Deck 6: Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Creating a New European Society and Culture (476–1000)

Question 1

Which emperor first divided the Roman Empire into east and west?

A) Augustus
B) Constantine
C) Diocletian
D) Valens

Answer 1

Diocletian

Question 2

Charles Martel created a great army by ________.

A) falsely accusing Muslims of various petty crimes
B) recruiting monks who had studied the martial arts
C) seizing church land and then giving it to men who agreed to serve him
D) appealing to Frankish patriotism

Answer 2

seizing church land and then giving it to men who agreed to serve him

Question 3

Christian monastic life pursued the "counsels of perfection," that is, ________.

A) truth, justice, and the Roman way
B) reading, writing, and arithmetic
C) faith, hope, and charity
D) chastity, poverty, and obedience

Answer 3

chastity, poverty, and obedience

Question 4

The word "Muslim" is Arabic for ________.

A) created
B) divine
C) strength
D) submissive

Question 5

The Frankish kings who defeated the Lombards gave the pope the lands surrounding Rome, to be known as ________.

A)Greater Metropolitan Rome
B)the Duchy of Benevento
C)Frankish Italy
D)the Papal States

Question 6

Urban councils of about 200 members governed Byzantine cities in the early fifth century.They were composed of ________.

A) bishops
B) praetors
C) decurions
D) vicars

Question 7

Emperor Heraclius defeated the Sassanid king Khosro II and recovered ________.

A) John the Baptist's head
B) the crown of thorns
C) a piece of Christ's cross
D) the shroud of Turin

Question 8

The Visigoths defeated Emperor ________ at the battle of Adrianople in 378.

A) Diocletian
B) Justinian
C) Tiberius
D) Valens

Question 9

Charlemagne conquered large swaths of western Europe and his rescue of Pope Leo III led to being crowned to lead the ________.

A) Tudor dynasty
B) Holy Roman Empire
C) Byzantine Empire
D) Ummayad dynasty

Question 10

By the eighth century, Islam had already spread from ________.

A) Damascus to Jerusalem
B) Egypt to Pakistan
C) Scandinavia to North Africa
D) Spain to India

Question 11

During Justinian's rule, the empire's strength lay in its ________.

A) cities
B) farms
C) mountains
D) suburbs

Question 12

"Visigoths" were ________ Germanic Goths.

A) northern
B) southern
C) eastern
D) western

Question 13

The Merovingian Dynasty was founded by the warrior chieftain ________.

A) Charlemagne
B) Clovis
C) Lothar
D) Merovich

Question 14

Which of these was the principal conduit for the transfer of learning from the Mideast to western Europe?

A) Athens
B) Alexandria
C) Cordoba
D) Rome

Question 15

Charlemagne created a center of learning in ________, where pure scholarship was taught alongside administrative skills for royal bureaucrats.

A)Aachen
B)Paris
C)Arles
D)Rome

Question 16

The key disputes between the eastern and western Christian churches concerned _______.

A) relations with Judaism
B) the nature of Christ
C) woman priests
D) opposition and support of monasticism

Question 17

Monophysites believe ________.

A) that the trinity inhabited only one body, that of Jesus
B) that Jesus was only immortal, never a man
C) that Jesus was only a man, never immortal
D) in a single god

Question 18

Which of the following has been the dominant group of Muslims in Islamic history?

A) Sunnis
B) Kharijites
C) Persians
D) Shi'a

Question 19

What is the Ka'ba?

A) a shrine that houses a black meteorite
B) a robe Muslim women must wear
C) a Jewish sect
D) a prayer said before all meals

Question 20

In part because the patriarchs of the Eastern church considered the bishop of Rome an equal, the ________.

A) pope acknowledged that the patriarch was, in fact, superior
B) pope gratefully sent gifts to Constantinople
C) two churches were able to coexist peacefully for centuries
D) pope made claims of papal primacy

Question 21

Because he condemned idolatry and immorality, Muhammad was ________.

A) chased out of Medina
B) chased out of Mecca
C) forced to wear a hair shirt
D) removed as his people's leader

Question 22

Mecca was an important pilgrimage site before Islam because pagans came to worship ________.

A) a natural gas leak that produced an eternal flame
B) at the Ka'ba
C) the place of Muhammad's birth
D) at a Roman temple

Question 23

As the Western empire declined and governors withdrew from the cities, ________ were left as the centers of urban culture.

A) schools
B) market squares
C) amphitheaters
D) cathedrals

Question 24

The Visigoths were pressured to invade the western Roman Empire by ________.

A) a drought and other odd weather patterns that disrupted traditional agriculture
B) Huns invading Visigoth territory
C) manipulative administrators in the eastern empire
D) a population boom

Question 25

Why has martyrdom become so important to Shi'a Muslims?

A) Ali, whom they believed to be the true caliph, was assassinated by other Muslims.
B) A strong vision of the afterlife cannot come soon enough for some Shi'as.
C) Throughout his long life, Ali taught the importance of sacrifice.
D) They believe martyrdom is the only path to heaven.

Question 26

Although the Roman military succumbed to Germanic invaders in the fifth century, Roman ________ proved to be dominant when the two peoples mixed.

