Deck 10: The High Middle Ages

Question 1

Which of the following was Abbot Suger's contribution to Western culture?

A) He wrote one of the most important epic poems of the Middle Ages.
B) He introduced the major features which defined Gothic architecture.
C) He organized and implemented a highly effective system of distributing food to the poor.
D) He reconciled Aristotelian logic with the Hebrew scriptures.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Who was Villard de Honnecourt?

A) He was a troubadour.
B) He was a Benedictine scholar.
C) He was an architect and engineer.
D) He was a doctor and chemist.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Gothic cathedrals?

A) strikingly high ceilings
B) large panels of stained glass depicting scenes from the Gospels
C) frescoes depicting gruesome scenes of Judgment Day
D) complex ornamentation of doorways

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which medieval cathedral, famous for its 173 stained glass windows, is considered the first true High Gothic cathedral?

A) Notre-Dame
B) Chartres
C) Reims
D) Saint Dominique of Lucia

Question 5

What were the two major characteristics of Gothic architecture?

A) increased height and stained-glass windows
B) decreased height and the ribbed vault
C) symmetrical design and windowless rooms
D) outdoor gardens and elaborate gazebos

Question 6

Who invented a system of musical notation that forms the basis of present-day musical notation?

A) Machaut
B) Guido d'Arezzo
C) Perotin
D) Gregory

Question 7

From c. 1150 to 1300, what city was the intellectual and cultural center of Western civilization?

A) Venice
B) London
C) Paris
D) Florence

Question 8

What was the subject of the Summa Theologica ?

A) the struggle of Christianity against Islam
B) reconciling classical philosophy and Christian faith
C) the conflict between love and duty
D) renouncing war

Question 9

What were the subjects of Goliardic verse?

A) god, worship, and heaven
B) love, sex, drinking, and nature
C) sin and penitence
D) battle and valor

Question 10

Which prestigious universities were founded over 800 years ago?

A) Witwatersrand and the University of London
B) the Venetian Academy and the University of Birmingham
C) University of Bologna, the University of Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge
D) the Brandenburg Academy, the Universitas at Rome, and the University of Paris

Question 11

Who was the "patron saint of wandering scholars," created by university students?

A) Saint Denis
B) Villard de Honnecourt
C) Saint Golias
D) Saint Francis

Question 12

What made the increased window size of Gothic cathedrals possible?

A) the domed ceiling
B) the ribbed vault
C) the flying buttress
D) the pointed arch

Question 13

What was the specific reason that the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral was built?

A) to provide a meditative retreat for Saint Francis of Assisi
B) to house relics of Christ's Passion
C) to house relics of Saint Chapelle
D) to provide a vacation home for Robert de Sorbon

Question 14

What was innovative about organum ?

A) It combined Italian and Latin verse.
B) It used French in liturgical chant.
C) It introduced polyphony.
D) It combined the lute and the human voice.

Question 15

What was the original meaning of the term universitas ?

A) laboratory
B) meeting place
C) knowledge or research
D) corporation or guild

Question 16

Who was involved in the 13^th-century "Golden Age" at the University of Paris?

A) Hildegard of Bingen
B) Geoffrey Chaucer
C) Peter Lombard
D) Thomas Aquinas

Question 17

What is the term for the passageway in a church that continues the side aisles and allows people to walk to the chapels?

A) narthex
B) atrium
C) ambulatory
D) choir

Question 18

Who was the most famous teacher at the University of Paris in the early 1100s?

A) Moses Maimonides
B) Peter Abelard
C) Dante Alighieri
D) Peter Lombard

Question 19

Which of the following is most indicative of Gothic architecture's interest in light?

A) the archivolt
B) stained glass
C) the crypt
D) the censer

Question 20

What was the purpose of the "signature frames" found at the bottom of many stained-glass windows?

A) to specify the Priest presiding over the church in which the window was housed
B) to specify the Bishop presiding over the cathedral in which the window was housed.
C) to identify the date and craftsman who created the window
D) to indicate the group or person who donated the window

Question 21

Which term refers to a friar who has rejected ownership of property and lives by begging?

A) mendicant
B) stigmatus
C) vicar
D) trobairitz

Question 22

What factors explain the rise of formal educational institutions in 12^th-century Europe?

Question 23

Which of the following statements about Moses Maimonides is NOT true?

A) He was born in Jerusalem.
B) He was a physician.
C) He was a Jewish philosopher who wrote in Arabic.
D) He believed it was more appropriate to describe what God is not.

Question 24

The trobairitz were the female counterparts of the ___________.

A) Franciscan monks
B) male university students
C) guild craftsmen
D) troubadours

Question 25

What did Francis of Assisi believe was necessary for a life of perfect freedom?

A) anarchy
B) total poverty
C) sufficient wealth
D) land ownership

Question 26

How does Gothic sculpture differ from Romanesque sculpture?

Question 27

In medieval thought, which word refers to intellectual techniques involving rigorous reasoning to arrive at logical conclusions?

A) dogma
B) dialectics
C) syllogism
D) doctrine

Question 28

Ironically, this term was originally used pejoratively, to refer to art considered "barbaric" or "crude."

A) Romanesque
B) Gothic
C) Lux Nova
D) Gargoyle

Question 29

What was the subject of Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed ?

A) Christian history
B) Aristotle's philosophical ideas
C) the meaning of the Hebrew bible
D) a primer on the natural sciences

Question 30

How did the cathedral play an integral part in the lives of the townspeople?

Question 31

What is the term for the crucifixion marks of Christ, which Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have received after his intense meditation on Jesus' crucifixion?

A) archivolts
B) exempla
C) lancets
D) stigmata

Question 32

Though it originally referred to acts of war, ________ now refers to acts of kindness, particularly toward women.

A) allegory
B) chivalry
C) dialectics
D) triforium

Question 33

How can Aquinas' worldview be described?

A) pessimistic
B) democratic
C) hierarchical
D) proto-socialist

Question 34

What characterizes the music of the school of Notre-Dame?

Question 35

What was the subject of the stained glass window "Notre Dame de Belle Verrière"? How is the depiction of Mary in glass a religious metaphor?

Question 36

Which word refers to a fraternal association of craftsmen or merchants?

A) fiefdom
B) magisters
C) apprentices
D) guild

Question 37

What is the title of a 13^th-century poem that gives an allegorical account of the art of courtly love?

A) Carmina Burana
B) "A Lover's Prize"
C) The Romance of the Rose
D) "When I See the Skylark Moving"

Question 38

In music, simultaneous and independently moving melodic lines is called __________.

A) polyphony
B) allegory
C) cacophony
D) mullion

Question 39

Who authored Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles ?

A) Francis of Assisi
B) Thomas Aquinas
C) Peter Abelard
D) Guillaume de Lorris

Question 40

Which is the name for the external masonry supports found on many Gothic cathedrals?

A) bay system
B) sexpartite rib vaults
C) flying buttresses
D) horaria