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TEST YOURSELF
Are you reading the textbook well? Test yourself here.
You should be able to easily answer these questions, if you have read the chapter carefully. So, for example, the question for Chapter 1 about the date of St Augustine’s death might look picky, but it really is not. Given the extensive coverage of him (in text, in biography, in photo) in the chapter, you should be able to place him within a century. Fair enough, right?
Why are the answers not given? First, your teachers might like to use these questions themselves. Second, if you are not confident about your answer, go back to the chapter and find it—that’s the best way to master the material.
NOTE: These questions are not aimed to cover all the important parts of a chapter. Instead, they are selective tests of whether you are reading effectively.
If you are new to History courses, check out Understanding Your Professor.
Which of the following statements about the “fall of Rome” is accurate?
(a) only the Western empire “fell.”
(b) it was caused by lead poisoning.
(c) even a vibrant economy could not prevent it.
The term “hagiography” means the
(a) adulation of the emperor.
(b) claim of Rome to primacy over the Church.
(c) writing of saints’ lives.
St Augustine died in
(a) 330.
(b) 430.
(c) 530.
Early Christians debated
(a) the balance between humanity and divinity in Jesus.
(b) the place of Greco-Roman pagan ideas in Christian theology.
(c) both of the above.
(d) neither of the above.
Which of the following statements about the Pax Romana (or Roman Peace) is true?
(a) it lasted from c. 31 BCE to 180 CE.
(b) it was brought about by the triumph of Christianity.
(c) it happened only in the Eastern Empire.
Wergild, compurgation, and ordeal are terms associated with barbarian
(a) metal-work.
(b) law.
(c) kinship.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 1, go here.
When the barbarians moved into transalpine Europe, they encountered a Gallo-Roman population. “Gallo” indicates that this population mingled elements that were Roman and
(a) Celtic.
(b) Basque.
(c) Saxon.
Your textbook says that polygyny was common among the landed classes of seventh-century Europe. “Polygyny” means
(a) a woman can have several husbands.
(b) a man can have several wives.
(c) widows and widowers may remarry.
The kingdom of the Ostrogoths c. 500 encompassed much of modern-day
(a) Italy.
(b) France.
(c) Spain.
Boethius and Cassiodorus are important because they
(a) withdrew Roman forces from Britain in 410.
(b) converted the Visigoths to Christianity.
(c) laid the groundwork for a medieval intellectual tradition.
Compared to Britain and North Africa in the sixth century, Gaul, Italy, and Iberia were
(a) more stable.
(b) more rocked by invasions.
(c) more influenced by paganism.
St Benedict (c. 480-550) is important for his
(a) monastic rule.
(b) work converting the Saxons and Frisians.
(c) translations of Aristotle and Plato.
Arians
(a) settled in in modern-day Netherlands.
(b) ravaged North Africa.
(c) practiced an unorthodox Christianity.
By the eighth century, the intellectual center of Europe had shifted to monasteries in
(a) Spain.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Thuringia.
Which match is NOT correct?
(a) Merovingians and Gaul.
(b) St Bede the Venerable and Theodoric.
(c) Gregory I and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 2, go here.
Byzantine government tended to be
(a) defensive and conservative.
(b) poorly funded and weak.
(c) small and minimal.
In the Byzantine Orthodox Church between 500 and 1000, controversy raged about
(a) monophysites and iconoclasm.
(b) clerical celibacy.
(c) the emperor’s status as God’s vice-regent.
Justinian and his empress Theodora lived
(a) c. 350.
(b) c. 450.
(c) c. 550.
Mohammed died in
(a) 632.
(b) 732.
(c) 832.
The split between Sunni and Shi’i Muslims began as a dispute about
(a) who should lead the community of the faithful.
(b) whether Mohammed was human or divine.
(c) how to treat other “peoples of the book.”
Which provides the proper chronological order?
(a) Umayyad dynasty; Abbasid dynasty; al-Mansur in al-Andalus.
(b) Abbasid dynasty; al-Mansur in al-Andalus; Umayyad dynasty.
(c) al-Mansur in al-Andalus; Abbasid dynasty; Umayyad dynasty.
In the tenth century, the greatest city in Western Europe was
(a) Marseilles.
(b) Lisbon.
(c) Cordoba.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 3, go here.
The Pseudo-Dionysius and his translator John Scottus helped to stimulate interest in
(a) Neoplatonism.
(b) Catharism.
(c) papalism.
Charlemagne was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III in
(a) 800.
