Deck 10: The High Middle Ages

Question 1

Feudalism evolved into a set of relationships between

A) lords and peasants.
B) lords and clerics.
C) lords and vassals.
D) popes and kings.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

During the High Middle Ages, the population in Europe

A) declined.
B) remained stationary.
C) grew at a slow rate.
D) doubled.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Feudalism could be used to describe all of the following EXCEPT

A) an economic system based on the exploitation of peasants by nobles.
B) a school of philosophy that preached the equality of all human beings.
C) a social system that bound free men together through mutual obligations.
D) a political system based on shared and segmented power and authority.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Boniface VIII's papal bull, Unam Sanctum,

A) enacted reform of the laity.
B) imbued the monarchs with the power to appoint bishops.
C) affirmed primal papacy.
D) was designed to reduce the power of the monasteries.

Question 5

The lay investiture controversy centered on the question of

A) who possessed the power to control the fief-the lord or vassal.
B) whether local lords or the church should appoint certain bishops to their office.
C) when a vassal should become a lay leader.
D) whether or not it was legal to give fiefs to sub-vassals.

Question 6

What is meant by the "regular" clergy?

A) clergy appointed by Rome or monarchs
B) secular clergy
C) clergy that moved freely in society
D) clergy that lived apart from the world in monasteries under a special rule

Question 7

The feudal system rested primarily on

A) economic coercion by the wealthy.
B) the moral foundations of the church.
C) mutual, honorable relationships.
D) the lingering influence of Charlemagne's kingdom.

Question 8

Which is true of the Cistercians?

A) They were more moderate than the Cluniacs.
B) Their growth was greatly encouraged by Bernard of Clairvaux.
C) They preferred more elaborate worship services.
D) They provided an important religious outlet for women.

Question 9

Life for serfs in medieval Europe usually involved

A) living in towns and clerking in the lord's shop.
B) eking out a living through farming and enduring exploitation from lords.
C) living in monasteries and serving in the church.
D) fighting for the lord and working his fields.

Question 10

The medieval church taught that purgatory was a place where

A) the sinful dead were punished eternally.
B) those who died in a state of grace were purified from all stain of sin.
C) children that were born dead spent eternity.
D) heretics suffered before going to heaven.

Question 11

Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias included

A) a treatise on political thought.
B) a comprehensive summary of theology.
C) a description of her visions.
D) an allegorical romance.

Question 12

The German Empire slowly disintegrated because of

A) the constant attacks of Muslims and Magyars.
B) the military coordination of upstart nobles.
C) the ravages of famine and disease.
D) dynastic changes and conflicts with the church.

Question 13

Which pope presided over the Fourth Lateran Council and declared a crusade against the Albigensians?

A) Gregory VII
B) Boniface VIII
C) Urban II
D) Innocent III

Question 14

By taking part in the church's seven sacraments, medieval Christians hoped to

A) gain the approval of the feudal monarchs.
B) achieve a sense of social peace with one another.
C) achieve spiritual salvation and eternal life.
D) gain the attention of the priests and ultimately the pope.

Question 15

Which of the following was a key event in England during the High Middle Ages?

A) the granting of the Magna Carta
B) the invasion by William of Normandy
C) the creation of Parliament
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 16

The Peace and Truce of God was

A) a call by the clergy for an end to fighting at specific times.
B) a truce between medieval French and English armies.
C) the notion that men and women were equal and should live in peace with each other.
D) the specified period of prayer in monastic daily life.

Question 17

The major church reform that began in the tenth century started at

A) the castle of Louis the Pious.
B) the Benedictine monastery at Cluny.
C) Rome under Pope Zacharius.
D) the church at Vézelay.

Question 18

Early chivalry can be best described as

A) a set of feudal regulations for peasants.
B) the guidelines for new monastic orders.
C) a guiding ethos for warriors, primarily male and martial in nature.
D) the business charters for towns.

Question 19

Some medieval businesspeople and artisans protected themselves from powerful local nobility and clergy by

A) forming alliances with Muslims.
B) appealing to the pope for divine help.
C) forming self-governing communes.
D) rebelling against the feudal lords.

Question 20

The Christian practices of confession and penance meant that a sinner

A) could sin without fear of punishment.
B) could be absolved from sins, and penalties could be erased.
C) would be allowed into heaven.
D) would automatically go to hell.

Question 21

Which medieval idea is found in the Song of Roland?

A) allegiance to the chivalric code
B) support for Christianity against Islam
C) primitive nationalism
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 22

Which of the following is Thomas Aquinas's masterpiece?

A) Cyrurgia
B) Summa Theologica
C) Scivias
D) The Flowing Light of the Godhead

Question 23

Chrétien de Troyes wrote influential romances about

A) King Henry II and his wife Eleanor.
B) King Arthur and his knights.
C) the Capetian dynasty.
D) ancient Greek myths.

Question 24

Which of the following is considered the ancestor of all later Western love poetry?

A) canzone
B) allegory
C) lay
D) romance

Question 25

The dominant visual art of medieval life was

A) architecture.
B) fresco painting.
C) portrait painting.
D) sculpture.

Question 26

Which Islamic scholar's commentaries on Aristotle had a significant impact on the scholarship of the High Middle Ages?

