Deck 8: Early Medieval Civilizations, 600-900

Question 1

Define the following terms: Merovingians

Answer 1

Answer not provided.

Question 2

Define the following terms: Saint Bede

Answer 2

Answer not provided.

Question 3

Define the following terms: Muhammad

Answer 3

Answer not provided.

Question 4

Define the following terms: Byzantium

Question 5

Define the following terms: Donation of Constantine

Question 6

Define the following terms: Carolingian Renaissance

Question 7

Define the following terms: Five Pillars of Islam

Question 8

Define the following terms: Dome of the Rock

Question 9

Define the following terms: missi dominici

Question 10

Define the following terms: Middle Ages

Question 11

Define the following terms: caliphate

Question 12

Define the following terms: iconoclasm

Question 13

Define the following terms: Saint Patrick

Question 14

Define the following terms: Charlemagne

Question 15

Define the following terms: Alcuin

Question 16

Define the following terms: Alfred the Great

Question 17

Define the following terms: Empress Irene

Question 18

Define the following terms: Quran

Question 19

Define the following terms: Visigoth Spain

Question 20

Define the following terms: Mecca

Question 21

Define the following terms: Vikings

Question 22

Analyze reasons for the breakup of the Carolingian Empire; which do you think was the most destructive to imperial unity?

Question 23

Define the following terms: Cyril

Question 24

Who were the Shi'ites and the Sunnis? What main issues divided them?

Question 25

Discuss the Carolingian Renaissance. What was its lasting impact in the West?

Question 26

Define the following terms: vassals

Question 27

Define the following terms: manor

Question 28

Discuss the Byzantine Empire and its culture during the early Middle Ages.

Question 29

Discuss developments in England and Ireland during the period between 600 and 900. How did they become Christian? What was the main political problem for England?

Question 30

Define the following terms: Bulgaria

Question 31

Define the following terms: Slavs

Question 32

Define the following terms: Magyars

Question 33

Define the following terms: Orthodox

Question 34

Survey the great Islamic conquest; what territories did it include, and what were some of the reasons for its amazing success?

Question 35

What were some reasons for the emergence of the Papal States? How did the popes amass temporal as well as spiritual authority during the early medieval period?

Question 36

Define the following terms: Papal States

Question 37

Summarize the main features of Islamic religion up until the rise of the Abbasid dynasty.

Question 38

Describe the rise to power of the Carolingian family and the creation of Charlemagne's empire. What were some methods by which Charlemagne was able to control his large realm?

Question 39

Define the following terms: Methodius

Question 40

Define the following terms: Treaty of Verdun

Question 41

Muhammad was a/an

A) schoolteacher born in Medina.
B) Bedouin warlord.
C) preacher who converted everyone in Mecca except his wife.
D) caravan trader.
E) orphan raised by local Bedouin tribes.

Question 42

All of the following are reasons for the rapid creation of the Muslim Empire except

A) the military weakness of the Byzantine and Persian Empires.
B) Muslim superiority in large-scale pitched battles.
C) the redirection of traditional violence out of Arabia and into foreign wars.
D) the disaffection of many groups within the Byzantine and Persian Empires.
E) Islam addressed regional and ethnic sensitivities, which enabled them to maintain local control.

Question 43

The differences between Shi'ites and Sunnis did not involve

A) the belief that Muhammad was a prophet.
B) the successors to Muhammad.
C) the standards of the ulama.
D) which group lived up to the good practices of Muhammad.
E) the legitimacy of the Umayyad and Abbasid line of ascendancy.

Question 44

According to the chapter, Islam

A) preached a faith that was old in its basic elements but new in its formulation.
B) conquered territories from Spain to the frontiers of China.
C) created an imperial system with a coherent government and ideology.
D) was founded by Muhammad who had received revelations to preach about Allah.
E) All of these

Question 45

As the boundaries of Byzantium changed in the seventh century, which of the following was not a part of this change?

A) It still held southern and eastern shores of the Roman Mediterranean.
B) It added the western part of India as a sphere of influence.
C) It lost much of its eastern area to Arab expansion.
D) Arabs will eventually threaten Constantinople itself.
E) It checked the advance of the Slavic peoples in the Balkans.

Question 46

In the early Middle Ages, the three heirs to the Roman Empire shared all of the following except

A) the belief that each was chosen by God.
B) the same level of literacy and commerce.
C) an interaction of local customs and the Roman past.
D) the belief that their rulers were God's agents.
E) an attempt to balance mutual interests with bitter rivalries.

Question 47

How was the Great Mosque of Cordoba an example of how much had changed and at the same time, how much had remained the same after the fall of Rome?

