AP®︎ European History: Unit 2 Practice Test
Prepare for your quiz, test, or the AP exam with focused practice questions on Unit 2 of AP European History – Age of Reformation.
Questions List
Unit 2 (All Topics)
Question 1 Topic 2.1Easy
This question tests the following: KC-1.2.I
Which influential family was known for the abuse of clerical power?
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 2: Age of Reformation
This unit covers the religious upheaval sparked by the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic response. It examines how religious conflicts influenced politics, society, and culture across Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Topic 2.1: Contextualizing 16th- and 17th-Century Challenges and Developments
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective A
Explain the context in which the religious, political, and cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centuries took place.
Review: KC-1.2
Religious pluralism challenged the concept of a unified Europe.
Review: KC-1.2.I
The Protestant and Catholic reformations fundamentally changed theology, religious institutions, culture, and attitudes toward wealth and prosperity.
Review: KC-1.2.II
Religious reform both increased state control of religious institutions and provided justifications for challenging state authority.
Review: KC-1.2.III
Conflicts among religious groups overlapped with political and economic competition within and among states.
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.III
Population shifts and growing commerce caused the expansion of cities, which often placed stress on their traditional political and social structures.
Review: KC-1.4.IV
The family remained the primary social and economic institution of early modern Europe and took several forms, including the nuclear family.
Review: KC-1.4.V
Popular culture, leisure activities, and rituals reflecting the continued popularity of folk ideas reinforced and sometimes challenged communal ties and norms.
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 2.2: Luther and the Protestant Reformation
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 2: Learning Objective B
Explain how and why religious belief and practices changed from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.I.B
Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin criticized Catholic abuses and established new interpretations of Christian doctrine and practice. Responses to Luther and Calvin included religious radicals, including the Anabaptists, and other groups, such as German peasants.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.I.C
Some Protestant groups sanctioned the notion that wealth accumulation was a sign of God’s favor and a reward for hard work.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.3: Protestant Reform Continues
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 2: Learning Objective B
Explain how and why religious belief and practices changed from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.II.B
Protestant reformers used the printing press to disseminate their ideas, which spurred religious reform and helped it to become widely established.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.II.B
Some Protestants, including Calvin and the Anabaptists, refused to recognize the subordination of the church to the secular state.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.II.C
Religious conflicts became a basis for challenging the monarchs’ control of religious institutions.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.4: Wars of Religion
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 2: Learning Objective C
Explain how matters of religion influenced and were influenced by political factors from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.III.A
Issues of religious reform exacerbated conflicts between the monarchy and the nobility, as in the French wars of religion.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.III.B
Habsburg rulers confronted an expanded Ottoman Empire while attempting unsuccessfully to restore Catholic unity across Europe.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.III.C
States exploited religious conflicts to promote political and economic interests.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.III.D
A few states, such as France with the Edict of Nantes, allowed religious pluralism in order to maintain domestic peace.
Historical Developments: KC-1.5.I.B
The Peace of Westphalia (1648), which marked the effective end of the medieval ideal of universal Christendom, accelerated the decline of the Holy Roman Empire by granting princes, bishops, and other local leaders control over religion.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.5: The Catholic Reformation
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 2: Learning Objective D
Explain the continuities and changes in the role of the Catholic Church from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.2.I.D
The Catholic Reformation, exemplified by the Jesuit Order and the Council of Trent, revived the church but cemented division within Christianity.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.6: 16th-Century Society and Politics
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 2: Learning Objective E
Explain how economic and intellectual developments from 1450 to 1648 affected social norms and hierarchies.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.I.C
Established hierarchies of class, religion, and gender continued to define social status and perceptions in rural and urban settings.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.IV.A
Rural and urban households worked as units, with men and women engaged in separate but complementary tasks.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.IV.B
The Renaissance and Reformation raised debates about female education and women’s roles in the family, church, and society.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.III.C
Social dislocation, coupled with the shifting authority of religious institutions during the Reformation, left city governments with the task of regulating public morals.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.V.A
Leisure activities continued to be organized according to the religious calendar and the agricultural cycle, and remained communal in nature.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.V.B
Local and church authorities continued to enforce communal norms through rituals of public humiliation.
Historical Developments: KC-1.4.V.C
Reflecting folk ideas and social and economic upheaval, accusations of witchcraft peaked between 1580 and 1650.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.7: Art of the 16th Century: Mannerism and Baroque Art
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 2: Learning Objective F
Explain how and why artistic expression changed from 1450 to 1648.
Historical Developments: KC-1.1.III.C
Mannerist and Baroque artists employed distortion, drama, and illusion in their work. Monarchies, city-states, and the church commissioned these works as a means of promoting their own stature and power.
Illustrative Examples specific knowledge students should know & demonstrate
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Topic 2.8: Causation in the Age of Reformation and the Wars of Religion
Learning Objective: Unit 2: Learning Objective G
Explain how the religious, political, and cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centuries affected European society from 1450 to 1648.
Review: KC-1.2
Religious pluralism challenged the concept of a unified Europe.
Review: KC-1.2.I
The Protestant and Catholic reformations fundamentally changed theology, religious institutions, culture, and attitudes toward wealth and prosperity.
Review: KC-1.2.II
Religious reform both increased state control of religious institutions and provided justifications for challenging state authority.
Review: KC-1.2.III
Conflicts among religious groups overlapped with political and economic competition within and among states.
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.III
Population shifts and growing commerce caused the expansion of cities, which often placed stress on their traditional political and social structures.
Review: KC-1.4.IV
The family remained the primary social and economic institution of early modern Europe and took several forms, including the nuclear family.
Review: KC-1.4.V
Popular culture, leisure activities, and rituals reflecting the continued popularity of folk ideas reinforced and sometimes challenged communal ties and norms.
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.
