AP European History

In that year [1450 c.e.] there came to Naples a three-man embassy from the King of Ethiopia to His Highness, our King Alfonso. Among the ambassadors was a certain Pietro Rombulo, an Italian, native of the city of Messina. This Pietro claimed that he had lived among the Ethiopians for over 40 years. And he described to me how in Ethiopia there are innumerable Christians—since both the people and the king there worship Christ—among whom he had been able to live a good Christian life safely and honorably. The ruler of Ethiopia, King David, whom they call Zara Yacob, was said by the ambassadors to be the most civilized, the most just, and the most pious of princes. Pietro Ranzano, Catholic Church official in Naples and Sicily, universal history written circa 1480 Which of the following was a continuity in the development of African states in the period circa 1200–1450 ?

• African states such as Ethiopia maintained close contacts with South and East Asian states across the Indian Ocean but rarely had contacts with Europe.

• Despite geographical barriers, some African states were able to maintain diplomatic and cultural contacts with the broader Afro-Eurasian world.

• Most African states rejected traditional forms of international diplomacy, such as dynastic marriages and tribute payments.

• African states needed to maintain friendly diplomatic relations with Europe in order to expand their empires.

In that year [1450 c.e.] there came to Naples a three-man embassy from the King of Ethiopia to His Highness, our King Alfonso. Among the ambassadors was a certain Pietro Rombulo, an Italian, native of the city of Messina. This Pietro claimed that he had lived among the Ethiopians for over 40 years. And he described to me how in Ethiopia there are innumerable Christians—since both the people and the king there worship Christ—among whom he had been able to live a good Christian life safely and honorably. The ruler of Ethiopia, King David, whom they call Zara Yacob, was said by the ambassadors to be the most civilized, the most just, and the most pious of princes. Pietro Ranzano, Catholic Church official in Naples and Sicily, universal history written circa 1480 Which of the following continuities in the development of African states in the period circa 1200–1450 most likely explains the prevalence of Christianity in Ethiopia?

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  Some African states’ religious traditions continued to be influenced by cultural transfers dating back to earlier centuries.

• Some African states were famous for their religious toleration and for allowing multiple religious traditions to coexist in their territories.

• 
  African states’ official religions were typically syncretic mixtures of several different religious traditions.

• While African populations mostly continued to adhere to indigenous polytheistic religions, African political elites often adopted monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Islam.

In that year [1450 c.e.] there came to Naples a three-man embassy from the King of Ethiopia to His Highness, our King Alfonso. Among the ambassadors was a certain Pietro Rombulo, an Italian, native of the city of Messina. This Pietro claimed that he had lived among the Ethiopians for over 40 years. And he described to me how in Ethiopia there are innumerable Christians—since both the people and the king there worship Christ—among whom he had been able to live a good Christian life safely and honorably. The ruler of Ethiopia, King David, whom they call Zara Yacob, was said by the ambassadors to be the most civilized, the most just, and the most pious of princes. Pietro Ranzano, Catholic Church official in Naples and Sicily, universal history written circa 1480 Which of the following was a key similarity in the policies of the rulers of African states such as Ethiopia in the period circa 1200–1450 ?

• They granted their subjects unrestricted freedom of speech.

• They used religion and laws to bolster their legitimacy.

• They faced challenges to their power from powerful merchant elites.

• They sought to achieve economic self-sufficiency by restricting trade contacts with other societies.

“I, Edward, by the grace of God king of England, sent this decree to the reverend father in Christ William, by the grace of God archbishop of Canterbury, supreme Church leader of all England: Know that, because of the great number of people who died in the recent pestilence, those who survive see that masters need servants, which have become scarce, and so they now refuse to serve as workmen unless they receive excessive wages. That is why, I, considering the grave inconveniences that might come from the lack of such workmen, especially plowmen, and after consultations with the nobles and clergy of the realm, have decided that every man and woman of our realm of England shall be required to serve his or her lord at the wages that were provided five years ago, in the year 1346. The lords are entitled to keep their serfs. If any such serf, man or woman, who is required to serve their lord will not do so, they shall be immediately committed to jail.” King Edward III of England, the Statute of Laborers, royal decree, 1351 The terminology used in the opening sentence of the decree was most directly influenced by which of the following?

• The notion that the Pope is the supreme leader of the Church

• The medieval rules of chivalry and courtly etiquette

• The deep influence of Christianity on medieval society and culture

• The slow and uncertain nature of communications in medieval Europe

“I, Edward, by the grace of God king of England, sent this decree to the reverend father in Christ William, by the grace of God archbishop of Canterbury, supreme Church leader of all England: Know that, because of the great number of people who died in the recent pestilence, those who survive see that masters need servants, which have become scarce, and so they now refuse to serve as workmen unless they receive excessive wages. That is why, I, considering the grave inconveniences that might come from the lack of such workmen, especially plowmen, and after consultations with the nobles and clergy of the realm, have decided that every man and woman of our realm of England shall be required to serve his or her lord at the wages that were provided five years ago, in the year 1346. The lords are entitled to keep their serfs. If any such serf, man or woman, who is required to serve their lord will not do so, they shall be immediately committed to jail. King Edward III of England, the Statute of Laborers, royal decree, 1351 The process of “consultations with the nobles and clergy of the realm” in the making of Edward III’s decree best reflects which of the following?

