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. Which Catholic ruler made an alliance with the Ottoman Turkish sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent?

Francis I, King of FranceHenry VIII, King of EnglandGustavus Adolphus, King of SwedenPhilip II, King of SpainCharles V, the Holy Roman Emperor

2. The architectural feature below is characteristic of which of the following cultures?

CelticGermanicGreekPersianAssyrian

3. The democracy of Athens in the fifth century B.C.E. was revolutionary in the ancient world because

all male citizens, not just those born into prominent or wealthy families, participated directly in the administration of government.it united all of the Greek city-states in their fight against the Persians.it extended the right to vote to women.it gave metics (resident aliens) a voice in government.it outlawed slavery.

4. Hoplites were Greek soldiers who fought in formations known as

triremes.maniples.legions.squadrons.phalanxes.

5. Lorenzo the Magnificent, the Florentine patron of arts, was a member of which influential dynasty?

MediciSforzaBorgiaHapsburgVisconti

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

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

7. In The Defender of the Peace, Marsilius of Padua argued that

only a government dominated by nobles could guarantee peace.all political authority derives from the people.kings rule by divine right.the church should be governed by councils made up of bishops.popes have the right to depose emperors.

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

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

9.
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.the Ottoman Turks, around 1400 C.E.the Athenian Empire, around 450 B.C.E.Justinian the Great, in 565 C.E.

10.
The structure pictured above is

the Athenian Parthenon.the Pantheon in Rome.the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople.the Greek theater at Epidauros.the Roman Colosseum.

11. Which of the following is NOT true of the Fourth Lateran Council?

It required all adult Christians to receive the sacraments of confession and communion at least once a year.It was convened by Pope Innocent III in 1215.It exonerated the Waldensians, who had been suspected of heresy.It was attended by the patriarch of Constantinople.It adopted the theory of transubstantiation as official dogma.

12. An artist whose use of copper engraving and woodcuts extended the principles of Renaissance art far beyond Italy was

Titian.Sandro Botticelli.Jan van Eyck.Donatello.Albrecht Dürer.

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

Aristotle.Socrates.Euclid.Pythagoras.Archimedes.

14. Battles were fought at all of the following sites during the Persian Wars (490 and 480–479 B.C.E.) EXCEPT

Marathon.Zama.Thermopylae.Salamis.Plataea.

15. Which of the following is true of the tyrant Peisistratus?

He led the Macedonians in the conquest of Greece.He was assassinated in a violent uprising of the Athenians.He instituted the festival of Dionysos at Athens, where Greek drama flourished.He abandoned the constitutional reforms instituted by Solon.He instituted the harsh laws that governed Spartan society.

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

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

17. In the ninth and tenth centuries C.E., western Europe suffered invasions from

Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals.Vikings, Visigoths, and Vandals.Saracens, Vikings, and Magyars.Lombards, Magyars, and Mongols.Vikings, Huns, and Mongols.

18. The reconstruction of an ancient gateway shown below (originally constructed around 575 B.C.E.) represents the artistry of which of the following peoples?

HittitesMinoansNeo-BabyloniansAssyriansGreeks

19.
The structure shown above was most likely built by the

Turks.Arabs.Romans.Celts.Greeks.

20. “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?

Leo IIIPius IIInnocent IIIGregory VIIUrban II

21. The primary aim of merchant guilds in the eleventh century was

to lend money to kings and nobles.to restrain competition among craftsmen.to promote the economic policy known as mercantilism.to raise joint-stock companies.to protect their own members and wares.

22. The Greeks founded numerous colonies throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Black Sea from c. 700 to c. 550 B.C.E. primarily in order to

counter the rising threat from the Roman Empire.found an empire uniting southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Near East.relieve socio-economic tensions in mainland Greece.share Greek civilization with the barbarians.establish a network of commercial trading posts.

23. The Romans were indebted to the Etruscans for all of the following EXCEPT

the arch.techniques for draining marshes and building sewers.the legion.their alphabet.the practice of divination.

24. The Golden Bull of 1356

declared the doctrine of papal supremacy in relations between kings and emperors.ended the Great Schism in the Latin church.ended the Hundred Years’ War.established a college of electors made up of seven German states which were responsible for choosing the Holy Roman Emperor.ended the Investiture Controversy.

25. Which of the following is a novel about the opposition between chivalric ideals and the realities of early modern society?

Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of ManMachiavelli’s The PrinceCervantes’s Don QuixoteShakespeare’s Romeo and JulietBoccaccio’s Decameron