Deck 18: The European Middle Ages

Question 1

Which of the following contributed to the improvement of medieval agriculture?

A) the steel-tipped plow
B) chemical fertilizers
C) the padded horse collar
D) turnip animal fodder
E) crop rotation

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The rights of the European nobility stemmed generally from

A) conquests in which they had participated.
B) legal writs that had been chartered hundreds of years before.
C) royal patents given by monarchs to the chosen few.
D) church documents detailing family histories.
E) the purchase of titles by the wealthy.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Through what means did Medieval England and France become "nation-states"? What personalities, events, and institutions aided their development in that direction?

Answer 3

Answer not provided.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the situation of serfs in Europe during the Middle Ages?

A) They were bound by law to a particular place, but they could change occupations with the approval of their noble.
B) Dues and taxes to the lord were set by tradition, but these were occasionally renegotiated.
C) Laws governing serfdom were written, even though most serfs could not read them.
D) Most serfs owned a small strip of land that might be able to produce enough food for their individual families.
E) Serfdom, unlike slavery, seldom became hereditary.

Question 5

Describe monastic life in the middle ages. How did church institutions manage to precipitate both beneficial and harmful results?

Question 6

The only true political force in medieval times was

A) the knights.
B) the nobility.
C) the Church.
D) the king.
E) the suzerain.

Question 7

Describe the early Medieval university. What was the focus of the curriculum? Identify the "Seven Likely Arts." Discuss the impact of Thomas Aquinas and Peter Abelard.

Question 8

The medieval clergy, especially monks and nuns,

A) were for the most part money-hungry.
B) gained a reputation of unconcern for their parishioners.
C) too often became obsessed with investments and rents.
D) owned much of their country's best land.
E) did a tremendous amount of good works in their own communities.

Question 9

The Inquisition conducted by parts of the Catholic Church was at its harshest in

A) France.
B) Spain.
C) England.
D) the Netherlands.
E) Germany.

Question 10

The only true wealth for the nobility during the Middle Ages was

A) a plentiful supply of gold.
B) the hereditary rank they held.
C) that which they earned through trade.
D) land ownership.
E) that which had been inherited.

Question 11

Account for the failure of the German Empire to achieve statehood during the Medieval era.

Question 12

Famine in a bad crop year was

A) rare, due to adequate reserves of food.
B) only the case when fallow land ran out.
C) the general rule every fifty years or so.
D) a frequent occurrence.
E) unusual, but severe when it occurred.

Question 13

One of the most important aspects of any noble's life was

A) his choice of wife.
B) wealth.
C) courage.
D) honor.
E) his religious life.

Question 14

The Benedictine monks of the Middle Ages were known for

A) leaving their monasteries to witness to the poor in foreign lands.
B) being members of the largest religious order in all of Europe.
C) competing with the Jesuits for territory.
D) their skill at winemaking, through which they made large amounts of money.
E) their vows of silence.

Question 15

Describe the life of a serf on a feudal manor. How would you characterize the lot of the medieval peasantry? Compare the lives of serfs to those of the nobility.

Question 16

Before the 12^th century, monks and nuns were usually taken from the

A) younger offspring of the aristocracy.
B) large families produced by the peasantry.
C) scandal-ridden members of the nobility.
D) already diminutive middle class.
E) better educated members of the community.

Question 17

What is meant by the Medieval "economic revival"? What developments led to this resurgence?

Question 18

What changed for serfs after the Black Death?

A) None of them survived.
B) They were freed by their lords.
C) Their dues were removed.
D) Their treatment by the lords improved considerably since they could bargain for better working conditions.
E) They no longer were obligated legally to their lords, although they could commit themselves to him if they chose.

Question 19

European slavery declined after 1000 C.E. due to

A) expenses associated with keeping slaves.
B) the Crusades into the Middle East.
C) disapproval by the Church.
D) changes in climate that made keeping slaves unnecessary.
E) changing labor needs, as more people moved to urban areas.

Question 20

As royal governments became able to maintain a fair amount of law and order, beginning in the 11^th century,

A) feudal lords had less to worry about from their unhappy serfs.
B) people had the opportunity to acquire a better education.
C) most people set out to organize new cities, rather than repopulating the older, drearier ones.
D) tradesmen and bankers increased their trade with other parts of the world.
E) more people began to travel abroad for pleasure.

Question 21

Land which had to remain unplowed and unseeded until the soil recovered its nutrients was termed ____________________ land.

Question 22

Which of the following statements about a medieval manor is false ?

A) It was normally an economically self-sufficient unit.
B) It was normally headed by an official of the church or a noble.
C) It was normally dependent on the labor rendered by unfree peasants.
D) It was normally a politically independent unit.
E) It normally had a large part of its land lying fallow.

