The CLEP Western Civilization I exam covers Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation.  The CLEP Western Civilization I exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.   Note: This exam uses the chronological designations b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era). The labels correspond to b.c. (before Christ) and a.d. (anno Domini), which are used in some textbooks. Exam contents:  Ancient Near East (8%–10%) Political evolution Religion, culture, and technical developments in and near the Fertile... Show more

The CLEP Western Civilization I exam covers Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation. 

The CLEP Western Civilization I exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.  

Note: This exam uses the chronological designations b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era). The labels correspond to b.c. (before Christ) and a.d. (anno Domini), which are used in some textbooks.

Exam contents: 

Ancient Near East (8%–10%)
Political evolution
Religion, culture, and technical developments in and near the Fertile Crescent

Ancient Greece and Hellenistic Civilization (15%–17%)
Political evolution to Periclean Athens
Periclean Athens through the Peloponnesian Wars
Culture, religion, and thought of Ancient Greece
The Hellenistic political structure
The culture, religion, and thought of Hellenistic Greece

Ancient Rome (15%–17%)
Political evolution of the Republic and of the Empire (economic and geographical context)
Roman thought and culture
Early Christianity
The Germanic invasions
The late empire

Medieval History (23%–27%)
Byzantium and Islam
Early medieval politics and culture through Charlemagne
Feudal and manorial institutions
The medieval Church
Medieval thought and culture
Rise of the towns and changing economic forms
Feudal monarchies
The late medieval church

Renaissance and Reformation (13%–17%)
The Renaissance in Italy
The Renaissance outside Italy
The New Monarchies
Protestantism and Catholicism reformed and reorganized

Early Modern Europe, 1560-1648 (10%–15%)
The opening of the Atlantic
The Commercial Revolution
Dynastic and religious conflicts
Thought and culture
 

Related: CLEP Western Civilization I Practice Test 1: Ancient Near East to 1648

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CLEP Western Civilization I Practice Test 2: Ancient Near East to 1648

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25 Questions

1.
The building interior shown above is that of

the Colosseum in Rome.the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem.the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.the Great Mosque at Cordoba.Notre Dame in Paris.

2. Which of the following brought the Great Schism in the Latin church to an end?

the election of Urban VI in 1378the Council of Constance (1414–1418)the Council of Florence (1438–1445)the election of a new pope in 1409the Council of Basel (1431–1449)

3. The wife of Henry II of France (1547–1559), who as Queen Mother used her influence both to set policy in France and to introduce cultural features of the Italian Renaissance beyond the Alps, was

Christine de Pisan.Henrietta Maria.Catherine of Aragon.Eleanor of Aquitaine.Catherine de’ Medici.

4. The Hanseatic League was

a commercial association of northern German cities to promote trade in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.an organization of Italian communes for defense against the Holy Roman Empire.a religious alliance of Swiss cantons for the promotion of Calvinism.an opposition party against the Hapsburgs within the Holy Roman Empire.a consortium of Danish and Swedish coastal cities for defense against English privateers.

5. The papacy became a political power in addition to a religious authority during the Middle Ages because

Jesus of Nazareth made no distinction between religious and political authority.popes were able to convince Christian society that secular rulers depended on the Church’s hierarchy for their authority.the disintegration of imperial government in western Europe forced the bishops of Rome to assume diplomatic and administrative duties.the Emperor Constantine entrusted the governance of Italy to the papacy when he moved his capital to the east.the barbarians that invaded the Empire were overawed by the popes.

6. All of the following made contributions to astronomy EXCEPT

Galileo Galilei.Copernicus.William Harvey.Tycho Brahe.Johannes Kepler.

7. In ancient Greece, helots were

pieces of broken pottery used by the Athenians to exile citizens who seemed to pose a threat to democracy.the poorest class of Athenian citizens.middle-class Athenians who fought as infantry in phalanxes.members of the enslaved population at Sparta.traders in Sparta who had no political rights.

8. Martin Luther was NOT executed as a heretic because

he won the support of the Holy Roman Emperor.he sided with the German peasants in their revolt.he won the support of many of the German princes.he was able to escape to neutral Switzerland.the Roman Catholic Church no longer recommended capital punishment for religious dissidents.