Question 48

Which of the following does not describe the Quran?

A) It consists of 114 Suras (steps).
B) Each chapter emphasizes the individual worshipper.
C) Early versions of the Quran included commentaries.
D) It is written in simple and elegant prayer that symbolizes the transcendence of Allah.
E) There is an emphasis on the religious continuity of Muhammad's teachings.

Question 49

In the eighth century, the Berbers conquered

A) all of Italy.
B) the Asturias Mountains.
C) Oviedo.
D) all of Spain except for the Asturias in the northwest.
E) all of Italy except for the Vatican and Roman areas.

Question 50

The Visigoths in Spain

A) were able to unify and centralize the country.
B) were Catholic in a population of Arians.
C) offered the best hope of reunifying the West.
D) never unified the country because of unstable dynastic succession and foreign attacks.
E) created a law system that borrowed heavily from Roman law.

Question 51

Fundamental changes that transformed the eastern Roman Empire into Byzantium include all of the following except

A) adoption of Christianity as the state religion.
B) sharp geographic contraction.
C) the creation of new military districts called themes .
D) neutralizing the powers of leading bureaucrats while multiplying the number of offices.
E) development of a more Eastern cultural orientation.

Question 52

Compare and contrast the three heirs to the Greco-Roman world: Byzantium, Islam, and the West.

Question 53

Which of the following does not describe the transition and changes occurring in the British Isles between 600 and 900?

A) Seven kingdoms emerged from earlier numerous tiny ones.
B) Offa of Mercia became the "king of all England."
C) Viking invasions were successfully warded off by a combined English force.
D) Christian organization was installed by St. Patrick and Augustine.
E) The throne destroyed the noble class.

Question 54

The Lombards in Italy

A) completely eliminated the Byzantine presence in the Italian peninsula.
B) were unable to unite the Lombard duchies under the king.
C) defeated Pepin and Charlemagne.
D) always remained Arian.
E) forced the popes to seek the aid of Spanish Berbers.

Question 55

Which of the following is not true in explaining why Emperor Leo felt the need to destroy religious icons?

A) He felt icons were offensive to God.
B) Military defeats were the result of God's displeasure.
C) He wished the church icons to be replaced by images of himself.
D) He felt Moses had received the word against graven images.
E) Destruction of icons symbolized the growing differences between East and West.

Question 56

Arabia in the early seventh century was

A) a society based on tribes and competitive trade.
B) a unified nation-state.
C) desert with no cities.
D) mostly Zoroastrian in religion.
E) long dominated by Roman and Persian Empires.

Question 57

As Islam expanded, Jews and Christians were considered

A) "Peoples of the Book."
B) sharers in the same scriptural tradition and so they were spared the choice of conversion or death.
C) sharers in the same scriptural tradition and so they were particularly evil traitors and deserved death.
D) infidels and expected to submit and convert.
E) both "Peoples of the Book," and sharers in the same scriptural tradition and so they were spared the choice of conversion or death.

Question 58

Saint Bede was known for all of the following except

A) the use of A.D. in dates.
B) authoring a major work on English history.
C) being a product of early English monasteries.
D) influencing the English in choosing the Roman church.
E) his writings, which were all written in perfect Latin.

Question 59

The "Five Pillars" of Islam include all of the following except

A) the donation of significant alms to the poor.
B) holy war against all nonbelievers.
C) individual prayers five times daily.
D) one month of daytime fasting per year.
E) the profession of faith.

Question 60

All of the following apply to the Donation of Constantine except it

A) was used to justify papal temporal power.
B) stated that Constantine had given the pope authority to rule the western half of the Roman Empire.
C) helped to establish Christianity as the state religion.
D) was probably written in the 760s, over four centuries after the death of Constantine.
E) involved lands given to the popes by the Franks.

Question 61

Which of the following statements is not correct?

A) In the Latin West, towns lost much of their governmental functions and cultural life.
B) The Arabs were great city-builders.
C) Byzantium experienced renewed urbanization after an early decline.
D) As a rule, cities grew as the heavy burden of Roman government disappeared.
E) Agriculture remained the most important trade element.

Question 62

As part of his approach to scholarship, Charlemagne

A) ordered all cathedrals and monasteries to establish schools.
B) never consciously thought of a "rebirth" or "restoration."
C) favored oral teaching but disapproved of books.
D) focused on the revival of Classical Greek culture.
E) prohibited women from learning and study.

Question 63

Use the map (or maps) referenced in each question for your answer. On Map 8.1, find Mecca and Medina; what is their significance in Islamic history? Note the extent of the early conquests; how many of the great cities of the Roman world were taken by the Arabs?

