AP®︎ European History: Unit 1 Practice Test
Prepare for your quiz, test, or the AP exam with focused practice questions on Unit 1 of AP European History – Renaissance and Exploration.
Questions List
Unit 1 (All Topics)
Question 1 Topic 1.1Easy
This question tests the following: KC-1.1.I
What period marked a significant shift in art, architecture, and secular studies in Europe?
What You’re Being Tested On:
Explore the learning objectives taken directly from the College Board’s AP® European History Curriculum. Ensure you’re prepared for the exact topics covered on the AP® exam, in-class tests, and quizzes, and gain confidence in your mastery of the material.
Unit 1: Renaissance and Exploration
This unit explores the cultural revival of classical ideas during the Renaissance and how it reshaped European art, thought, and politics. It also examines the Age of Exploration, technological advances, and the global consequences of European expansion.
Topic 1.1: Contextualizing Renaissance and Discovery
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective A
Explain the context in which the Renaissance and Age of Discovery developed.
Review: KC-1.1
The rediscovery of works from ancient Greece and Rome and observation of the natural world changed many Europeans’ view of their world.
Review: KC-1.1.I
A revival of classical texts led to new methods of scholarship and new values in both society and religion.
Review: KC-1.1.III
The visual arts incorporated the new ideas of the Renaissance and were used to promote personal, political, and religious goals.
Review: KC-1.3
Europeans explored and settled overseas territories, encountering and interacting with indigenous populations.
Review: KC-1.3.I
European nations were driven by commercial and religious motives to explore overseas territories and establish colonies.
Review: KC-1.4
European society and the experiences of everyday life were increasingly shaped by commercial and agricultural capitalism, notwithstanding the continued existence of medieval social and economic structures.
Review: KC-1.4.I
Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.
Review: KC-1.4.II
Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.
Review: KC-1.5
The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political centralization.
Review: KC-1.5.I
The new concept of the sovereign state and secular systems of law played a central role in the creation of new political institutions.
Topic 1.2: Italian Renaissance
Thematic Focus: Cultural and Intellectual DevelopmentsCID
The creation and transmission of knowledge, including the relationship between traditional sources of authority and the development of differing world views, had significant political, intellectual, economic, cultural, and social effects on European and world societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective B
Explain how the revival of classical texts contributed to the development of the Renaissance in Italy.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.I.A
Italian Renaissance humanists, including Petrarch, promoted a revival in classical literature and created new philological approaches to ancient texts. Some Renaissance humanists furthered the values of secularism and individualism.
Thematic Focus: Cultural and Intellectual DevelopmentsCID
The creation and transmission of knowledge, including the relationship between traditional sources of authority and the development of differing world views, had significant political, intellectual, economic, cultural, and social effects on European and world societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective C
Explain the political, intellectual, and cultural effects of the Italian Renaissance.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.I.B
Humanist revival of Greek and Roman texts, spread by the printing press, challenged the institutional power of universities and the Catholic Church. This shifted education away from a primary focus on theological writings toward classical texts and new methods of scientific inquiry.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.I.C
Admiration for Greek and Roman political institutions supported a revival of civic humanist culture in the Italian city-states and produced secular models for individual and political behavior.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.III.A
In the Italian Renaissance, rulers and popes concerned with enhancing their prestige commissioned paintings and architectural works based on classical styles, the developing "naturalism" in the artistic world, and often the newly invented technique of geometric perspective.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Petrarch (pre-1450)
- Lorenzo Valla
- Marsilio Ficino
- Pico della Mirandola
- Niccolò Machiavelli
- Baldassare Castiglione
- Francesco Guicciardini
- Leonardo Bruni
- Leon Battista Alberti
- Michelangelo
- Donatello
- Raphael
- Andrea Palladio
- Filippo Brunelleschi
Topic 1.3: Northern Renaissance
Thematic Focus: Cultural and Intellectual DevelopmentsCID
The creation and transmission of knowledge, including the relationship between traditional sources of authority and the development of differing world views, had significant political, intellectual, economic, cultural, and social effects on European and world societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective D
Explain how Renaissance ideas were developed, maintained, and changed as the Renaissance spread to northern Europe.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.III.B
The Northern Renaissance retained a more religious focus, which resulted in more human-centered naturalism that considered individuals and everyday life appropriate objects of artistic representation.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.I.A
Christian humanism, embodied in the writings of Erasmus, employed Renaissance learning in the service of religious reform.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- Rembrandt
Topic 1.4: Printing
Thematic Focus: Technological and Scientific InnovationTSI
Scientific and technological innovations have increased efficiency, improved daily life, and shaped human development and interactions, having both intended and unintended consequences.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective E
Explain the influence of the printing press on cultural and intellectual developments in modern European history.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.II
The invention of printing promoted the dissemination of new ideas.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.II.A
The invention of the printing press in the 1450s helped spread the Renaissance beyond Italy and encouraged the growth of vernacular literature, which would eventually contribute to the development of national cultures.
