1. Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and Age of
Exploration Test
Name: __________________________________________________ Date:
___________________
THE MIDDLE AGES
Write true or false for the following questions.
1. _____ Knights were famous for their skill on horseback
2. _____ Most Medieval people lived in cities.
3. _____ Stained glass windows were used for religious instruction
4. _____ Medieval lords owned whole villages
5. _____ Training for knighthood began at the age of sixteen
6. _____ Serfs were considered to be a part of a manor.
7. _____ A cathedral is the church of a bishop.
8. _____ Manors were important units of land in Medieval times.
9. _____ Medieval bishops could not read or write.
10. _____ Medieval castles had powerful guns.
11. _____ In Medieval times, countries grew rich from the goods produced by their factories.
Serfs were the people who worked in Medieval factories.
12. _____ The terms “Medieval Era” and “Middle Ages” basically refer to the same period
in history.
13. _____ Most of the world’s largest Christian churches were built in Medieval Europe.
14. _____ Castles were built because war was a constant threat in Medieval Europe.
THE RENAISSANCE
Fill in the correct term.
1. The Medieval way of life based on ownership of land, on service, and on loyalty was called
_____________.
2. Young boys from wealthy families began their training in knighthood at a young age when
they became _____________.
3. The lands of a great castle were usually divided into units called _____________.
4. The most powerful people in Medieval Europe, higher in class than the noble lords, were
members of the _____________.
5. Men who joined monasteries and devoted their entire adult lives to the service of god were
called _____________.
6. Windows made of _____________ were used to instruct illiterate Medieval people in religion.
7. A bishop’s church is called a _____________.
8. A large water–filled ditch around a castle is called a _____________.
9. In Medieval times, a class of people called _____________ did most of the work of raising
crops.
10. A _____________, an event in which knights participated in mock battles, was a popular
form of entertainment in Medieval times
11. In Medieval times, prisoners were put into a castle’s _____________.
12. If you tried to get into a Medieval castle, it was pretty likely an archer would shoot
_____________ at you.
2. 13. The Renaissance began in _________________ in the early to mid- ____________.
14. The period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance is called the ________ ______, or
________________ era.
15. The Renaissance period ended roughly around _________.
16. The glorification of the human body by Renaissance artists may have helped inspire
scientists to
study _____________.
17. Wealthy supporters of artists, musicians, scholars, and scientists are called _________.
Essay Question:
What big shift in thinking (away from Medieval patterns) occurred among the leaders of the
Renaissance and how did the classical civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome influence them?
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3. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION
Directions: Answer the following questions by filling in the blank with the correct answer.
1. Between 1545 and 1563, a great Council of the Catholic Church met in northern Italy to
decide how to deal with the growing Protestant rebellion. They were called the Council of
_________.
2. Between 1309 and 1377, the popes of the Catholic Church ruled from the town of
________________ in France.
3. Between the years 1409 and 1415, how many men claimed to be the true pope? ________
4. Two Protestant reformers were very active in Switzerland during the 1520s and 1530s. Their
names were_____________________ and_______________________.
5. King Henry VIII of England declared himself leader of the Church in England because the
pope refused to____________________.
6. Before becoming a professor of Biblical Scripture, Martin Luther had pursued the religious
life both as a _________ and a __________.
7. After closing all the monasteries in England, King Henry VIII declared that all their land and
anything of value they contained belonged to _______.
8. The Edict of Worms, condemning Martin Luther, was to become an important turning point in
western civilization mostly because it was _______________.
9. By 1563, the Catholic Church had decided to _____________ it’s doctrines that were being
criticized by the Protestants.
10. It is estimated that the rebellion of German peasants in 1525 cost the lives of
roughly________________ people.
THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
Directions: Circle the correct answer.
1. Trade with the Far East in the fifteenth century was controlled by Moslem traders who would sell
their Asian spices, silks, jewels, and porcelains only to European traders from the city states of
____________ and ______________.
a) Florence
b) Madrid
c) London
d) Rome
e) Venice
f) Genoa
g) Alexandria
2. The Great Age of Exploration began at a time when Europe was leaving the Medieval era and
entering the historical period of cultural rebirth called the________________.
a) Age of Reason
b) Renaissance
c) Middle Ages
4. d) Reformation
e) Counter Reformation
3.The country of _________________ developed an important school of Navigation in the 1400’s.
a) England
b) Scotland
c) Wales
d) Portugal
e) Spain
f) Italy
4. The explorer named _____________________ was the first European to reach India by sailing
around the tip of Africa.
a) Dias da Gama
b) Vespucchi Coronado
c) Verrazano
5. The development of new ships called ______________ helped make world exploration possible in
the 1400’s.
a) Galleons
b) Men–O–War
c) Frigates
d) Caravels
e) Ironclads
6. Three important goals of the early explorers were to ___________ and _______________ and
_______________ .
a) Find new routes to Asia Establish democracy in new lands
b) Learn more about geography Learn how to sail according to special lunar cycles
c) Claim land Bring the English language to China
d) Introduce Christianity Find cheap labor for building new European machines
e) Establish trading outposts Wage war on India
7. Columbus believed that the lands of ______________ lay only about 4000 miles to the west of the
western coast of Africa.
a) South America
5. b) North America
c) Asia
d) Australia
e) Caribbean Islands
8. The first Spanish colony in the New World was established by__________.
a) Julio Iglesias
b) Bartholomeu Dias
c) Christopher Columbus
d) Ferdinand Magellan
e) Hernando Cortez
9. The continents of the New World are named after a merchant–explorer named
_____________________.
a) Vespucchi
b) Columbus
c) Ponce de Leon
d) Queen Isabella of Spain
e) Prince Henry the Navigator
10. In the sixteenth century, a man named ______________ led the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs,
while a man named ______________led the Spanish conquest of the Incas.
