Question 1

What was the conflict in the 1490s between Portugal and Spain, and how was it settled?

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the following. Portuguese and Spanish interests began to clash in the 1490s because both Portugal and Spain were engaged in extensive overseas exploration. After the voyages of Columbus, Pope Alexander VI mediated the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, a pact that divided the Atlantic world along an imaginary demarcation line; everything east of that line-most important, the West African coast and the route to India-was reserved for Portugal, while all lands and oceans to the west of the line were assigned to Spain. Brazil was still unknown to Europeans at that time, and Portugal went on to claim it in 1500.

Question 2

Describe the new era of slavery up to the early sixteenth century.

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the following. Slavery had existed since antiquity-captives of war and piracy were enslaved, and slave traders sold Africans to Christians. In the Middle East, slaves served as soldiers, and desperate, impoverished parents sometimes sold their children into slavery. In European cities of the Mediterranean, most slaves were used for domestic work, while others worked as galley slaves. After the Portuguese explorations in Africa, slavery increased vastly. African slaves were used in agriculture, especially sugar production, on the Atlantic islands and in Brazil.

Question 3

What was the Columbian exchange, and what consequences did it have for Europe, Africa, and the Americas?

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the following. The Columbian exchange was the movement of plants, animals, goods, metals, pathogens, and people between Europe, Africa and the Americas. It began with Columbus, who brought firearms, horses, pigs, cows, chickens, goats, sheep, cattle, wheat, melons, and sugarcane to the Americas; on his second voyage, he brought slaves from the Caribbean back with him to Spain. The Europeans brought infectious diseases, including smallpox, to the New World, and they brought back syphilis to Europe. The Spanish brought back tobacco, cacao, sweet potatoes, corn, and tomatoes to Europe; slave traders brought these items to West Africa. African yams, millet, and rice were brought from Africa to the New World. The Columbian exchange fundamentally changed eating and dietary patterns on three continents. It also led to the deaths of vast portions of the indigenous population in the Americas, mostly through infectious diseases, to which it had no immunity. And it uprooted entire African populations, bringing them over to the New World as slaves.

Question 4

Who was Desiderius Erasmus, and what ideas did he put forward in The Praise of Folly (1509)?

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Question 5

Who were the Evangelicals, what social groups did they represent, and why were they important to the spread of Martin Luther's reform movement?

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Question 6

Who proposed the doctrine known as predestination, and what is the belief represented by this term?

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Question 7

How did Protestantism become established in England?

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Question 8

How did the approach of missionaries in the Americas differ from that of missionaries in China and Japan?

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Question 9

What was the Peace of Augsburg, and to what extent did it succeed in quelling religious conflict in Europe?

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Question 10

How did changes in military technology place a growing financial burden on monarchs?

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Question 11

What were some of the causes of the European voyages of exploration of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? What impact did these voyages have on both the peoples that were conquered and the societies back home?

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Question 12

Why did Martin Luther break with the church and usher in the Protestant Reformation? In your response, please discuss the stages in Luther's journey away from the church.

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Question 13

How did radical Protestant movements lead to significant challenges to the existing social order? What were the consequences of these challenges? In your response, please discuss two major challenges that arose.

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Question 14

What were the boldest steps taken by the Catholic church to renew and reinvigorate itself in the face of the Reformation?

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Question 15

Describe the relationship between artists and the political elite during the Renaissance. Who were some of the notable artists that came out of this period, and how did their work reflect that relationship?

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Question 16

What began the first phase of European overseas expansion?
A) Christopher Columbus's discovery of America
B) Portuguese exploration of the West African coast
C) Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe
D) Vasco da Gama's voyage to India

Accepted Answer

The first phase of European overseas expansion began with the Portuguese exploration of the West African coast in the 15th century, which was part of the broader Age of Discovery. This exploration marked the beginning of European efforts to explore and colonize the rest of the world.

Question 17

Why did the Spanish and Portuguese take a sudden interest in overseas maritime expeditions in the fifteenth century?
A) They hoped to conquer the Chinese and Persian Empires.
B) Their governments hoped to use the proceeds from the spice trade to put down uprisings spawned by movements for religious reform in northern Europe.
C) They sought to gain control of the spice trade and use its profits in the struggle against Islam.
D) Merchants from India and China asked for their help in bypassing the Ottoman armies and navies that had seized control of the caravan routes that linked up to the eastern Mediterranean.

Accepted Answer

The Spanish and Portuguese were motivated by the desire to bypass the Muslim-controlled land routes to Asia to directly access the lucrative spice trade, using the profits to support their ongoing conflict with Islamic powers.

Question 18

Which breakthrough helped make possible the European voyages of discovery in the fifteenth century?
A) The discovery that the world was round and not flat
B) The use of the caravel, a small three-masted ship
C) The invention of iron-plated ships that allowed European fleets to defeat their enemies
D) The use of the armada technique, in which many ships would sail simultaneously

Accepted Answer

The use of the caravel, a small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship, was a key technological breakthrough that enabled the European voyages of discovery in the fifteenth century. Its design allowed for longer voyages and better navigation, particularly in the challenging waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Question 19

Christopher Columbus became one of the first European explorers to
A) plot an accurate sea route from Spain to India.
B) begin a regular slave trade based in the Caribbean.
C) establish a permanent European presence in the Americas.
D) launch an expedition to circumnavigate the globe.

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Question 20

According to this map, who can be credited with circumnavigating the globe during the sixteenth century?
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A) Christopher Columbus
B) Bartholomeu Dias
C) Ferdinand Magellan
D) Vasco da Gama

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Quiz 14: Global Encounters and the Shock of the Reformation, 1492-1560