Deck 9: The Recovery and Growth of European Society in the High Middle Ages

Question 1

Chr​étien de Troyes was a pioneer at composing chansons de geste.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The first fully Gothic church was the abbey church of Saint-Denis outside of Paris, under the leadership of Abbot Suger in the mid-twelfth century.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Between 1100 and 1300, the population of Europe trebled.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The "new agriculture" of the High Middle Ages

A)resulted from a sharp decline in the total acreage available for farming.
B)was in part brought about by a change from the two-field to the three-field system.
C)led to the demise of the cooperative agricultural villages.
D)was in large part due to the development of a cheap, nonwheeled wooden plow for peasants.
E)was the result of grain imported from the east.

Question 5

The windmill and the watermill were the most important methods for the harnessing of power before the invention of the coal-driven steam engine of the eighteenth century.

Question 6

In northern Europe, the center of trade and manufacturing in the Middle Ages was Flanders, famous for its production of high-quality woolen cloth.

Question 7

Cities had survived in a more visible fashion in Europe north of the Alps than in the Mediterranean world.

Question 8

One consequence of the new agriculture of the Early Middle Ages was

A)the destruction of the forests.
B)the contamination of the water supply.
C)increased dependence of serfs on their lords.
D)increased famine.
E)polluted water systems.

Question 9

The carruca was

A)a new type of blast furnace.
B)a Spanish dance involving four partners.
C)a heavy-wheeled, iron-tipped plow.
D)a harness for draft animals without collars.
E)a slender blade.

Question 10

Medieval cities defined citizenship broadly and invited all residents to participate in elections.

Question 11

Which of the following was NOT a consequence of the higher food prices caused by growing demand for agricultural produce in towns and cities?

A)Lords sought to grow more food for profit on their estates.
B)Many serfs were no longer legally tied to the land and were converted into free peasants.
C)Almost all peasants gained complete economic independence from their lords.
D)Labor services were often converted into monetary payments or fixed rents.
E)All of these are correct.

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT used as a source of power by medieval farmers?

A)horses
B)coal
C)water
D)windmills
E)oxen

Question 13

Peter Abelard was castrated because of his book Sic et Non.

Question 14

By the thirteenth century, the increased agricultural production reduced the price of food in spite of increased urban demand.

Question 15

In which of the following places was significant land "reclaimed" from the sea?

A)Ireland
B)Genoa
C)Netherlands
D)Spain
E)Russia

Question 16

Because of the revival of cities and trade, by the thirteenth century Medieval Europe was largely an urban society.

Question 17

One of the most famous representatives of the enforced subordination and assumed inferiority of women in the Middle Ages was Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was born into the aristocracy but forced to spend her entire adult life in a rural nunnery.

Question 18

The basic staple of the peasant diet was

A)potatoes.
B)rice.
C)pork.
D)beef.
E)bread.

Question 19

Which of the following brought peasants into contact with the village church?

A)religious feasts
B)holidays
C)Mass
D)baptism
E)All of these are correct.

Question 20

The dramatic increases in European population between 1000 and 1300

A)occurred despite detrimental climatic patterns.
B)especially benefited women of child-bearing age.
C)were the result of better urban planning.
D)led to populations with many more women than men due to constant warfare.
E)were primarily due to an increased birth rate outstripping high medieval mortality rates.

Question 21

Combative tournaments involving knights

A)were sanctioned by the church as a testing ground for religious faith.
B)consisted exclusively of the "melee" which featured individual combat between two knights.
C)were considered by knights to be excellent and necessary training for warfare.
D)were banned throughout Europe by 1100.
E)were popular on the continent but not in England.

Question 22

All of the following were consequences of the revival of trade EXCEPT

A)the development of a money economy.
B)the establishment of trading companies and banking firms.
C)the use of contracts and insurance.
D)the final abandonment of old Roman cities.
E)the creation of new techniques such as double-entry bookkeeping.

Question 23

The high number of fights and accidents described in medieval court records may plausibly be attributed to

A)the violence of lords.
B)the high consumption of alcohol.
C)generally poor diet and nutrition.
D)fears of witchcraft.
E)religious heresy.

Question 24

Marriages among the aristocracy of the High Middle Ages

A)were frequently motivated by the love brides and grooms felt for one another.
B)still included violent blood rituals of betrothal dating back to pagan times.
C)usually occurred when both bride and groom were in their teens.
D)were expected to establish political alliances between families and increase their wealth.
E)required to be always performed by archbishops and popes.

Question 25

The center of the North Sea/Baltic trade route in northern Europe in the 1100s and 1200s, and an important center of woolen cloth production, was

A)Stockholm.
B)Novgorod.
C)Edinburgh.
D)Hamburg.
E)Flanders.