A) athletes
B) cuisine
C) culture
D) entertainment

Question 27

When Charles Martel seized church property to distribute to the men who would make up his Carolingian army, the church did not object because ________.

A) it knew it would receive compensation
B) it depended on the Franks for armed protection
C) Martel effectively controlled the pope
D) Martel controlled Rome

Question 28

Which of these marked a long-lasting split between the western and eastern Christian churches?

A) Pope Leo I took the title pontifex maximus.
B) Pope Damasus I claimed that he was a direct successor to Peter.
C) Cardinal Humbertus excommunicated the Orthodox patriarch.
D) Pope Gelasius I claimed the ruling clergy gave him more power than secular rulers.

Question 29

Hampered by Frankish laws of inheritance, Louis the Pious had too many ________ for his own succession plan to succeed smoothly.

A) bastards
B) daughters
C) cousins
D) sons

Question 30

The "expansion of Europe within Europe" refers to ________.

A) the conquest of eastern Europe, formerly barbarian Hungary
B) a population boom made possible by innovations in agriculture
C) a redrawing of maps, based on information gathered from Vikings
D) the tilling of all available land each growing season

Question 31

Benedict wrote a plan that dictated every activity a monk should undertake each day.This discipline and organization ________.

A) brought the Benedictines economic and political power
B) was adopted by a majority of Christians
C) threatened potential Muslim invaders
D) was seen as heresy by the Eastern Orthodox Church

Question 32

Since the landed nobility in Western Europe did not have any fealty to the Frankish kings, the Merovingians established ________ with the hope that those men would be loyal to the crown.

A) vassels
B) counts
C) provincial governors
D) duchies

Question 33

Muslims indirectly shaped the development of Western Europe because ________.

A) they showed an interest in Roman architecture
B) they forced the Europeans to focus on their own territory and culture
C) Christians wanted to create a culture that would compete with that of the Muslims
D) Europeans converted in large numbers to Islam

Question 34

When the Byzantines encountered religious practices that were deeply tied to a locality, the church was most likely to ________.

A) explain why paganism would lead believers to hell
B) eradicate all the local believers
C) absorb those practices into Christian practice
D) destroy the objects or shrines

Question 35

In the early Middle Ages, the three-field system was used, combining crop rotation and the use of ________.

A) burning
B) horse pasture
C) fallow fields
D) artificial fertilizer

Question 36

The Viking Leif Erikson traveled as far west as ________.

A) Jamestown
B) New Brunswick
C) Newfoundland
D) Nova Scotia

Question 37

Early Muslim conquests were successful against the Persian Empire in part because ________.

A) the Persians were exhausted by decades of war
B) they had a better navy
C) they had the support of the Byzantines against this common enemy
D) the Persians recognized the truth of Muhammad's words

Question 38

Landed nobility retained vassals to populate their armies by supplying them with ________.

A) land
B) soldiers
C) salaries
D) churches

Question 39

As retaliation for Cardinal Humbertus' actions, the patriarch declared that all Western popes ________.

A) were enemies of the Byzantine state
B) had been tools of the Roman Empire under Diocletian
C) were demoted to bishops
D) had been heretics since the sixth century

Question 40

Pepin illustrates which of these aspects of medieval monarchy?

A) The popes could both make and unmake kings.
B) Kings were no more than the first among equals.
C) Kings owed their position to both their nobles and the church.
D) A clear definition had evolved between church and royal power.

Question 41

Compare the power and influence of Rome and Constantinople in the second half of the first millennium.Use Map 6-2 for reference.

A) The Eastern Empire was much stronger than the Western.
B) The Western Empire was much stronger than the Eastern.
C) The Eastern and Western empires were evenly matched.
D) Both empires were decimated by Muslim conquest.

Question 42

Charlemagne created special royal envoys who would make visits to different districts as auditors because ________.

A) he suspected that local counts were secret Lombards
B) he hoped different bureaucrats would develop new innovations in administration
C) he wanted to unify the state
D) local counts were becoming less loyal to the crown as they consolidated power

Question 43

Reading Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali on marriage, one is struck by the fact that he writes for an audience of ________, which indicates a lot about his attitude towards relationships.

A) clergy
B) laity
C) men
D) women

Question 44

Why did future rulers find Justinian's body of civil law attractive as a foundation of their own jurisprudence?

A) It outlined the basic responsibilities of each citizen.
B) It protected basic civil rights.
C) The main point was to bring subjects under a single authority.
D) There were provisions for different sorts of democratic systems.

Question 45

Which of these best describes the relationship between the Frankish kings and the papacy?

A) mutually supportive
B) openly hostile
C) isolation
D) distrust

Question 46

With the collapse of the Carolingian monarchy and attacks by Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims, local populations depended on local strongmen for protection, establishing the preconditions for ________ society.

A) academic
B) feudal
C) high
D) monastic

Question 47

Medieval people understood that there was a link between food and health but they did not know to ________.

A) eat vegetables along with meat
B) add milk to their porridge
C) wash their fruit
D) cook pork to above 160 degrees internally

Question 48

Major divisions within religious traditions could begin with small disagreements.Which of these was the initial cause of the split between the Sunnis and Shi'a?