9. All of the following are true of the Persian king Cyrus the Great (559— 530 B.C.E.) EXCEPT

He freed the Persians from domination under the Medes.He abandoned the westward expansion of his empire after losing the battle of Salamis to the Greeks.He used respect and tolerance instead of cruelty and repression to gain the obedience of the subject peoples within his empire.He allowed the Jews exiled in Babylon to return to Judah.He established an empire that reached from the Indus valley to the shores of the Mediterreanean Sea.

10. “He was committed to the cause of reform. In order to free the Church from political manipulation, he challenged the emperor over the right to invest bishops. His claim that popes have the power to depose kings seemed proven when the emperor stood before him in the snow and begged for absolution. However, the emperor later forced him to flee Rome, and he died in exile. The struggle between popes and emperors over the appointment of bishops continued for a generation before it was resolved.”
The passage above describes the career of which of the following popes?

Urban IIInnocent IIIGregory VIIPius IILeo III

11. “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the world.”
This declaration was made by

Archimedes.Aristotle.Socrates.Pythagoras.Euclid.

12. An entrepreneur who had offices in many financial centers of Europe and served as banker to the Hapsburg family was

Jakob Fugger.Cesare Borgia.Wat Tyler.Jacques Coeur.Francesco Guicciardini.

13. The Odyssey of Homer is a Greek epic that portrays

the voyage of the hero Aeneas to found a new kingdom after the fall of Troy.the voyage of the Argonauts to seize the Golden Fleece.the war of the Mycenaeans against Troy.the journey of Gilgamesh to the underworld in search of immortality.the return of the king of Ithaca to his homeland after the fall of Troy.

14. “If we win another battle against the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”
This remark was most likely said by which of the following leaders?

XerxesPhilip II of MacedonAlexander the GreatPyrrhus of EpirusScipio the Elder

15. People who opposed the emperors and supported the popes in the political struggles of Italy from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries were known as

Ghibellines.Marranos.Janissaries.Condottieri.Guelfs.

16. The most important geographical region for the exchange of ideas between Christian, Muslim, and Jewish scholars during the twelfth century was

Greece.Palestine.Syria.Italy.Spain.

17. All of the following inventions appeared in Europe before the fifteenth century EXCEPT

magnetic compasses.eyeglasses.astrolabes.mechanical clocks.the printing press with movable metal type.

18. Which of the following inspired the religious reformers John Huss and Martin Luther?

John WycliffeChretien de TroyesBenedict of NursiaFrancis of AssisiThomas Aquinas

19. A Dutch political theorist who used the concept of natural law to discuss the nature of just war was

Hugo Grotius.John Colet.Nicole Oresme.Ulrich Zwingli.Niccolo Machiavelli.

20. The Society of Jesus was founded in the sixteenth century by

Ulrich Zwingli.John Knox.Ignatius of Loyola.John Calvin.Thomas Erastus.

21. The Battle of Lepanto (1571) was a victory for

the Ottoman Turks against the Holy Roman Empire.an alliance of Christian states against the Ottoman Turks.the English against the Spanish.the Venetians against the Spanish.the French against the Ottoman Turks.

22. Each of the following was true of the Pax Romana EXCEPT

There was high unemployment and poverty in the city of Rome.The city of Rome reached a population of about one million.It was a time of unprecedented prosperity in the Mediterranean.Christians were publicly executed.Roman legions were not used in war.

23. In the year 100 C.E., most converts to Christianity were

slaves and the poor.Greek philosophers.wealthy Roman citizens.Roman soldiers.Pharisees.

24. An important feature of Renaissance art that originated outside Italy was

the revival of classical themes.the revival of the dome as an architectural feature.the use of linear perspective.the revival of nudes in sculpture.the use of oil paint as a new medium.

25.
The areas shaded black on the map above represent territories controlled by

the Byzantine Empire, around 1000 C.E.Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C.E.Justinian the Great, in 565 C.E.the Athenian Empire, around 450 B.C.E.the Ottoman Turks, around 1400 C.E.