• 46 questions

AP Euro Protestant Reformation Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the Protestant Reformation in AP European History: Luther, Calvin, the Anabaptists and the printing press.

Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), thesis 50: "if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep." Whom does Luther blame here?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 11, 2026.

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All 46 questions

Topic 2.2: Luther's protest, 1517 to 1521 11

  • In Catholic teaching, what does an indulgence take away? Wikipedia, "Indulgence"; course topic 2.2
  • Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521): "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves)". Which authority does Luther place above popes and councils? Wikipedia, "Diet of Worms"; course topic 2.2
  • Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), thesis 50: "if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep." Whom does Luther blame here? Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), theses 43 and 50, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • The Ninety-five Theses were written in which language, and in what form? Wikipedia, "Ninety-five Theses"; course topic 2.2
Show all 46 questions (42 more)

Topic 2.2: Luther's protest, 1517 to 1521, continued

  • Ninety-five Theses, thesis 1: Christ "willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." According to thesis 2, what can the word "Repent" not be understood to mean? Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), theses 1 and 2, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • Ninety-five Theses, thesis 36: "Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters." What follows from this claim? Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), theses 21 and 36, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • The papal bull Exsurge Domine (1520) gave Luther sixty days to recant. How did he answer? Wikipedia, "Exsurge Domine"; course topic 2.2
  • Thesis 82 asks why the pope does not empty purgatory "for the sake of holy love" if he frees souls "for the sake of miserable money." Luther presents it as one of "the shrewd questions of the laity." What does that wording suggest? Martin Luther, Ninety-five Theses (1517), theses 81 and 82, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • What did the Edict of Worms (1521) do? Wikipedia, "Diet of Worms"; course topic 2.2
  • Who was Johann Tetzel? Wikipedia, "Johann Tetzel"; course topic 2.2
  • Why was the Edict of Worms not carried out against Luther himself? Wikipedia, "Frederick III, Elector of Saxony"; course topic 2.2

Topic 2.2: New Protestant teachings 10

  • At the Marburg Colloquy (1529), Luther and Zwingli agreed on fourteen points of theology. On what could they not agree? Wikipedia, "Marburg Colloquy"; course topic 2.2
  • The first edition of Calvin's Institutes (1536) opened with a preface written to Francis I, King of France. What did the preface ask of the king? Wikipedia, "Institutes of the Christian Religion"; course topic 2.2
  • In the same address, the first wall Luther attacks is the claim that "the temporal power has no jurisdiction over them," meaning the clergy. By attacking it, whom was Luther inviting to reform the church? Martin Luther, To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion: "Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He has determined in Himself what would have to become of every individual of mankind." On this view, what decides a person's salvation? John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, on predestination, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • Martin Luther, To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520), lists three walls that the Romanists have drawn round themselves. The second is the claim "That no one may interpret the Scriptures but the Pope." By calling for it to come down, what is Luther arguing? Martin Luther, To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520), Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University; course topic 2.2
  • What did the Protestant principle of the primacy of scripture hold? Wikipedia, "Sola scriptura"; course topic 2.2
  • What was the Augsburg Confession of 1530? Wikipedia, "Augsburg Confession"; course topic 2.2
  • Which Protestants does the course description name as viewing wealth as a sign of God's favor? College Board, AP European History course description, KC-1.2.I.C and its illustrative example; course topic 2.2
  • Which reformer led the Reformation in Zurich and, in 1522, in his first public controversy, attacked the Lenten fast? Wikipedia, "Huldrych Zwingli"; course topic 2.2
  • Which statement would a follower of Luther's teaching of salvation "by faith alone" reject? Wikipedia, "Sola fide"; course topic 2.2

Topic 2.2: Radicals and the peasants 8

  • The first of the Twelve Articles of the German peasants (1525) says that every town and village may elect and dismiss its own preacher. Which idea of the reformers does this demand apply to village life? Wikipedia, "Twelve Articles"; course topic 2.2
  • How did the German Peasants' War of 1524 to 1525 end? Wikipedia, "German Peasants' War"; course topic 2.2
  • The Schleitheim Confession (1527), a statement of Swiss Anabaptists, told believers to refuse two things that rulers asked of their subjects. Which two? Wikipedia, "Schleitheim Confession"; course topic 2.2
  • The third of the Twelve Articles (1525) says the peasants have been "treated like serfs, which is deplorable, since Christ redeemed all of us with his precious blood." What kind of argument is this? Wikipedia, "Twelve Articles"; course topic 2.2
  • Thomas Müntzer is remembered in the history of the Reformation as Wikipedia, "Thomas Müntzer"; course topic 2.2
  • What happened in Münster, a German city, in 1534 and 1535? Wikipedia, "Münster rebellion"; course topic 2.2
  • Why did Anabaptists reject the baptism of infants? Wikipedia, "Anabaptism"; course topic 2.2
  • Why did Luther write Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants (1525)? Wikipedia, "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants"; course topic 2.2

