Deck 9: The Kingdoms of Western Europe

Question 1

How was royal inheritance determined by the Merovingians?

A) All property was divided equally among the sons.
B) All property was divided equally among the daughters.
C) All property was given to the Queen.
D) A tenth of the property was given to the church, and the rest of the property was given to the eldest child.
E) Through the law of primogeniture

Answer 1

All property was divided equally among the sons.

Question 2

Which kingdom had the longest tenure after the collapse of the western empire?

A) Visigoths
B) Ostrogoths
C) Merovingians
D) Byzantines
E) Magyars

Answer 2

Merovingians

Question 3

Whom did the Lombards expel from northern Italy?

A) The Visigoths
B) The Ostrogoths
C) The Arian Christians
D) The Byzantines
E) The Merovingians

Answer 3

The Byzantines

Question 4

Who is responsible for the conversion of the Germanic peoples?

A) Bertha
B) Aethelbert
C) Boniface
D) Pope Gregory II
E) Columba

Question 5

The Synod of Whitby in 664 concluded that ______________.

A) Arianism was heretical.
B) Christianity, rather than paganism, would be the official religion in England.
C) Missionary workers were under the jurisdiction of the local king.
D) There was an agreed-upon date for Easter.
E) Political marriages were an effective way to network Christianity among rulers.

Question 6

The spread of Christianity from Rome in the sixth and seventh centuries was done mainly by ______________.

A) monasticism
B) missionaries
C) diplomatic missions from Rome
D) forced conversion
E) political consensus

Question 7

King Aethelbert's wife, Bertha, ______________.

A) was the daughter of a Visigoth
B) helped to establish Christianity in Britain
C) was childless
D) was martyred in 549
E) oversaw the Synod of Whitby

Question 8

Where did King Aethelbert establish his capital?

A) London
B) Sussex
C) Canterbury
D) King's Cross
E) Bremen

Question 9

A significant conflict between bishops and secular authorities was ______________.

A) how much wealth bishops were accruing
B) the right of kings to make ecclesiastic appointments
C) the jurisdiction of taxation by churchmen
D) who had authority over peasants on monastic estates
E) whether bishops had the right to make territorial alliances

Question 10

The Visigothic kings of Spain converted to Roman Christianity because ______________.

A) they were rejected as pagans by the Christian population
B) they wanted a unified bond to push against the Ummayad peoples
C) people resented their adherence to Arian Christianity, questioning their legitimacy
D) they wanted to join the larger network of Christians across Europe
E) Spain had many centers of learning in monasteries, which the Visigoths wanted to access

Question 11

Official teachings of the church were known as ______________.

A) dogma
B) theology
C) liturgy
D) catechism
E) canon law

Question 12

What was the first area to rebound from the declining economy?

A) Port cities that could trade with Muslim countries
B) The Frankish kingdoms
C) Britain
D) Monasteries
E) Isolated rural areas not involved in secular warfare

Question 13

After the Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed, the ______________.

A) emphasis in western Europe was on local rule
B) gothic tribes formed a political alliance
C) former provinces of the Roman Empire were run by legion commanders
D) infrastructure was lost
E) church stepped in to rule instead of the imperial senate

Question 14

The main thing that seemed to slow down the wars for power in the sixth and seventh centuries was ______________.

A) the designation of a church official to crown the next ruler
B) the negotiation among all the potential candidates for collective rule
C) the designation of a castle or town as the focal point for rule
D) the treaty agreeing to specific titles in specific areas
E) none of these; nothing slowed down warfare in that period

Question 15

A dividing issue between the Eastern and Western churches was ______________.

A) bishops taking on more secular authority
B) the use of icons in worship
C) lack of compliance with the mandates of the Council of Nicaea
D) how much authority the pope should have
E) whether the bishop of Rome was really St. Peter

Question 16

Which best describes the quality of rule among Merovingian kings?

A) Despots
B) Benevolent monarchs
C) Figureheads
D) Bureaucrats
E) Warrior chieftains

Question 17

The principal house of worship in a city was called the ______________.

A) bishopric
B) cathedral
C) parish
D) diocese
E) monastery

Question 18

Economic self-sufficiency in western Europe resulted in ______________.

A) less reliance on gold coins
B) use of a barter system
C) less importation of luxury goods from Constantinople
D) specialized local production of goods
E) All of these.

Question 19

A bishop's authority rested mainly on ______________.

A) how many converts he brought to Christianity
B) how much land and wealth he held
C) an aura of holiness
D) how large a diocese he commanded
E) recognition by the pope

Question 20

What led to the decline of cities in the seventh and eighth centuries?

A) Fear of attack
B) Less trade being conducted
C) No centralized government
D) Lack of strong public authority
E) All of these.

Question 21

In England, the monk Bede was notable for his studies, including ______________.