• The emergence of the concept that parliaments, rather than kings, had ultimate political authority in European states

• The fragmented, decentralized nature of European feudal monarchies

• The legacy of Roman imperial political traditions on medieval European states

• European rulers’ practice of making harsh legislation more palatable by claiming it was part of God’s will

Based on the chart, which of the following best describes a pattern in the spread of railroads in Europe from 1830 to 1850?

• Multinational empires adopted railroads more extensively than other states did.

• Countries that industrialized the latest had the most extensive mileage of railroads by 1850.

• The largest countries had the most extensive railroad networks by 1850.

• Areas in northwestern Europe adopted railroads more extensively than areas in other parts of Europe.

Answer explanation

Correct. The table shows that the northwestern European countries of Great Britain, France, and the German states adopted railroads more extensively than did Russia, Italy, or Austria-Hungary.

The disparities of wealth mentioned by Parkinson in the passage are best explained in the context of the

• lower prices for consumer goods made possible by industrialization

• higher wages available for industrial work as compared to agricultural work

• high profits and low wages associated with manufacturing industries in the nineteenth century

• failure of urban governments to create infrastructure and public health services in rapidly growing cities

Answer explanation

Correct. The high profits acquired by the rich and low wages paid to the industrial workers led to the disparities of wealth between the social classes.

After long periods of error, philosophers have at last discovered the true rights of man and how they can all be deduced from the single truth: that man is a perceptive being capable of reason and acquiring moral ideas. At last, man could proclaim his rights out loud, rights that for so long had been ignored. He could submit all opinions to his own reason and use that reason to search for truth. Every man learned with pride that nature had not forever condemned him to base his beliefs on the opinions of others or the superstitions of antiquity. Thus developed an understanding that the natural rights of man are inalienable and cannot be forfeited and a strongly expressed desire for freedom of thought, trade, and profession. There also developed a desire to alleviate people's suffering, to eliminate all criminal laws against political dissenters, and to abolish torture. A desire arose for a milder system of criminal legislation that could give complete security to the innocent. All of these principles gradually filtered down from philosophical works to every class of society whose education went beyond basic literacy. These principles became the common faith of all people. Which of the following is an implicit claim that the author makes in the third paragraph?

• The failure to grant political rights to women is at odds with the idea of natural rigths.

• The French Revolution has advanced the principles of the Enlightenment.

• The economic policies of the French monarch have been the main cause of the revolution.

• The calls to reform the criminal justice system do not take into account the severity of the social problems posed by France's high crime rates.

Answer explanation

Correct. Condorcet wrote during the early stages of the French Revolution. While he does not explicitly describe the French Revolution in the third paragraph, it is the clear context for this passage. In the third paragraph, he claims that the various Enlightenment principles and policies that he mentions have filtered down through every level of society and have become the common faith of all people.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the arguments made in the two sources regarding ideas of liberty and equality?

• Both sources reject the ideas for the same reason, namely that demands for liberty and equality would lead to political instability and sweeping social changes in Europe.

• Source 1 rejects the ideas because of the threat they represent to multinational empires, whereas Source 2 rejects the ideas because of the universal and equalizing nature of their claims.

• Source 1 embraces the ideas because of the promise of emancipation they hold to oppressed minority groups, whereas Source 2 embraces the ideas because of their origins in Enlightenment thought.

• Both sources embrace the ideas for the same reason, namely that liberty and equality are inalienable natural rights and governments’ attempts to restrict those rights are doomed to fail.

Answer explanation

Correct. Source 1 sees the protections offered by multinational empires toward minority groups to be of crucial importance and the French Revolution to be a threat toward those protections, whereas Source 2 rejects the idea that all people are equal because it claims that national differences are inherent and fundamental among people.

In the period circa 1750–1900, the historical process illustrated by the image led directly to all of the following major global transformations EXCEPT

• the outbreak of the Atlantic revolutions and the emergence of new states in the Americas

• the transition from human- and animal-powered economies to fossil fuel-powered economies

• a significant increase in transregional trade and migration

• the increasing use of electricity in industrial and consumer applications

Answer explanation

Correct. Although the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the mid-eighteenth century, it was not a factor that led to the Atlantic revolutions and the emergence of new states in the Americas. Since this option does not illustrate a direct connection between the process illustrated in the image and a major global transformation in the period 1750–1900, it is the correct answer.