A) Averroës
B) Gratian
C) Bonaventure
D) Boethius

Question 27

In his writings, Thomas Aquinas

A) adopted the same position as the medieval thinker Bonaventure.
B) tried to reconcile Aristotelian thought and Christian doctrine.
C) agreed with all of Averroës's teachings.
D) relied on pure rationalism.

Question 28

Which of the following were independent communities of laywomen dedicated to good works, poverty, chastity, and religious devotion?

A) beguines
B) Franciscans
C) Dominicans
D) friars

Question 29

Thomism might be best described as a

A) thought process that reconciled Greek and Arabic philosophy.
B) synthesis of the faith-versus-reason debate.
C) failure to reconcile the dispute between the popes and the secular monarchs.
D) last effort in philosophy to prove the existence of God.

Question 30

Which of the following were achievements of Hildegard of Bingen?

A) composed a morality play to be sung
B) corresponded with major figures of her time
C) authored works on the medical arts and science
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 31

Which of the following is a porch or vestibule, usually enclosed, leading into the nave of the church?

A) Lombard arcade
B) narthex
C) bay
D) tympanum

Question 32

The debate between the realists and nominalists

A) was settled by a church council in 1215.
B) centered on the issue of universals.
C) arose from attempts to reconcile Arabic thought and Christian beliefs.
D) was fought between the papacy and scholarly monks.

Question 33

Marco Polo's account of his travels, Memories,

A) inspired many people to explore the Orient.
B) primarily detailed his travels in Africa.
C) served as a religious manual for missionary work.
D) was used to translate English and French texts to Chinese.

Question 34

Besides Dante himself, the two main figures in the Divine Comedy are

A) Ganelon and Roland.
B) Virgil and Beatrice.
C) Thomas Aquinas and the Virgin Mary.
D) Plato and Aristotle.

Question 35

What were the chansons de geste?

A) short lyric or narrative poems, usually about adulterous love
B) long narrative poems about the chivalric and sentimental adventures of knights and ladies
C) comprehensive summaries of Christian thought
D) manuals for teaching acting

Question 36

One of Peter Abelard's greatest intellectual accomplishments was to

A) divorce scholarship from church teachings.
B) champion a moderate realism that held that the "universals" existed, but only as mental concepts and devices.
C) undermine the Aristotelian ideas that had dominated learning in the earlier Middle Ages.
D) create a convincing argument for an extreme realism that completely rejected universals.

Question 37

The Scholastic approach to education involved

A) dismissing the theories of non-Christian philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato.
B) the application of logical analysis, human reasoning, to the solution of problems.
C) using Christian scripture as the sole authority in determining ultimate truth.
D) elevating intuition above logic and knowledge in addressing theological questions.

Question 38

The Greek philosopher whose works had the most influence on Scholasticism was

A) Protagoras.
B) Aristotle.
C) Zeno.
D) Empedocles.

Question 39

In which city cathedral are found 176 windows, often recognized as the most exquisite of all Gothic stained glass, and most of which are the thirteenth-century originals?

A) Amiens
B) Chartres
C) Vézelay
D) Paris

Question 40

The arts in the High Middle Ages were

A) treated separately, each being judged by different standards.
B) dominated by painting.
C) subservient to religion and had no independent status.
D) used to entertain the public.

Question 41

Compare and contrast the life of a peasant on a manor with that of a town merchant or artisan.

Question 42

Explain the differences between realism and nominalism. Who were the major supporters, and what were their basic arguments for each of these philosophical positions?

Question 43

Was monasticism a key cultural institution in the early High Middle Ages? Explain your answer with examples.

Question 44

Describe chivalry and how it manifested in feudal society.

Question 45

Discuss the characteristics of medieval government. What were some problems that they had in common, and how did they deal with those problems? Use as your examples two of the following: France, England, the papacy, or the German Empire.

Question 46

Discuss the characteristics of feudalism. Is it possible to speak of a "feudal system"? Why?

Question 47

What were two major innovations in music during the High Middle Ages?

A) monophony and Gregorian chants
B) syncopation and atonality
C) the sonata and program music
D) tropes and polyphony

Question 48

Discuss the impact of new religious orders and the lay piety movements on the medieval church.

Question 49

Near which city (at the Abbey Church of St. Denis) did the Gothic style of architecture first appear?

A) Amiens
B) Vézelay
C) Chartres
D) Paris

Question 50

Which of the following was NOT among the technological advances during the High Middle Ages?

A) a shift to the use of the ox and plow
B) the proliferation of windmills
C) better saddles and stirrups
D) powerful, accurate crossbows
Essay Questions

Question 51

What is meant by the term Scholasticism? What does the style of Scholastic reasoning reveal about the nature of medieval intellectual life?

Question 52

What ideals and values are expressed in the Song of Roland?

Question 53

Which of the following terms refers to groups of notes sung to the same syllable?

A) melismas
B) tropes
C) polyphony
D) motets

Question 54

The Gothic cathedral was identifiable by its

A) flying buttresses, ribbed vaulting, and choir.
B) ribbed vaulting, rounded arches, and thick walls.
C) flying buttresses, domed ceiling, and many statues.
D) ribbed vaulting, stained glass windows, and simple decorations.

Question 55

What was the impact of towns and townspeople on the culture of the late High Middle Ages?