Question 26

By the twelfth century, divorce among nobles was

A)not possible except through official recognition that a marriage had never been valid.
B)increasingly common.
C)accepted and approved by the church.
D)not possible, even by annulment, as marriage was now a church sacrament.
E)possible only through a dispensation granted exclusively by kings.

Question 27

Guilds were organizations of

A)artisans who directed almost every aspect of the production process of certain trades.
B)citizens trying to defend their political rights.
C)agricultural laborers seeking to improve their wages.
D)consumers attempting to control inflation.
E)nobles working to keep a tight rein on society.

Question 28

Medieval cities

A)were generally clean and covered a large area.
B)had low population densities.
C)had skylines dominated by the towers of churches, castles, and town halls.
D)had low standards of hygiene due to the absence of public or private baths.
E)usually experienced low death rates.

Question 29

A major cause of pollution in medieval cities was

A)the smell and waste of animals and humans.
B)burning coal, a common fuel of the era.
C)the production of iron in urban smelters.
D)the use of lead paint in private and public buildings.
E)All of these are correct.

Question 30

In the High Middle Ages, European society was dominated by the aristocracy, best described as

A)"men of prayer."
B)"men of work."
C)"men of war."
D)"men of reason."
E)All of these are correct.

Question 31

By 1100 charters of liberties granted townspeople such privileges as

A)the right for women to buy and sell property.
B)the right of serfs to become free after residing in a city for one month.
C)written urban law that guaranteed their freedom.
D)the ability to train as a knight.
E)All of these are correct.

Question 32

To protect their interests against nobles, townspeople often formed

A)militias.
B)trade unions.
C)chambers of commerce.
D)municipal police forces.
E)communes.

Question 33

The most important six-times-a-year trade fair during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was sponsored by the counts of

A)Languedoc.
B)Provence.
C)Gascony.
D)Champagne.
E)Flanders.

Question 34

In medieval thought, women were considered

A)equal to men in all things except war.
B)subservient to men and subject to male authority.
C)an equal partner of men in theory, but not in practice.
D)to be made in God's image.
E)superior to men, because the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus as God.

Question 35

The main part of the medieval castle was called the

A)motte.
B)bailey.
C)moat.
D)tower.
E)keep.

Question 36

All of the following is true of the ideal of civilized behavior known as chivalry EXCEPT

A)knights were to fight to defend the church.
B)knights were to protect the weak and defenseless.
C)chivalry was developed without the influence of the church.
D)winning glory should be the knight's highest aim and motivating force.
E)knights should treat captives as honored guests.

Question 37

The area that assumed a leading role in the revival of trade in the Middle Ages was

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

Question 38

In northern European countries, the most common drink of the medieval peasant was

A)ale.
B)beer.
C)wine.
D)cider.
E)milk.

Question 39

On the whole, medieval cities tended to be

A)huge, rivaling modern cities in population.
B)relatively undemocratic; the wealthy usually ruled and voted in civic elections.
C)totally dominated by rural nobles.
D)devoid of sophisticated internal systems of government.
E)under the control of democratic communes.

Question 40

Merchant cities in northern Europe, frequently ending in "-burg" or "-borough", grew up in the 1100s around

A)clearings deep in the forests.
B)national universities.
C)the castles of noblemen.
D)abandoned monasteries.
E)large rivers.

Question 41

Peter Abelard's most famous work was

A)the Confessions.
B)Sic et Non (Yes and No).
C)Summa Theologica.
D)chansons de geste.
E)Song of Roland.

Question 42

The Song of Roland is one of the finest examples of

A)the medieval chanson de geste.
B)twelfth-century courtly romance.
C)the Arthurian legend.
D)Latin religious verse.
E)troubadour epic.

Question 43

The word "vernacular" means

A)church language.
B)myth.
C)ribald song.
D)local language.
E)Latin.

Question 44

The first university to be founded in Europe appeared in

A)Cambridge.
B)Paris.
C)Oxford.
D)Frankfurt.
E)Bologna.

Question 45

The revival of Classical antiquity in the twelfth century was primarily caused by

A)the university movement of the previous century.
B)circulation in the west in Latin translation of many ancient philosophical and scientific works previously saved by Muslim scholars.
C)the elaborate and dialectical writings of St.Thomas Aquinas.
D)the generous financial support of scholars by new European monarchs.
E)renewed contacts with the Byzantine Empire after centuries of separation.

Question 46

The church figure who tried to reconcile faith with reason in his Summa Theologica was

A)Peter Abelard.
B)Saint Augustine.
C)Boethius.
D)Thomas Aquinas.
E)Peter Lombard.

Question 47

The writer from Classical antiquity who came to be viewed as the "master of those who know" was

A)Boethius.
B)Plato.
C)Ptolemy.
D)Cicero.
E)Aristotle.

Question 48

The first university in northern Europe was

A)Paris.
B)Oxford
C)Cambridge.
D)Heidelberg.
E)Bruges.

