Deck 14: Christian Societies in Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and Russia, 600-1500

Question 1

Which of the following cities functioned as the center of Byzantium?

A) Rome
B) Anatolia
C) Constantinople

Answer 1

Constantinople

Question 2

Most Russians were subject of which group from the early thirteenth through fifteenth centuries?

A) The Ottoman Turks
B) The Golden Horde
C) The Greek Orthodox Church

Answer 2

The Golden Horde

Question 3

Which of the following statements regarding Mongol advances in Europe is most accurate?

A) The Mongols never set foot in Europe.
B) The Mongols advanced as far west as the Danube River but no further.
C) The Mongols cut a broad swath across Europe clear to the Atlantic coast.

Answer 3

The Mongols advanced as far west as the Danube River but no further.

Question 4

How did the perception of homosexuality change over time during the Middle Ages?

A) Generally tolerated in the Early Middle Ages, homosexuality became criminal by 1300 in many societies.
B) Never tolerated in Christian societies, homosexuality remained illegal throughout the Middle Ages.
C) Though illegal during the Early Middle Ages, homosexuality became legal by 1300 in most societies.

Question 5

When did West African slaves first arrive in southern Europe?

A) By the 1400s
B) By the late 1100s
C) By the mid-1800s

Question 6

Which of the following factors led to shorter growing seasons (and corresponding lower crop yields) between 500 and 900 CE?

A) Plague
B) Conscripted farmers
C) Climate change

Question 7

Which of the following is not an outcome of the consolidation of power that occurred when Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile married?

A) Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain unless they converted to Christianity.
B) Christopher Columbus received the necessary backing for his transatlantic voyage.
C) The Ottoman Empire ceased to exist as all wealth flowed into Spanish coffers.

Question 8

Which of the following statements regarding church and state in Byzantium is most accurate?

A) Byzantine Europe pioneered the practice of separating church and state.
B) The Byzantine church and state were deeply intertwined.
C) The church exercised little influence over secular Byzantine society.

Question 9

Which of the following statements regarding prejudice in Medieval Europe is not true?

A) Cultural differences inspired prejudice in some areas.
B) Religious differences inspired prejudice in some areas.
C) No known prejudices or hatred toward others existed during this period.

Question 10

Which of the following did not spur European exploration abroad?

A) A need to move away from the plague-inflicted continent
B) Commercial growth in European states
C) Expanded maritime and military technologies

Question 11

What is one reason why some members of Jewish communities became merchants and bankers in Medieval Europe?

A) Christians were forbidden from loaning money at interest.
B) Christians lacked access to sufficient capital.
C) Christians possessed no interest in material wealth.

Question 12

How did serfs become serfs in the economic system based on manorialism?

A) Serfs were generally knights that applied to become serfs when they completed their military service.
B) Serfs were bought and sold freely and regularly at public serf markets.
C) Serf status was passed down from generation to generation.

Question 13

In feudalist societies, which of the following would not be vassals?

A) Farmers
B) Warriors
C) Nobles

Question 14

What impact did Saints Cyril and Methodius have on the Slavs?

A) They converted many to eastern Christianity.
B) They liberated many from the clutches of Mongol overlords.
C) They convinced many to abandon reading the bible and receive the word of God solely from the lips of priests.

Question 15

Which of the following is not an example of an action taken by Christian rulers?

A) The creation of the Holy Inquisition intended to root out nonbelievers and those deemed undesirable by the Christian community
B) The dissolution of the Catholic Church throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world
C) The military expeditions known as the Crusades to reclaim the "Holy Land" from Muslim control

Question 16

What is the historical significance of the princess Anna Comnena?

A) Well educated, she is Byzantium's best-known historian.
B) Considered ruthless by contemporary detractors, she ruled Byzantium for two decades.
C) Politically savvy, she served as Vladimir I's official advisor.

Question 17

The long decline and eventual collapse of the Byzantine state culminated in 1453 with what event?

A) The fall of Rome to the Normans
B) The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks
C) The fall of Prague to the Slavs

Question 18

Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding the rise of serfdom in Europe?

A) With the rise of serfdom, slavery disappeared altogether.
B) Though serfdom became more prevalent, slavery remained.
C) The advent of serfdom provided slaves with additional options to gain freedom.

Question 19

Which of the following institutions filled the power vacuum in western Europe created by the dissolution of the western Roman Empire?

A) Germanic occupiers
B) The Christian church
C) Vikings

Question 20

What is one reason Muscovy emerged as the dominant Russian state with the decline of Mongol control?

A) The Russian Orthodox Church viewed Moscow as the Third Rome or seat of the Holy Roman Empire.
B) Czar Ivan III never married, which allowed him to foster key alliances with queens across Europe.
C) The capital of the Rus state, Kiev, was strategically situated in the heart of Muscovy.

Question 21

The period characterized by a dramatic increase in arts and learning through the exchange of ideas and cultures is called what?

A) The Great Schism
B) The Golden Horde
C) The Renaissance

Question 22

How did Viking raids and settlements compare to Bulgar or Magyar raids and settlements?

Question 23

What was the role of Italian city-states in maintaining European trade?

Question 24

Describe the origins of the Holy Roman Empire.

Question 25

Which of the following best describes the outcome of the Treaty of Verdun in 843?

A) It divided Charlemagne's empire among his three grandsons.
B) It halted all Muslim raids on the Frankish kingdom.
C) It formally established the Holy Roman Empire.

Question 26

How did sixteen-year-old Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc in English) become a martyr in France?