Question 23

The university founded at Bologna was celebrated mainly as a school of

A) law.
B) intercollegiate sports.
C) medicine.
D) theology.
E) philosophy.

Question 24

Frederick Barbarossa failed in his attempt to unify the Germans in large part because of

A) Austria.
B) Italy.
C) France.
D) Russia.
E) the Mediterranean.

Question 25

The Church gained more influence on its members, making trade easier, after

A) the Peace of God was established.
B) it became a major land holder, thereby able to speak out more adamantly.
C) the Crusades succeeded in capturing the Holy Land.
D) its acceptance of Roman civil law.
E) spiritual sanctions were combined with civil laws for the prosecution of wrongdoers.

Question 26

Which of the following statements was not true of Gothic architecture?

A) Churches were constructed in a completely new style, with arches, buttresses, space, and light.
B) Most cathedrals became a physical means of teaching those who were illiterate.
C) The great cathedrals usually took from 100 to 150 years to complete, which meant that multiple generations had to be dedicated to the process.
D) Artists and craftsmen usually used the cathedrals to express their own personal faith.
E) Towns often competed to see which of them could build the grandest cathedral.

Question 27

The great scandal of the Fourth Crusade was that it

A) lost Jerusalem to the Muslims.
B) resulted in the occupation of the Christian city of Constantinople by Crusaders.
C) led to a war with the Greeks.
D) deteriorated into a quest for wealth and power.
E) gave a bad name to Christians across the Muslim world.

Question 28

____________________ were sections of Christian towns where Jews lived in a segregated status.

Question 29

In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded and conquered

A) Normandy.
B) Italy.
C) Spain.
D) England.
E) France.

Question 30

European Jews often provided needed financial services to non-Jews because

A) they had become wealthy after the diaspora.
B) they were deemed to be morally above reproach.
C) they were forbidden to work in the various craft guilds.
D) they believed lending money to Christians would help them to become accepted.
E) the Church disapproved of Christians committing usury.

Question 31

After assuming the throne in France, Philip II Augustus

A) was assassinated by two of his rivals.
B) set out to unify the country while empowering the monarchy.
C) acceded to the wishes of his nobles for more autonomy.
D) found himself unable to handle the unruly French aristocracy.
E) began to model his government after that of England.

Question 32

The first important literary work created in English was

A) The Domesday Book.
B) The Divine Comedy.
C) Summa Theologica.
D) Canterbury Tales .
E) The Charter of Lorris.

Question 33

The Investiture Controversy had to do with

A) the emperor's alleged right to select bishops.
B) the election of the Pope.
C) the church's disapproval of feudal warfare.
D) the Pope's alleged right to crown emperors.
E) the Church's right to formulate civil laws.

Question 34

The study of Classical pagan authors in Western Europe came mainly through the work done by

A) Frederick Barbarossa.
B) the Seljuk Turks.
C) Jews in France.
D) the Italian popes.
E) Muslims in Spain.

Question 35

The Dominican Order concentrated most of its efforts on

A) total service to their fellow man.
B) rooting out heretics in the country of France.
C) practicing lives of poverty.
D) reforming the Church officialdom.
E) scholarly discourse and preaching.

Question 36

The Domesday Book might most accurately be described as a

A) definitive law code.
B) religious prayer book.
C) royal census.
D) farmers' guide.
E) history of the Crusades.

Question 37

A/An ____________________ was a person to which some form of feudal service was owed.

Question 38

Most of the work on Medieval European manors was performed by ____________________.

Question 39

Medieval France, until the Revolution of 1789, was held together mainly by

A) courts of law.
B) the crown and its bureaucrats.
C) parliament.
D) church officials.
E) the bourgeoisie.

Question 40

In the all-male university system, a student could take his very difficult examinations

A) as soon as he felt he would be able to pass all of them.
B) after about five years, if he wanted to become a doctor.
C) after years of exhaustive lectures combined with practical experience.
D) once each year until he passed them all.
E) upon completion of a plan of study that contained two major subject areas.

Question 41

Dante's Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are early examples of literature written in a/an ____________________ language.

Question 42

In his ____________________ ____________________, St. Thomas Aquinas attempted to prove God's existence through Classical arguments.

Question 43

The greatest Christian teacher of the 12^th and 13^th centuries was ____________________ ____________________ ____________________.

Question 44

Frederick Barbarossa failed to achieve German unity when his ambitions in ____________________ distracted his attention.

Question 45

The abbey church of St. Denis is the first notable example of the ____________________ style.

Question 46

The unification of France under a monarchy was brought about during the late 12^th and early 13^th centuries by King ____________________.