Question 49

The primary preoccupation of scholasticism was

A)to prove the superiority of Christianity over Islam and Judaism.
B)to prove the superiority of faith over rational thought.
C)to disprove the writings of the church fathers through rational thought.
D)to show the superiority of Greek thought over medieval theological thought.
E)the reconciliation of faith with reason.

Question 50

Students in medieval universities

A)came strictly from the upper class.
B)usually started their instruction while in their late twenties.
C)often engaged in quarrels with one another and in confrontations with townspeople.
D)were both male and female.
E)learned in the vernacular.

Question 51

Troubadour poetry was chiefly concerned with

A)religious imagery.
B)the courtly love of nobles, knights, and ladies.
C)the highly irreverent life of wine, women, and song.
D)rhyme and a meter based on accent.
E)religious crusades and military conquests.

Question 52

Gothic cathedrals seem to soar upward as light and airy constructions due to all of the following innovations EXCEPT

A)ribbed vaults.
B)flying buttresses.
C)thin walls pierced by huge stained glass windows.
D)the addition of a transept.
E)pointed arches.

Question 53

Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of Romanesque architecture?

A)Churches in this style were built in the rectangular basilica shape.
B)Massive pillars and walls were required for support.
C)Interiors were notoriously bright.
D)Heavy barrel vaults with rounded stone roofs replaced flat wooden roofs.
E)There was little space for windows.

Question 54

Medieval university instruction

A)was delivered in Greek, regardless of the location.
B)relied on group discussions of assigned books.
C)used the lecture method.
D)included regular written exams.
E)was open to all men and women.

Question 55

Much of the surplus resources of medieval urban society went into

A)the salaries of more numerous royal officials.
B)the purchase of modern weaponry by kings for expanded royal armies.
C)the construction of castles and churches reflecting its basic preoccupations, warfare and God.
D)new church taxes going directly to the pope in Rome.
E)revolutionizing agricultural production patterns.

Question 56

The dominant style of church architecture in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was

A)Gothic.
B)Baroque.
C)Romanesque.
D)Naturalistic.
E)Greco-Roman.

Question 57

The curriculum of the medieval university

A)consisted of the trivium and quadrivium.
B)allowed for a wide degree of student choice.
C)was determined by the professors of the universities.
D)was based on the classics of Rome.
E)was based upon the Bible and the writings of the church fathers.

Question 58

Which of the following statements does NOT apply to the revival of Roman law?

A)It was short-lived, as the orderliness of Roman law no longer appealed to Europeans.
B)It sparked creation of an elaborate, systematic compilation by Italian jurists of all previous legal commentaries known as "the ordinary gloss."
C)It contributed to the decline of older, more barbaric forms of conflict resolution.
D)It changed how professors in law school taught their subject.
E)It replaced the old system of the ordeal by a rational process based upon the collection and analysis of evidence.

Question 59

Drinking water in the cities of the Middle Ages usually came from

A)mountain streams, piped in by aqueducts.
B)rivers.
C)evaporation mats and holding tanks.
D)rainwater.
E)wells.

Question 60

The medieval theological debate between the scholastic realists and nominalists

A)was finally resolved by Thomas Aquinas.
B)centered around the problem of universals and the nature of reality.
C)was a philosophical issue that only lasted as long as the thirteenth century.
D)had little to do with earlier traditions of Greek thought.
E)was ended by papal decree.

Question 61

Discuss the structures and changes in daily life of the ordinary European medieval village in the High Middle Ages.How did most Europeans live, and what were the material factors shaping their behavior at the communal level?

Question 62

What practices, ideas, requirements, and activities shaped the life of a medieval peasant family?

Question 63

What burdens did medieval female aristocrats have to confront, and what freedoms did they enjoy?

Question 64

In what ways does the artistic and literary culture of the High Middle Ages reflect the religious preoccupations and problems of medieval society?

Question 65

Do you agree with the statement, "The Gothic cathedral was the supreme accomplishment of the High Middle Ages world"? Why or why not?

Question 66

A German proverb of the medieval period states: "The city air will set you free." What reasons can you give to justify or to refute the accuracy of this proverb for ordinary medieval townspeople?

Question 67

To what extent was Thomas Aquinas emblematic of his era, and to what extent did he challenge mainstream medieval intellectual culture?

Question 68

What were some of the reasons for the revival of trade and the growth of cities in the High Middle Ages?

Question 69

What were some of the reasons for the revival of Classical antiquity in the High Middle Ages?

Question 70

Explain the relationships between weather patterns, technological innovation, agriculture, and society in the High Middle Ages.

Question 71

The Gothic style of architecture emerged and was perfected in

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

Question 72

What were the causes and consequences of the development of the medieval universities?

Question 73

In what ways were the value systems, beliefs, fears, anxieties, and hopes of medieval culture literally and physically bound into the architectural styles of Romanesque and Gothic?