A) After writing a treatise on the equality of the sexes, French bishops excommunicated her.
B) After serving as a spy for English forces, she renounced her French citizenship and moved to London.
C) After leading troops into a battle that helped liberate the city of Orleans, the English captured and killed her.

Question 27

How did the Black Plague impact European societies during the mid-fourteenth century?

A) The disease only affected peasants and farmers, which led to food shortages.
B) Tens of millions died across Europe, disrupting economic activity and depleting populations.
C) Only urban dwellers perished, which wiped out all industrial guilds.

Question 28

How did the Black Plague benefit labor?

A) Labor shortages created a favorable climate for workers, who could ask for more privileges and money.
B) Population decline strengthened feudalism, which served as an ideal work environment for most vassals.
C) Women entered the workforce in record numbers, which greatly strengthened worker solidarity between men and women.

Question 29

How did Charlemagne consolidate his empire?

Question 30

Describe the political composition of western Europe after the end of Roman control.

Question 31

How did climate change impact European societies during the Late Middle Ages?

A) Cooler temperatures shortened the growing season, which caused food shortages.
B) Hotter temperatures lengthened the growing season, which created food surpluses.
C) Major changes to the climate did not occur during the Late Middle Ages.

Question 32

Kiev in present-day Ukraine served as the capital for which of the following peoples?

A) The Croats
B) The Serbs
C) The Rus

Question 33

Describe the expansion of Charlemagne's empire.

Question 34

What motivated Viking settlements across Northern Europe?

Question 35

How was the Holy Roman Empire governed?

Question 36

What was the importance of the papal alliance with the Franks?

Question 37

How did the fall of Rome affect the Eastern Mediterranean economy?

Question 38

Which of the following philosophies emerged during the Late Middle Ages that emphasized reason over religious ideals?

A) Humanism
B) Utilitarianism
C) Transcendentalism

Question 39

Which of the following did not contribute to the demise of feudalism in Europe?

A) Population decrease due to famine, plague, and warfare
B) An increase in Royal power at the expense of feudal nobility
C) The rapidly expanding influence of the Catholic Church

Question 40

The Franks established a state in western Europe following which event?

A) The Battle of Tours in 732
B) Charlemagne's ascendancy to the throne in 768
C) The Treaty of Verdun in 843

Question 41

Describe the feudal system.

Question 42

How did competition with Italian city-states affect the Byzantine Empire's fortunes?

Question 43

Describe the state of the Byzantine Empire by the 700s.

Question 44

How did internal pressures affect the stability of the Byzantine Empire?

Question 45

How important was land ownership to feudalism?

Question 46

A great seafaring people, Norse Vikings traveled as far west as which of the following?

A) Iceland
B) Greenland
C) Newfoundland

Question 47

What was the ultimate objective of the feudal system?

Question 48

Why did Muscovy break with the Eastern Orthodox Church?

Question 49

What role did the Catholic Church play in medieval economies?

Question 50

Why did Rus adopt Eastern Orthodoxy?

Question 51

What success did kings have in taking power in Europe?

Question 52

What title did Pope Leo III give to Charlemagne in 800?

A) King of France
B) Emperor of the Romans
C) Bishop of Europe

Question 53

What role did the Catholic Church play in medieval society?

Question 54

Why did so many Europeans join Crusades?

Question 55

Describe relations between Rus and the Mongols.

Question 56

What was the role of cities in the feudal system?

Question 57

Explain the rise of kings in medieval Europe.

Question 58

How did external pressures affect the stability of the Byzantine Empire?

Question 59

How did men and women's experiences of feudal life differ? In what ways were they the same?

Question 60

Describe the origins of Rus.

Question 61

How did the collapse of Roman central authority shape politics, the economy, and society in western Europe?

Question 62

What were the effects of the "Little Ice Age"?

Question 63

Why did waves of violence follow climate and disease crises in medieval Europe?

Question 64

How did the experience of life on a manor differ to that in a city? How were they similar?

Question 65

How did the shift to authoring in vernacular languages affect the spread of ideas across Europe?

Question 66

To what extent was the Holy Roman Empire a failed project for a unified state and to what extent did it work as intended?

Question 67

Which of the following did not likely influence the Viking incursion into Europe's heartland?

A) Increasing populations to support
B) Charlemagne's power and wealth
C) A lack of skilled artisans and technology

Question 68

How did constant warfare lead to changes in European fiscal policies and political institutions?

Question 69

Which of the following best describes the function of watermills and windmills in western Europe and elsewhere?

A) They provided picturesque backdrops for an emerging awareness of aesthetic beauty.
B) They worked together to transform air from rushing rivers into wind power.
C) They generated power for the mechanization of industrial tasks such as sawing logs and grinding flour.

Question 70

What role did Christianity play in maintaining Charlemagne's empire?

Question 71

What were the most important ideas or practices that flowed from eastern to western Europe during this period, and why were they so important?

Question 72

Who benefited more from an alliance, the papacy or the Frankish kingdom?

Question 73

Describe the course of the Hundred Years War.

Question 74

Describe some critiques of authority produced by early Renaissance thinkers.

Question 75

How were climate and disease crises felt differently in rural versus urban communities across Europe?

Question 76

What were the most important legacies of the Holy Roman Empire?

Question 77

What were the origins for political debates over policy?

Question 78

What was the ultimate objective of Portuguese expansion of trade with Africa?

Question 79

Is it better to view Vikings, Bulgars, and Magyar movements as invasions of or mass migrations into Europe?

Question 80

What were the effects of the "Black Death"?