(b) 850.
(c) 900.
Which of the following was NOT an aspect of the Carolingian intellectual revival?
(a) development of a clearer form of handwriting.
(b) establishment of the first university (in Paris).
(c) preservation of the great works of the Classical-Christian tradition.
Eighth-century Francia witnessed considerable political and religious consolidation. It also saw the development of manorialism which
(a) sought to improve the culture of court life, especially in the winter-time.
(b) linked the landed elite to the peasantry in a web of social and economic obligations.
(c) required that every village in Francia have a resident priest and church.
Compared to the term “Europe,” the term “Christendom” was
(a) identical.
(b) more inclusive.
(c) more exclusive.
Which match is NOT correct?
(a) Leo III: alliance with Empress Irene.
(b) Alcuin: educational reform.
(c) Boniface: missionary activity.
The “Donation of Pepin” helped to found
(a) Burgundy.
(b) the Papal States.
(c) al-Andalus.
“Capitularies” and “missi dominici” are associated with Carolingian
(a) intellectual revival.
(b) monastic reform.
(c) government.
Into which region did Charlemagne’s empire extend?
(a) Britain.
(b) Saxony.
(c) Sicily.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 4, go here.
Between 800 and 1000, Western Europe was
(a) reabsorbed briefly into the Byzantine empire.
(b) devastated by the “little ice age.”
(c) divided, invaded, and reorganized.
Which is an area untouched by Viking raiders?
(a) Ireland.
(b) Russia.
(c) Italy.
In the 9th century, the “Danelaw” was
(a) Jutland.
(b) part of Sweden then under Danish control.
(c) part of Britain then under Danish control.
Alfred the Great
(a) united all of non-Danish England under his authority.
(b) crowned Charles the Bald in 843.
(c) created the new monastic rule known as Alfredism.
The textbook talks of West and East Francia. Most of West Francia eventually became the kingdom of France. Most of East Francia became part of
(a) the Lombard Kingdom.
(b) the Magyar imperium.
(c) the Holy Roman Empire.
Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of early feudalism?
(a) public power in private hands.
(b) the lord-vassal tie.
(c) powerful kingship.
A critical new technology in the development of feudalism was
(a) the heavy, wheeled plow.
(b) the stirrup.
(c) the longbow.
Which match is NOT correct?
(a) Louis the Pious: Charlemagne’s heir.
(b) Otto: Holy Roman Empire.
(c) Hugh Capet: Saxony.
Hugh, Earl of Chester died
(a) in the Battle of Hastings.
(b) in rebellion against his king.
(c) as a monk.
The Treaty of Verdun in 843
(a) established the Papal States.
(b) divided Charlemagne’s empire among his three grandsons.
(c) ended the War of Spanish Succession.
The ninth and tenth centuries were a time of renewed pressure on Europeans from
(a) the imperial ambitions of the Byzantine emperors.
(b) Viking raiders, Magyar horsemen, and Muslim pirates.
(c) overpopulation and famine.
Around the year 1000, Italy was
(a) united under the Lombard King Ulfrich.
(b) politically dominated by bishops and their cities.
(c) controlled by the emirs of al-Andalus.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 5, go here.
Which best summarizes the circumstances of the medieval West, Byzantium, and Islamic states between 1000 and 1300?
(a) the West began to prosper, while the fortunes of Byzantium and Islam declined.
(b) the Byzantine state remained stable, but al-Andalus expanded at the expense of the medieval West.
(c) all three civilizations shrank, thanks to the invasions of the Huns.
Which of the following was NOT a result of the Agricultural Revolution?
(a) population growth.
(b) women began to outlive men.
(c) Europeans began to eat more vegetables than ever before.
Most medieval peasants lived within three critical institutions: manors, villages, and
(a) publicans.
(b) parishes.
(c) confraternities.
Masters, apprentices and journeymen were regulated by medieval
(a) guilds.
(b) manors.
(c) cathars.
Burghers or burgesses
(a) followed the Bogomil heresy.
(b) lived in cities and towns.
(c) worked as intermediaries between lords and peasants.
Manorialism allowed medieval elites
(a) to extract wealth from the peasantry.
(b) to dominate towns as well as the countryside.
(c) to recreate the latifundia of Roman times.
Godric of Finchale ended his life as a hermit, but before that he made a fortune as
(a) a crusader.
(b) a seafaring merchant.
(c) the sheriff of Norfolk.
