Deck 7: Rome's Three Heirs 500-950

Question 1

The stability of Byzantine government was the product of:

A) a highly centralized palace government.
B) a predictable system of succession to the imperial throne.
C) an efficient bureaucracy.
D) regulated wages and prices.
E) a ruthlessly effective army.

Answer 1

an efficient bureaucracy.

Question 2

The Hijrah (Hegira)refers to the prophet Muhammad's move from:

A) Medina to Mecca.
B) Mecca to Quadratic.
C) Medina to Quadratic.
D) Quadratic to Mecca.
E) Mecca to Medina.

Answer 2

Mecca to Medina.

Question 3

The early Byzantine religion was known for its:

A) intense interest in matters of doctrine and orthodoxy.
B) beautifully decorated churches.
C) rejection of the emperor as the leader of the Church.
D) ability to enforce religious doctrine throughout the eastern empire.
E) doctrinal merging of elements from Christianity and Islam.

Answer 3

intense interest in matters of doctrine and orthodoxy.

Question 4

In their worship of Allah,Muslims worship:

A) the prophet Muhammad.
B) the angel Gabriel.
C) the same deity worshiped by Christians and Jews.
D) a pantheon of gods.
E) the same deities worshiped by Hindus.

Question 5

The Qu'ran contains:

A) the revelations sent by God to Muhammad.
B) Christian teaching about Christ's divinity.
C) excerpts from the Hebrew Torah.
D) a detailed plan for the expansion of Islam after Muhammad's death.
E) the sole guide for behavior for converts to Islam.

Question 6

Why did Justinian try to reconquer the western Roman Empire?

A) Because the Persians had been defeated in the East, so he could safely launch military expeditions to the West.
B) Because his empire required continuing conquests in order to prosper.
C) Because he sought to reunify the increasingly fragmented Roman Empire.
D) Because he needed to keep his army as far away from his capital as possible.
E) Because he believed that he should be the head of a unified Christian Church.

Question 7

Why did Justinian's reconquest of the western Roman Empire fail?

A) Justinian codified Roman law, which made a permanent merger impossible.
B) Western Christians no longer felt kinship with eastern Christians, and they fought against Justinian from within.
C) The costs associated with conquering and defending the vast western empire were too great given Justinian's military commitments elsewhere.
D) Constantinople fell to Persian invaders and brought an end to the eastern Roman Empire.
E) Justinian was forced to withdraw his army to meet the mounting Islamic threat from the south.

Question 8

Women from wealthy Byzantine families:

A) did not receive classical educations, since they were destined for domestic life.
B) could read but were not allowed to write history, novels, or poetry.
C) were educated at home by tutors, but did engage in more public intellectual discussions.
D) were encouraged by parents to become actresses and singers like the Empress Theodora.
E) were educated in the public schools alongside the men.

Question 9

Between 610 and 1071,the major security threats to the Byzantine Empire came from:

A) Persia, then Egypt.
B) Persia, then the Islamic caliphate.
C) Persia, then the Turks.
D) Persia, then the Slavs.
E) the western Roman Empire.

Question 10

Leo III's support of iconoclasm may have been driven by a desire to:

A) make churches more beautiful.
B) strengthen the emperor's control over the Church at the expense of monastic control.
C) strengthen monastic control over the Church at the expense of the bureaucratic control.
D) encourage artisans to produce books rather than images.
E) encourage Orthodox Christians to follow some of the tenets of Islam.

Question 11

Justinian's longest lasting reform was the:

A) creation of a standing Roman army.
B) organization and codification of Roman law.
C) construction of the Coliseum.
D) adoption of Christianity.
E) publication of a series of books about Roman history.

Question 12

The Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia was influential in the history of architecture because it:

A) was constructed in a way that made light appear to come from directly above.
B) placed a massive dome on a building with a square shape.
C) was highly innovative in its external appearance and marble embellishment.
D) was the first Christian church converted into a mosque.
E) was the first building constructed completely from concrete.

Question 13

The word Islam means:

A) pilgrimage.
B) migration.
C) submission.
D) recitation.
E) prayer.

Question 14

By the late sixth century C.E.,the economy of Arabia was:

A) in a state of crisis brought on by the wars between Byzantium and Persia.
B) heavily based on trade and commerce between Europe, Asia, and Africa.
C) still almost entirely driven by nomadic Bedouins.
D) based on the production of figs, wool, and goats at desert oases.
E) never robust due to the harsh environment there.

