trade allowed prominent Florentine families to commission grand
works of art and architecture, both to display their status and to beautify the city they governed.”
, 4. The passage best supports which explanation for the origins of the Italian Renaissance in cities like Florence?
A) The Renaissance began primarily as a religious reform movement
B) Economic prosperity from trade and banking created wealthy patrons who funded art, architecture, and
scholarship
C) The Renaissance was funded entirely by the Holy Roman Emperor
D) Feudal land grants were the primary source of Renaissance patronage
E) The printing press was the sole cause of the Renaissance
5. Which Florentine family is most closely associated with the kind of art and architecture patronage described in the
passage?
A) The Habsburgs
B) The Medici
C) The Tudors
D) The Bourbons
E) The Hohenzollerns
6. Which of the following best describes a key technical innovation of Renaissance painting, as compared to medieval
art?
A) The use of linear perspective and naturalistic, three-dimensional representations of the human body
B) The exclusive use of abstract, non-representational geometric patterns
C) A complete rejection of religious subject matter
D) The invention of oil paint, which had never previously existed in any form
E) The elimination of color in favor of black-and-white sketches only
Questions 7–8 refer to the following passage.
“I could wish that even the lowliest women should read the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul... I wish they were translated
into all languages, so that they might be read and understood not only by the Scots and the Irish, but also by Turks and
Saracens.” — adapted from the writings of a Northern Renaissance humanist
7. The sentiment expressed in the passage is most closely associated with which Northern Renaissance figure and
movement?
A) Desiderius Erasmus and Christian humanism
B) Niccolò Machiavelli and civic humanism
C) Leonardo da Vinci and naturalistic art
D) Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press alone
E) Copernicus and heliocentrism
8. Christian humanists, as represented in the passage, most directly differed from Italian humanists in that Christian
humanists:
A) Rejected the study of classical texts entirely
B) Applied humanist textual and critical methods specifically to religious reform and scripture, seeking a return to
early Christian purity
C) Focused exclusively on secular political theory
D) Opposed all forms of education for the general public
E) Rejected the vernacular translation of religious texts
9. The invention of the printing press with movable type, developed by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, most
directly contributed to which broader development?
A) The decline of literacy across Europe
B) The rapid and widespread dissemination of Renaissance humanist ideas and, later, religious reform ideas