Historians talk about a “communal movement” in medieval Europe. The medieval commune
(a) gave rise to the first major medieval heresy.
(b) was the equivalent of the modern Jewish ghetto.
(c) had a charter guaranteeing its own government, courts, taxes, and customs.
Usury was
(a) the loaning of money at interest.
(b) denial of the presence of Christ in the wine and bread of the mass.
(c) a required trait of a good courtly lover.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 6, go here.
At the castle of Canossa in 1077, what critical event occurred?
(a) Emperor Henry IV humbled himself before Pope Gregory VII.
(b) King John of England captured Pope Boniface VIII.
(c) celibacy was declared as required for all clergy.
Of all early universities, the greatest was in
(a) Rome.
(b) Paris.
(c) Aachen.
The Papacy reached its greatest power under
(a) Urban II, c. 1100.
(b) Hadrian IV, c. 1150.
(c) Innocent III, c. 1200.
The Investiture Controversy involved
(a) lay authority over clergy.
(b) papal control of central Italy.
(c) kings becoming vassals of the pope.
The papalist position argued that the pope was the head of Christendom, the imperialist position argued that the Holy Roman Emperor should rule in matters religious as well as temporal, and the clericalist position argued that
(a) a representative assembly of clergy should govern Europe.
(b) Church and state should coexist.
(c) neither popes not emperors had legitimate authority to govern.
The shift “from memory to written record”
(a) facilitated the growth of papal power over lordly power.
(b) discouraged the growth of municipal schools.
(c) speaks to an increase in the use of government and personal documentation.
In consolidating the Papal States, popes faced
(a) rebellions in Rome.
(b) difficulties with the Holy Roman Empire.
(c) neither.
(d) both.
Lombardy is located
(a) north of Rome.
(b) south of Rome.
(c) east of Rome.
(d) west of Rome.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 7, go here.
Are you at mid-semester and not doing as well as you hoped? Check out Understanding Your Professor.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) is associated with
(a) the Cluniac reform.
(b) the mendicant reform.
(c) the Cistercian reform.
The most troubling heretics of the Central Middle Ages were the
(a) Cathars.
(b) Gugliemites.
(c) Poor Men of London.
Which match is NOT correct?
(a) Poor Clares: nursing.
(b) Franciscans: poverty.
(c) Dominicans: preaching.
Moses Maimonides sought to reconcile Judaism and
(a) Christianity.
(b) the writings of Aristotle.
(c) Islam.
The carved oak figure known today as the Gero Cross is an example of a shift toward a greater emphasis on
(a) Christ’s redemptive suffering.
(b) the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
(c) God’s harsh judgment.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 8, go here.
Are you at mid-semester and not doing as well as you hoped? Check out Understanding Your Professor.
John and Giovanni; William and Guglielmo; Thomas and Tommaso. These are examples of
(a) the greater value placed on boys, compared to girls.
(b) the Europeanization of Europe.
(c) the influence of the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
The term “Reconquest” is usually used with reference to
(a) Christian advance against Muslim lands in Iberia.
(b) Christian crusades to their “Holy Land.”
(c) the sack of Constantinople in 1204.
In the eleventh century, Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula fell under the control of
(a) Saracens.
(b) Romans.
(c) Normans.
German expansion was mostly to the
(a) north.
(b) east.
(c) west.
The First Crusade was preached by Pope Urban II in 1095. It
(a) ended in a swamp near Constantinople.
(b) captured Jerusalem.
(c) was led by Richard the Lion-Hearted.
The “military orders” were designed to accommodate
(a) monkly knights.
(b) ordinary people who wanted to participate in the crusades.
(c) papal legates.
In the history of Jewish-Christian relations in the Middles Ages, the twelfth century marks the beginning of
(a) forcing Jews to lend money to Christian businesses.
(b) admitting Jewish men to Christian universities.
(c) violent persecutions of Jews by Christians.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 9, go here.
After c. 1250, the Holy Roman Empire
(a) controlled all of Italy, except the Papal States.
(b) fell under the control of the Rus.
(c) was a weak confederation.
8. Edward I of England ruled from 1272 to 1307. He is associated with
(a) the loss of the Angevin Empire.
(b) the development of the English common law.
(c) the evolution of parliament.
Louis IX of France ruled from 1226 to 1270. He is associated with
(a) the establishment of the Salian dynasty.
(b) royal sanctity.
(c) the convening of the Estates General.
Blanche of Castile (1182-1252)
(a) was a saint and mystic.