A) manuscript illustration
B) philosophy
C) a history of England
D) observations about astronomy
E) readings and commentaries about Plato

Question 22

The part of an estate reserved for the lord was called a ______________.

A) kingdom
B) fief
C) benefice
D) manor
E) demesne

Question 23

Women's monasteries, or convents, ______________.

A) were often poor because they could not attract wealthy donations for commemorative masses
B) provided a place for widowed noblewomen to find seclusion
C) were often joined with men's monasteries for sharing of resources
D) allowed some women to take positions of power
E) All of these.

Question 24

In cementing his authority as king, Pepin gained the endorsement of whom?

A) The Frankish noble families
B) Pope Zacharias
C) His vassals
D) The Byzantine Empress Irene
E) King Alfred of England

Question 25

What was a significant problem within the Frankish kingdoms in ensuring political stability?

A) The king not naming a successor
B) The expectation of proving one's military prowess to earn the title
C) Obtaining a consensus of the noble families for who should lead
D) Equally dividing up the territory among all sons
E) Exclusion of daughters from the lines of inheritance

Question 26

What was one of the benefits of a cloistered life including the Divine Office?

A) Monasteries were repositories of classical literature.
B) It presented the opportunity to memorize the Bible for services.
C) There was the opportunity to take vows of silence.
D) Attraction of patrons wanting commemorative masses
E) Being called upon to render judgements based on Biblical knowledge

Question 27

To ensure the smooth transition of authority after him, Charlemagne employed what means of succession?

A) He had his only surviving son crown himself as co-emperor.
B) He wrote an explicit cartulary that designated his heir and second choice.
C) He authored the Treaty of Verdun.
D) He divided his territory among his sons but bestowed the title of Holy Roman Emperor on the oldest son.
E) He allowed the pope to choose the next successor.

Question 28

The first Carolingian king of all Franks was ______________.

A) Clovis
B) Charles Martel
C) Pepin
D) Carolus Magnus
E) Albertus

Question 29

Which was not a source of revenue for monasteries around 1000?

A) Animal husbandry
B) Agriculture
C) Milling
D) Mining
E) Long-distance trade

Question 30

Which of the following was not a method used by Alcuin of York to promote cultural reform?

A) Establishment of palace schools
B) Renewing the Seven Liberal Arts
C) Eliminating mistakes from the Vulgate
D) Making the liturgy conform to Roman mass
E) Allowing vernacular language to be used in copying texts

Question 31

The Merovingian kings had become so politically insignificant by the early eighth century that ______________.

A) they had to bribe people to serve in their army
B) they would use civil wars to fight for the title
C) the most successful warrior would earn the title based on his combat skills
D) noble families would choose from among the pool of candidates in the dynasty
E) the Frankish kingdoms fragmented and held no political order

Question 32

What was the name of the battle lead by Charles Martel to expel the Muslims from Frankish lands?

A) Battle of Poitiers
B) Battle of Abd-ar-Rahman
C) Battle of Cordoba
D) Battle of Tours
E) Battle of Aachen

Question 33

Charles Martel, the mayor of the palace, became the most powerful administrator in the kingdom of the Franks. He started as mayor to the king of which province?

A) Neustria
B) Lombardy
C) Austrasia
D) Burgundy
E) Lyon

Question 34

Kings in the Middle Ages spent the majority of their time on ______________.

A) Christianization
B) governing and administration
C) war
D) subordinating their vassals
E) increasing trade

Question 35

Carolingian kings and emperors justified their rule by ______________.

A) ministering to a Christian society
B) attacking Spain to expel the Muslims
C) attempting to reunify the Eastern and Western churches
D) launching a campaign to rebuild the entire Roman Empire
E) claiming divine authority

Question 36

The Donation of Constantine was ______________.

A) when Constantine donated the Papal States to the bishopric of Rome
B) a statement that Constantine allegedly made, empowering the pope to rule over both church and state in the West
C) a forged document that transferred authority from Constantine to Silvester in the fourth century
D) a promise by Constantine to maintain the most magnificent cathedral in Christendom in Constantinople
E) a promise of land to all the church dioceses to make all of them equal under the law

Question 37

All of the following made it possible for Charlemagne to create himself as an emperor except ______________.

A) taking over the Kingdom of the Lombards
B) launching an assault to overthrow the Empress Irene in Constantinople
C) the Carolingian dynasty transformed the idea of kingship in the West
D) styling the Carolingian king as defender of the Church
E) the diminished splendor and military

Question 38

To manage his new empire, Charlemagne employed all of the following tactics of administration except ______________.

A) using missi dominici to inspect his kingdom
B) using counts given large land grants to do local administrative and military service in his name
C) centering his court in Aachen
D) encouraging the growth of literacy to enforce his authority
E) requiring local churchmen to announce and enforce his decrees

Question 39

Who established a small community of men who dedicated their lives to constant prayer?