Question 15

Although the Iconoclastic Controversy was eventually resolved,its lasting effects included the:

A) sale or handing over of Byzantine portraits to the Muslims.
B) destruction of nearly all pre-eighth-century religious art in the Byzantine Empire.
C) adoption of conservative clothing styles by nobles and common people.
D) gradual acceptance of religious diversity in the East.
E) banning of all monastic orders within the Byzantine Empire.

Question 16

The Byzantine economy in the early Middle Ages was:

A) highly regulated, including wage and price controls.
B) subject to wild fluctuations due to currency debasement.
C) industrially underdeveloped.
D) renowned for its use of paper money.
E) depressed due to being cut off from trade with northern Europe.

Question 17

The pandemic known as Justinian's plague was likely caused by:

A) a virulent strain of smallpox.
B) yellow fever.
C) the same bacteria that caused the Black Death.
D) domesticated animals living in urban areas.
E) a strain of influenza.

Question 18

In Byzantine schools,classical Greek literature was:

A) considered pagan and suspect, and so was read only with great reluctance.
B) the basis of the curriculum, with much study of the epics of Homer.
C) out of fashion, because people preferred to read the easier Greek of the Bible.
D) regarded as useless and impractical, but not offensive to Christian sensibilities.
E) not studied. Byzantium thought of itself as the heir of Rome and so read Latin classics.

Question 19

It is difficult to date the beginning of Byzantine history with precision because:

A) Constantine never administered the Roman Empire from Constantinople.
B) Greek was the only language ever used by Roman emperors in Constantinople.
C) the Byzantine Empire considered itself the uninterrupted successor of the Roman Empire.
D) Justinian resisted new forms of thought and art throughout his life.
E) it began during the so-called Dark Ages during which very few records were kept.

Question 20

The Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth century C.E.was about:

A) a newly imposed tax to protect Byzantium's borders.
B) Emperor Leo's decision to stop wearing the toga, the symbol of imperial manhood.
C) wage controls.
D) the use of religious images for devotion.
E) the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist.

Question 21

The Shiite party arose among Muslims because:

A) disputes between Muslims in Iran created a schism.
B) of a dispute about the proper succession of caliphs in seventh century Arabia.
C) the Umayyad dynasty wanted to expand westward.
D) the Abbasid dynasty wanted to expand eastward.
E) of a dispute in the eighth century regarding the proper interpretation of the Qu'ran.

Question 22

Historians looking for a rupture in western European attitudes toward ancient Roman culture and traditions will likely find it between the lives of:

A) Charlemagne and the Burgundian kings of Germany.
B) Gregory of Tours and Charlemagne.
C) Constantine and Justinian.
D) Cicero and Diocletian.
E) Gregory of Tours and Justinian.

Question 23

Monasteries in the early Middle Ages were:

A) places of economic import only.
B) founded in cities.
C) places of political, religious, and economic import.
D) places of religious import only.
E) places of political import only.

Question 24

The gradual conversion of the early medieval European countryside to Christianity was carried out primarily by:

A) kings, whose armies ordered non-Christians to convert or leave Europe.
B) lay missionaries commissioned by the pope.
C) Frankish bishops seeking to enlarge their dioceses.
D) monks who founded new monasteries in frontier areas.
E) nuns working with the peasantry.

Question 25

Most people in the early Middle Ages facilitated economic transactions by using:

A) standardized silver coins minted by a local lord.
B) standardized gold coins minted by the king.
C) jewels and gems.
D) food and labor.
E) manufactured goods.

Question 26

The Umayyads of Al-Andalus and the Abbasids of Persia competed for dominance through:

A) constant violent warfare.
B) a cold war, occasionally interrupted by brief proxy wars over disputed territories.
C) the constant creation and negotiation of alliances.
D) trying to surpass each other in support of literary and artistic production.
E) trying to conquer as much territory as possible.

Question 27

Marriage patterns within upper-class Muslim society around the year 1000 differed from classical Greek and Roman patterns because:

A) Muslims could not engage in same-sex marriage, whereas Greeks and Romans could.
B) Muslim men could not marry until they were at least 35, whereas Greek and Roman men could marry at any age.
C) women were highly valued in Muslim society, whereas they were not in Greece or Rome.
D) Muslim men were permitted to have more than one wife, whereas Greek and Roman men were not.
E) Muslim women were permitted to have more than one husband, whereas Greek and Roman women were not.