Topic 1.5: New Monarchies
Thematic Focus: States and Other Institutions of PowerSOP
European states and nations developed governmental and civil institutions from 1450 to the present to organize society and consolidate political power, with a variety of social, cultural, and economic effects.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective F
Explain the causes and effects of the development of political institutions from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.II.A
Monarchs and princes, including the English rulers Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, initiated religious reform from the top down in an effort to exercise greater control over religious life and morality.
Historical Developments: KC-1.5.I.A
New monarchies laid the foundation for the centralized modern state by establishing monopolies on tax collection, employing military force, dispensing justice, and gaining the right to determine the religion of their subjects.
Historical Developments: KC-1.5.I.C
Across Europe, commercial and professional groups gained in power and played a greater role in political affairs.
Historical Developments: KC-1.5.I.D
Continued political fragmentation in Renaissance Italy provided a background for the development of new concepts of the secular state.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Spanish Inquisition
- Concordat of Bologna
- Book of Common Prayer
- Peace of Augsburg
- Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain consolidating control of the military
- Star Chamber
- Concordat of Bologna
- Peace of Augsburg
- Edict of Nantes
- Merchants and financiers in Renaissance Italy and northern Europe
- Nobles of the robe in France
- Jean Bodin
- Hugo Grotius
- Niccolò Machiavelli
Topic 1.6: Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration
Thematic Focus: Technological and Scientific InnovationTSI
Scientific and technological innovations have increased efficiency, improved daily life, and shaped human development and interactions, having both intended and unintended consequences.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective G
Explain the technological factors that facilitated European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.II
Advances in navigation, cartography, and military technology enabled Europeans to establish overseas colonies and empires.
Thematic Focus: Interaction of Europe and the WorldINT
Motivated by a variety of factors, Europe’s interaction with the world led to political, economic, social, and cultural exchanges that influenced both European and non-European societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective H
Explain the motivations for and effects of European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.I.A
European states sought direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods to enhance personal wealth and state power.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.I.B
The rise of mercantilism gave the state a new role in promoting commercial development and the acquisition of colonies overseas.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.I.C
Christianity was a stimulus for exploration as governments and religious authorities sought to spread the faith, and for some it served as a justification for the subjugation of indigenous civilizations.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Compass
- Sternpost rudder
- Portolani
- Quadrant and astrolabe
- Lateen rig
- Guns and gunpowder
- Spanish in the New World
- Portuguese in the Indian Ocean World
- Dutch in the East Indies/Asia
- Jean-Baptiste Colbert
- Jesuit activities
Topic 1.7: Rivals on the World Stage
Thematic Focus: Economic and Commercial DevelopmentsECD
Economic development, especially the development of capitalism, played an important role in Europe's history, often having significant social, political, and cultural effects.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective I
Explain how and why trading networks and colonial expansion affected relations between and among European states.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.III
Europeans established overseas empires and trade networks through coercion and negotiation.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.III.B
The Spanish established colonies across the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, which made Spain a dominant state in Europe in the 16th century.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.III.C
The Atlantic nations of France, England, and the Netherlands followed by establishing their own colonies and trading networks to compete with Portuguese and Spanish dominance in the 17th century.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.III.D
The competition for trade led to conflicts and rivalries among European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Asiento
- War of the Spanish Succession
- Seven Years’ War
- Treaty of Tordesillas
Topic 1.8: Colonial Expansion and Columbian Exchange
Thematic Focus: Economic and Commercial DevelopmentsECD
Economic development, especially the development of capitalism, played an important role in Europe's history, often having significant social, political, and cultural effects.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective J
Explain the economic impact of European colonial expansion and development of trade networks.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.III.A
The Portuguese established a commercial network along the African coast, in South and East Asia, and in South America in the late 15th and throughout the 16th centuries.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.i
Europe's colonial expansion led to a global exchange of goods, flora, and fauna; a shift toward European dominance; and the expansion of the trade in enslaved persons.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.A
The exchange of goods shifted the center of economic power in Europe from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic states and brought the latter into an expanding world economy.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.B.i
The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases—the Columbian Exchange—created economic opportunities for Europeans.