A) Benedict
B) Patrick
C) Gregory
D) Constantine
E) Bede

Question 40

Pope Leo III's crowning of Charlemagne on December 25, 800, was problematic because ______________.

A) it implied that the pope had more power than the emperor
B) Charlemagne did not want to confuse the title of emperor with Holy Roman Emperor, but wanted it to remain secular
C) it initiated war with the Byzantine emperor who objected
D) the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated Leo for overstepping his authority
E) it meant that all people under Charlemagne's rule had to become Roman Christians, rather than Arian Christians

Question 41

The lowest ranked person in the peasant hierarchy was the ______________.

A) miller
B) blacksmith
C) serf
D) plowman
E) bailiff

Question 42

How did bishops become so powerful in this time period? What were their areas of authority and related duties?

Question 43

Discuss the events that immediately followed the death of Charlemagne.

Question 44

The Magyars settled in which area?

A) Eastern England
B) Kievan Rus
C) Southeastern Europe
D) Northern France
E) Sicily

Question 45

Define and describe the various external threats to peace in the Carolignian age and how they were addressed.

Question 46

How did Charlemagne rise to become the self-proclaimed "emperor of all peoples"?

Question 47

What eventually stopped the Magyars from coming further into Europe?

A) They were defeated by Otto I from the Eastern Empire.
B) They were coerced into the Byzantine army and defeated by the Turks.
C) They settled down and began farming around the Danube.
D) They were assimilated by the Huns.
E) They were captured by the Bulgars.

Question 48

What was the political climate in Merovingian Gaul?

Question 49

The primary target of acquisition by the Vikings was ______________.

A) populations for slave trade
B) monasteries
C) land for farming
D) cities in the Frankish kingdoms for ransom
E) Constantinople for trade

Question 50

Otto secured his power as emperor by ______________.

A) protecting the pope from attack
B) making bishops into dukes
C) centralizing his power and making it superior to the church
D) forcing his conquered territories to convert to Christianity
E) All of these.

Question 51

What role did monasteries play in both religious and secular society during the Middle Ages?

Question 52

How did social reciprocity function in the feudal age?.

Question 53

The best depiction of Viking life is transmitted to us from ______________.

A) sagas
B) monastic records
C) histories or chronicles of the administrators in the empire
D) runes
E) None of these.

Question 54

Compare and contrast the life of a serf with that of a peasant on a medieval manor?

Question 55

Discuss the ways in which Otto I centralized his authority and solidified his empire.

Question 56

Serfs paid their rent primarily ______________.

A) with labor
B) with cash
C) with goods, or kind
D) by putting their children into the workforce
E) None of these.

Question 57

In the course of their exploration and raids, the Vikings went to all of the following areas except ______________.

A) Iceland
B) Russia
C) England
D) America
E) India

Question 58

Who defeated Grendel?

A) Otto I
B) Charlemagne
C) Beowulf
D) Pepin
E) Charles the Bald

Question 59

Contrast trade and commerce in the Early Middle Ages with that of the Roman Empire.

Question 60

Why did Emperor Otto I not succeed in Christianizing the Slavs and Danes?

A) He died before he could launch that campaign
B) He had extreme difficulty centralizing his own territory and nobility
C) He was blocked by the Magyars
D) He thought they were too barbaric
E) The pope commanded him not to

Question 61

Alfred, king of Wessex, drove the Danes completely out of Britain.

Question 62

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Charlemagne

Question 63

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Secular

Question 64

The early Middle Ages saw a boon in trade and the expansion of open-air markets.

Question 65

The highest-ranking peasants were called bailiffs.

Question 66

By the terms of the Treaty of Verdun, Charles the Bald and Louis the German excluded their brother Lothar from receiving any of Charlemagne's territory.

Question 67

The Divine Office was a term for the religious aspirations held by a person entering a monastery.

Question 68

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Cloister

Question 69

The financial payment to place a noble woman in a convent was usually equivalent to what would be paid as a dowry for marriage.

Question 70

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Ministerial kingship

Question 71

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Bede

Question 72

In his capital at Aachen, Charlemagne created a center of learning and sophistication.

Question 73

What factors made for "successful" cities in the Middle Ages? How did they maintain stability?

Question 74

Pepin unseated the Merovingian ruler and had Pope Zacharias consecrate him as king.

Question 75

The proximity of holy relics to the seat of a Bishop in the Cathedral was intended to instill obedience to the Bishop within that diocese.

Question 76

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Pope Gregory

Question 77

Saracen/Muslim attacks around the Mediterranean from their base in Spain had no effect on maritime trade.

Question 78

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Columba

Question 79

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.
Benedict of Nursia

Question 80

How did missionary work influence the culture of Western Europe in the early Middle Ages?