(b) saved the Capetian monarchy.
(c) inspired the Third Crusade in 1204.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 10, go here.
Which match is NOT correct?
(a) Hildegarde of Bingen: mysticism.
(b) Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica.
(c) Averroes: founder of Oxford University.
With its vaulted ribs, pointed arches, and flying buttresses, Gothic cathedrals were able to
(a) support flat roofs.
(b) let in more light.
(c) eliminate supporting columns in the nave.
Compared to lyrics, epics, and romances, fabliaux were enjoyed by audiences that were
(a) more monastic.
(b) more humble in social rank.
(c) more female.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote The Divine Comedy. He also wrote lyrics inspired by
(a) his Cathar faith.
(b) the Chanson de Roland.
(c) his unconsummated love for Beatrice.
Which statement about Roman law principles is most accurate?
(a) They were never applied in Church courts.
(b) They were especially influential in English law.
(c) They became more important in the medieval West after 1100.
The debate over universals concerned whether
(a) the pope could be a universal monarch over all the kings of Europe.
(b) Roman and Byzantine Christians could be united in a universal Church.
(c) Platonic archetypes (or ideals) were real.
Robert Grossteste and Roger Bacon were important
(a) lawyers.
(b) theologians.
(c) scientists.
Peter Abelard died in 1142. Thomas Aquinas died in
(a) 1074.
(b) 1174.
(c) 1274.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 11, go here.
The Great Famine occurred in
(a) 1215-17.
(b) 1315-22.
(c) 1347-49.
Which was the buzzword of the renaissance?
(a)humanism.
(b) capitalism.
(c) scientism.
After the Great Plague, what happened to serfdom in Western Europe?
(a) nothing.
(b) it changed into slavery.
(c) it declined.
Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of urban economies after 1348?
(a) rural industries developed.
(b) technological innovation dramatically declined.
(c) trade in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans became more important.
The “nobility of the robe” signal the importance of
(a) gunpowder.
(b) royal service.
(c) fashion.
The “conciliar movement” sought to limit the authority of
(a) Holy Roman Emperors.
(b) popes.
(c) Templars.
Catherine of Siena is an example of the importance of what trend in late medieval Christianity?
(a) anti-clericalism.
(b) mysticism.
(c) Hussitism.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 12, go here.
“Sovereignty” means
(a) divine right of kings.
(b) unchallenged authority over a state.
(c) maintaining the gold standard.
In consolidating power, late medieval kings faced two main challenges. Which was NOT a major challenge?
(a) papacy.
(b) aristocracy.
(c) peasantry.
Which of the following statements about the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) is correct?
(a) It pitted France against the Holy Roman Empire.
(b) It led to the independence of Scotland.
(c) It provoked the intervention of Joan of Arc.
Louis XI (r. 1461-1483)
(a) was mad.
(b) subdued the aristocrats of France.
(c) claimed the English throne by right of his wife, Mary Tudor.
Who dominated Russia c. 1500?
(a) Mongols.
(b) Muscovite princes.
(c) Swedes.
The story of William Tell is a symptom of the growing importance of
(a) paternalism.
(b) nationalism.
(c) capitalism.
The Hapsburg dynasty first took root in
(a) Italy.
(b) Spain.
(c) the Holy Roman Empire.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 13, go here.
After 1347-50, the proportion of literate people
(a) increased.
(b) fell.
(c) was unchanged for the next 150 years.
Hans Behem
(a) preached radical ideas.
(b) invented the telescope.
(c) sailed around the coast of Africa.
Francesco Petrarch died in
(a) 1274.
(b) 1374.
(c) 1474.
The gothic architecture of the Later Middle Ages stressed
(a) height and decoration.
(b) simplicity.
(c) creating open spaces for paintings and processions.
Which of the following was NOT a late medieval trend in political thought?
(a) the clericalist position (different jurisdictions for church and state) gained more support than before.
(b) a practical interest in nitty-gritty matters of governance developed.
(c) the divine right of kings became the predominant justification for royal power.
Which of the following statements about William of Ockham is NOT true?
(a) he favored papal supremacy.
(b) he severed the bonds between revelation and reason.
(c) he was a radical empiricist.
Marsilio Ficino translated the works of
(a) Galen.
(b) Aristotle.
(c) Plato.
Donatello’s David expresses
(a) the concept of redemptive suffering.
(b) the influence of Greco-Roman traditions.
(c) late medieval misogyny.
For links and other stuff related to Chapter 14, go here.