Topic 2.3: Printing and the vernacular 8

  • About 200,000 copies of Luther's German Bible, in hundreds of editions, appeared before he died in 1546. What does the figure best illustrate? Wikipedia, "Luther Bible"; course topic 2.3
  • Calvin's Institutes came out in Latin in 1536 and in French in 1541. What does the French edition show about how reformers worked? Wikipedia, "Institutes of the Christian Religion"; College Board, AP European History course description, topic 2.3 illustrative examples; course topic 2.3
  • How did Protestant and Catholic use of print differ in the early Reformation? Wikipedia, "Propaganda during the Reformation"; course topic 2.3
  • Jan Hus was burned for heresy in 1415. Luther's protest of 1517 spread across Europe within a few years. Which invention, unknown in Hus's day, did Luther's movement have? College Board, AP European History course description, KC-1.1.II.B; Wikipedia, "Jan Hus" and "Printing press"; course topic 2.3
  • Many people in the 1520s could not read. How did the reformers' message reach them? Wikipedia, "Propaganda during the Reformation"; course topic 2.3
  • The Twelve Articles of the peasants were printed more than 25,000 times within two months in 1525. What does this show about the press in the Reformation? Wikipedia, "Twelve Articles"; course topic 2.3
  • Where and when did Luther prepare his German translation of the New Testament, the "September Bible" of 1522? Wikipedia, "Luther Bible"; course topic 2.3
  • William Tyndale's English New Testament appeared in 1526. How did copies reach readers in England? Wikipedia, "Tyndale Bible"; course topic 2.3

Topic 2.3: Reformers and rulers 9

  • Catholic and Protestant rulers alike persecuted the Anabaptists. Which feature of Anabaptist belief best explains why? Wikipedia, "Anabaptism"; College Board, AP European History course description, KC-1.2.II.B; course topic 2.3
  • Huguenots in France, Puritans in England and nobles in Poland appear together in the course description. As examples of what? College Board, AP European History course description, KC-1.2.II.C and its illustrative examples; course topic 2.3
  • In 1560 the Scottish Reformation Parliament rejected papal supremacy and set up a Protestant creed. Who had gained control of the government to bring this about? Wikipedia, "Scottish Reformation"; course topic 2.3
  • On which point did Calvin insist against control of the church by the civil authorities? Wikipedia, "Genevan Consistory"; College Board, AP European History course description, KC-1.2.II.B; course topic 2.3
  • The Peace of Augsburg (1555) gave Lutheran rulers in the Holy Roman Empire legal standing beside Catholic ones. Which Protestants did it leave out? Wikipedia, "Peace of Augsburg"; course topic 2.3
  • What did the Warsaw Confederation of 1573 do? Wikipedia, "Warsaw Confederation"; course topic 2.3
  • What was the Genevan Consistory, set up in 1541? Wikipedia, "Genevan Consistory"; course topic 2.3
  • What was the Schmalkaldic League, formed in 1531? Wikipedia, "Schmalkaldic League"; course topic 2.3
  • Where does the word "Protestant" come from? Wikipedia, "Protestation at Speyer"; course topic 2.3

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to topic 2.2 (Luther and the Protestant Reformation) and topic 2.3 (Protestant Reform Continues) of Unit 2 (Age of Reformation, c. 1450 to c. 1648) of the College Board's AP European History Course and Exam Description, effective fall 2026, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-11. Each fact was read on 2026-10-11 in the public page named under its question: Luther's Ninety-five Theses and his address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation and Calvin on predestination at the Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Fordham University), a statement of the course description, or a Wikipedia article. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.

How it works

This AP Euro Protestant Reformation practice test has 46 questions of our own on Luther and later reformers, many built on a line from the period. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.

Read the full guide

What the test covers

The bank follows two topics of Unit 2 in the College Board's course description for fall 2026, read October 11, 2026: topic 2.2, Luther and the Protestant Reformation (29 questions), and topic 2.3, Protestant Reform Continues (17). The split is ours, since the description gives topics no weights. The wars of religion, the Catholic Reformation and Baroque art are on the Unit 2 page.

Sources you can open

Each answer links to the page it was checked on: Luther's Ninety-five Theses, his address to the German nobility, Calvin on predestination, the course description or a Wikipedia article.

  • For a quotation, ask who is speaking, to whom, and what they want changed before you read the choices.
  • Keep the reformers apart by one question each: Luther on faith, Calvin on church and state, the Anabaptists on baptism.

Questions and answers

Does this AP Euro Protestant Reformation practice test cover Luther?

Yes. Eleven questions follow his protest from the indulgence preaching of 1517 to the Edict of Worms in 1521, and ten more cover the teachings he and other reformers set out. Pick either set in the Start from menu to take it alone.

What unit is the Protestant Reformation in AP Euro?

Unit 2, Age of Reformation, which runs from about 1450 to about 1648. The College Board's course page gives the unit 10 to 15% of the exam.

How is this different from the AP Euro Unit 2 practice test?

That page spreads its questions over six topics of the unit, with 15 on the Protestant reformers. This one puts all 46 on topics 2.2 and 2.3, and no question appears on both pages.

Are these real AP European History exam questions?

No. The College Board owns the real questions, and none appears here even in other words. Every question on this page was written for it from the two topics and the public sources named.

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