Question 64

Use the map (or maps) referenced in each question for your answer. Compare Map 8.3 of Charlemagne's empire with a modern map showing the same area. How many modern European countries were included in his realm? Compare the Carolingian Empire with the Roman Empire at its greatest extent. What parts of Charlemagne's realm were never under Roman occupation?

Question 65

The exploits of the Vikings included

A) an alliance with the Muslims against the Franks.
B) destruction of Charlemagne's schools and monasteries.
C) missionary activity rather than destructive raids.
D) the capture of Rome.
E) settlements in Normandy and Rus.

Question 66

Magyars, also known as Hungarians

A) invaded the Roman Empire under their leader, Attila.
B) created the first major Slavic state: Great Moravia.
C) migrated to eastern Europe from the east and raided as far west as France and Italy.
D) allied with the Vikings and Arabs to bring down the Carolingian Empire.
E) had earlier defeated both the Huns and Avars.

Question 67

Use the map (or maps) referenced in each question for your answer. Compare Map 8.2 of the Byzantine Empire with that of the eastern Roman Empire in the previous chapter. What areas had been lost to the Muslims by the late ninth century?

Question 68

Which of the following can be said of early medieval European women?

A) Women's influence tended to be in the private, not the public, sphere.
B) Women seldom could inherit land if they had brothers.
C) Women were bound to the same hierarchies as men.
D) Aristocratic women had opportunities and power denied to ordinary women.
E) All of these

Question 69

All of the following are true of Charlemagne except that

A) he was crowned Roman emperor by the pope on Christmas Day in 800.
B) he united much of Europe in one Christian empire.
C) his empire remained unified for two hundred years.
D) he promoted a great revival of learning.
E) although interested in learning and knowledge, he never learned to write.

Question 70

The missi dominici was/were

A) a new form of religious book.
B) inspectors who reported to Charlemagne on the conduct of his officials.
C) powerful vassals of the emperor.
D) ambassadors to the Anglo-Saxons.
E) Carolingian ambassadors to the Byzantium.

Question 71

Immediately to the east of the Carolingian territories lay

A) a vast empty steppe (prairie) extending to the Ural Mountains.
B) Slavic lands, some of which were converted to Catholicism and some to Orthodoxy.
C) Scandinavia, with a monarchy rising in Denmark under Carolingian pressure.
D) the most northern lands of Islam.
E) colonies of Byzantium.

Question 72

Which of the following correctly describes the imperial coronation of Charlemagne?

A) To acquire the position of both secular and religious leader of Christendom, Charlemagne arranged the dethroning of Pope Leo III.
B) As a reward for funding the building of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, he was crowned by the pope.
C) In crowning Charlemagne Emperor, he became the official ally and protector of the pope.
D) The Papal site fell within the Carolingian territory and accepted the role of Charlemagne as its king by divine right.
E) Charlemagne joined with disgruntled papal bureaucrats and forced the pope to coronate him.

Question 73

Ninth-century Arab attacks on Europe included all of the following except

A) the conquest of Sicily.
B) the siege of Aachen.
C) a raid on Rome.
D) robbing travelers in the Alps.
E) an attack on the British Isles.

Question 74

The disintegration of the Carolingian Empire was affected by all of the following except

A) entrenched regional diversity.
B) instability caused by creating subkingdoms for royal sons.
C) the Treaty of Verdun, which reunified the empire.
D) new waves of invasions.
E) size and ethnic complexity.

Question 75

During the early Middle Ages, European trade

A) declined until it became a purely local activity.
B) came to a standstill because of invasions.
C) included long-distance trade with the Byzantine and Muslim worlds.
D) was carried on only by land routes.
E) was hindered by religious differences and interference.

Question 76

Which of the following aided the Carolingians in their rise to power?

A) Their bloody suppression of the Merovingian Revolt
B) Charles Martel's defeat by the Arabs in 733
C) The eradication of rival noble families
D) The backing of the papacy
E) Alliances with Muslim leaders in Spain

Question 77

Charlemagne's new ideology, which characterized his realm as the "New Israel" (the Chosen People)

A) made no ethnic distinctions within the empire.
B) impeded the development of a secular royal ideology.
C) led to bitter struggles between secular rulers and the church.
D) made him the divinely appointed ruler on earth as the Holy Roman Emperor.
E) All of these

Question 78

Which of the following correctly describes an estate or manor?

A) Estate labor involved slaves.
B) Hired labor was never used as it affected the stability of the slave system.
C) Landowners did not share any part of the estate with their labor force.
D) Produce from estates-manor might be sold in the market place or consumed on the estate.
E) Estates-manors were not a common part of the Early Middle Ages.