A) disagreement over what should be the official version of the Qur'an
B) disagreement over leadership of Islam
C) which language to use in Muslim services
D) which city would be the center of Islam

Question 49

Without a strong central government, freemen would entrust themselves to local magnates, offering to contribute to local fighting units in return for protection.This service was known as ________.

A) serfdom
B) vassalage
C) peasantry
D) slavery

Question 50

St.Cyril and his brother developed the Cyrillic alphabet, which was used for the written language of the ________.

Question 51

Pope Leo III’s coronation of Charlemagne and the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire did not simply benefit the new emperor. Leo hoped ________.

A)that the new empire would destroy Constantinople
B)Charlemagne would create the office of pontifex maximus for him
C)to gain leverage over the king and enhance the church’s stature
D)to be the next emperor

Question 52

In the fourth and fifth centuries, ________ barbarian tribes invaded the Roman Empire.

Question 53

________, with his wife Theodora at his side, expanded the Byzantine Empire and ruled it with a strong hand.

Question 54

Although church law directed lords to set peasants free to serve as priests, lords preferred a "serf priest" who ________.

A) would serve priests
B) would attend to serfs
C) would lead the congregation as he was directed by the lord
D) served as priest and serf

Question 55

Louis the Pious worked to break Frankish tradition and leave Lothar, the eldest of his three sons, as sole heir.However, after his second wife bore him a fourth son, _______.

A) Lothar, jealous of his half-brother, worked with his brothers to defeat their father
B) Louis decided to leave the throne to that young son, Charles
C) Louis retired, leaving Lothar as co-regent
D) Louis asked the pope to annul the second marriage

Question 56

Consider Map 6-1.The territory that had the fewest invasions in the fourth and fifth centuries, and also the most prosperous in that era, was that of the ________.

A) Carthaginians of North Africa
B) Carolingians in Aachen
C) Catholics in Rome
D) Byzantines of Asia Minor

Question 57

Charlemagne developed the intellectual center of Aachen to patronize scholars and promote classical and Christian education.One result of his efforts was ________.

A) the Lord's Prayer
B) a new design for furniture, attaching a desk to a chair
C) the Carolingian sect of Christian monks
D) Carolingian minuscule, a style of handwriting

Question 58

Throughout the Middle Ages, attempts by central governments to develop loyal administrators at local levels were often based on grants and favors and tended to fail because ________.

A) external attacks kept governments from focusing on local issues
B) administrators became autonomous
C) the church held sway over the populace
D) of problems with the rights of succession

Question 59

Islam was founded by the prophet ________, a wealthy man who received the word of God from the angel Gabriel.

Question 60

The end of the Byzantine Empire came with the conquest of ________ in 1453 by the Ottoman Turks.

Question 61

Christians were persecuted by their own government for the first three hundred years of that religion.In contrast, Islam had antagonistic neighbors but could spread freely within Muslim empires.How did these two experiences shape some of the differences in attitude or practice of these religions?

Question 62

How did relations with Christianity's top religious officials affect the ambitions of political leaders? Give two examples citing different religious traditions.

Question 63

As part of their argument about their superior position, bishops from Rome cited Jesus's words to the apostle ________ in the Gospel of Matthew.

Question 64

________ is defined as the opposition to the use of images in Christian worship.

Question 65

How did Islamic culture influence the West? What are some specific legacies that Muslims left with Western Europeans?

Question 66

Feudal society developed over time.What were the costs and benefits for lords at the beginning of the Middle Ages? Did these change toward the end of this era?

Question 67

How did agriculture in Europe change in the early Middle Ages? What were the demographic consequences of this change?

Question 68

Imagine you are a peasant living in the year 798.You have been given a choice as to where to live: Constantinople, Aachen, or Cordoba, Spain.Where would you live? Why? Argue against the other choices.

Question 69

________ wrote Rule for Monasteries, which laid out a schedule that accounted for every moment in a monk's day.

Question 70

What were the main contributions of the Franks to Western civilization?

Question 71

The ________ system was a process of crop rotation that ultimately produced larger yields of food for medieval farmers.

Question 72

One of the requirements of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca to visit the ________, a black meteorite that was worshipped by pagans and incorporated into Islamic practice.

Question 73

The Frankish kingdom consisted of two dynasties, the Merovingian and the ________.

Question 74

A medieval lord expected service from his vassals and granted them ________ so that they could provide those services.

Question 75

The capital of the Muslim world moved from Mecca in Saudi Arabia to Damascus in Syria and then to ________ in Iraq.

Question 76

Compare and contrast the schools Charlemagne created with the intellectual output of monasteries.Consider the content and intentions of education for each.

Question 77

For centuries, the major texts on medicine in the Western world were compilations of work by ________ scholars.

Question 78

Charlemagne established ________ as a center for learning and scholarship; Alcuin of York led the palace school.

Question 79

What are some of the divisions that split the Christian church? Which do you think are more significant: doctrinal or practical differences?

Question 80

Compare and contrast the Viking and Magyar invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries, considering their scope and long-term impact.