Thematic Focus: Interaction of Europe and the WorldINT
Motivated by a variety of factors, Europe's interaction with the world led to political, economic, social, and cultural exchanges that influenced both European and non-European societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective K
Explain the social and cultural impact of European colonial expansion and development of trade networks.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.ii
Europe's colonial expansion led to a global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, cultural practices, and diseases, resulting in the destruction of some indigenous civilizations, a shift toward European dominance, and the expansion of the trade in enslaved persons.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.B.ii
The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases—the Columbian Exchange—in some cases facilitated European subjugation and destruction of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Americas.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- London
- Bristol
- Amsterdam
- Antwerp
- Wheat
- Cattle
- Horses
- Pigs
- Sheep
- Smallpox
- Measles
- Tomatoes
- Potatoes
- Squash
- Corn
- Tobacco
- Turkeys
Topic 1.9: The Slave Trade
Thematic Focus: Interaction of Europe and the WorldINT
Motivated by a variety of factors, Europe’s interaction with the world led to political, economic, social, and cultural exchanges that influenced both European and non-European societies.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective L
Explain the causes for and the development of the slave trade.
Historical Developments: KC-1.3.IV.C
Europeans expanded the trade of enslaved Africans in response to the establishment of a plantation economy in the Americas and demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Middle Passage
- Planter society
Topic 1.10: The Commercial Revolution
Thematic Focus: Economic and Commercial DevelopmentsECD
Economic development, especially the development of capitalism, played an important role in Europe's history, often having significant social, political, and cultural effects.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective M
Explain European commercial and agricultural developments and their economic effects from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I.A
Innovations in banking and finance promoted the growth of urban financial centers and a money economy.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II
Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.A
Subsistence agriculture was the rule in most areas, with three-crop field rotation in the north and two-crop rotation in the Mediterranean; in many cases, farmers paid rent and labor services for their lands.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.B
The price revolution contributed to the accumulation of capital and the expansion of the market economy through the commercialization of agriculture, which benefited large landowners in western Europe.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.III.A
Population recovered to its pre-Great Plague level in the 16th century, and continuing population pressures contributed to uneven price increases; agricultural commodities increased more sharply than wages, reducing living standards for some.
Thematic Focus: Social Organization and DevelopmentSCD
Economic, political, and cultural factors have influenced the form and status of family, class, and social groups in European history, which has, in turn, affected both the individual and society.
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective N
Explain European commercial and agricultural developments and their social effects from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I
Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I.B
The growth of commerce produced a new economic elite, which related to traditional land-holding elites in different ways in Europe’s various geographic regions.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.C
As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry and commercial agriculture, serfdom was codified in the east, where nobles continued to dominate economic life on large estates.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.II.D
The attempts of landlords to increase their revenues by restricting or abolishing the traditional rights of peasants led to revolt.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.III.B
Migrants to the cities challenged the ability of merchant elites and craft guilds to govern, and strained resources.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.IV.C
From the late 16th century on, Europeans responded to economic and environmental challenges, such as the Little Ice Age, by delaying marriage and childbearing. This European marriage pattern restrained population growth and ultimately improved the economic condition of families.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- Bank of Amsterdam
- The Dutch East India Company
- The British East India Company
- Enclosure movement
- Restricted use of the village common
- Freehold tenure
- Italian merchant princes
- Nobles of the robe in France
- Sanitation problems caused by overpopulation
- Employment
- Poverty
- Crime
Topic 1.11: Causation in the Renaissance and Age of Discovery
Learning Objective: Unit 1: Learning Objective O
Explain the causes and consequences of the Renaissance and Age of Discovery.
Review: KC-1.1
The rediscovery of works from ancient Greece and Rome and observation of the natural world changed many Europeans’ view of their world.
Review: KC-1.1.I
A revival of classical texts led to new methods of scholarship and new values in both society and religion.
Review: KC-1.1.III
The visual arts incorporated the new ideas of the Renaissance and were used to promote personal, political, and religious goals.
Review: KC-1.3
Europeans explored and settled overseas territories, encountering and interacting with indigenous populations.
Review: KC-1.3.I
European nations were driven by commercial and religious motives to explore overseas territories and establish colonies.
Review: KC-1.4
European society and the experiences of everyday life were increasingly shaped by commercial and agricultural capitalism, notwithstanding the continued existence of medieval social and economic structures.
Review: KC-1.4.I
Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.
Review: KC-1.4.II
Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.
Review: KC-1.5
The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political centralization.
Review: KC-1.5.I
The new concept of the sovereign state and secular systems of law played a central role in the creation of new political institutions.