Question 28

Within Islam,social mobility was encouraged because of:

A) a decree by the Umayyad dynasty outlawing discrimination of all kinds.
B) the teachings of the twelfth imam that everyone should be tolerant of everyone else.
C) the origins of the faith where no one could take advantage of anyone else.
D) the teachings of Muhammad, which stressed the equality of all Muslim men.
E) a decree of the Abbasid dynasty outlawing discrimination of all kinds.

Question 29

Compared to medieval Europe in the central Middle Ages (800-1100),the Islamic world was:

A) comprised of small and isolated communities.
B) focused on trade only within its borders.
C) cosmopolitan but lacked manufacturing capacity and so traded little.
D) manufacturing and trading goods widely in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
E) only interested in establishing trade connections with Europe.

Question 30

Why were so many convents (monastic houses for women)founded during the seventh century C.E.?

A) Convents met a variety of social and spiritual needs for women of all classes.
B) Lower-class women flocked to convents as an improvement on the drudgery of their lives.
C) Nuns were the only women allowed to become priests.
D) Convents were a way for the families that founded them to make money.
E) Families were expected to give their daughters to local monasteries to become nuns.

Question 31

During the expansion of the Islamic caliphate,Muslim rule was often preferred to Persian or Byzantine because:

A) Muslim laws were less strict.
B) Muslim leaders were more tolerant of religious difference.
C) local Muslim rulers were considered better protectors than the governors from other empires.
D) Muslim rulers were believed to be more moral than Byzantine and Persian emperors.
E) Muslim rulers were regarded as better military leaders.

Question 32

In comparison to the Umayyad,the Abbasid caliphate:

A) was more like a Byzantine successor state.
B) adopted more of the style of Persian royal absolutism.
C) moved its capital from Baghdad to Damascus.
D) modeled itself on the imperial court of Rome.
E) required all conquered peoples to convert to Islam.

Question 33

The Merovingian dynasty in France traced its origin back to Clovis's legendary grandfather,Merovech,who was believed to be the son of:

A) the last commander of the Roman legions in the West.
B) a sea monster.
C) England's King Arthur.
D) a Benedictine monk who converted the Franks.
E) a Viking who had settled in northern France and conquered the Lombards.

Question 34

Opportunity for advancement in Islamic cultures ideally depended on:

A) the social class into which one was born.
B) the sect of Islam that one professed.
C) one's ability and one's talent.
D) the level of bribes one was able to offer.
E) whom one knew within the bureaucracy.

Question 35

A long-term result of Boniface anointing Pepin on behalf of the papacy was that:

A) members of the Carolingian family regularly became popes.
B) the Carolingians founded a new capital for their empire in Rome.
C) first-born sons of the king henceforth became king automatically on the death of their father.
D) the pope became directly responsible for the welfare of the Carolingian Empire.
E) the power of kings was theoretically limited.

Question 36

As a Christian king responsible for ruling a Christian society,Charlemagne:

A) was careful to observe the distinctions between religious and political authority established by Saint Augustine of Hippo.
B) placed the Frankish church under the control of the pope, while he ruled the kingdom politically.
C) took responsibility for reforming the religious life of his kingdom just as he reformed its government.
D) became a monk at the end of his life, thus ensuring his own salvation.
E) established his empire as a theocratic state ruled by the laws set forth in the Bible.

Question 37

Islam spread so quickly in the seventh and eighth centuries because:

A) Muslims insisted that all conquered peoples convert to Islam.
B) there were no Christians in the first lands that Muslims conquered.
C) the Pact of Unmark allowed for the total destruction of subject cities.
D) some local populations welcomed Muslim conquest.
E) its armies met no resistance.

Question 38

Charlemagne and Harun al-Rashid formed an alliance partially because of their shared enemy,the:

A) Umayyad.
B) Persians.
C) Byzantines.
D) Sunnis.
E) Abbasid.

Question 39

The Shiite argued that only descendents of Muhammad and his daughter _________ could claim to rule legitimately.

A) Aisha
B) Yasmina
C) Fatimah
D) Khadijah
E) Sawda

Question 40

For Pope Gregory I,one of the most important roles of clerics was:

A) to perform mass once a week.
B) to make sure tithes were paid.
C) to preach sermons in the town square.
D) to become educated about new theological debates.
E) to care for the religious experience of the laity.

Question 41

Byzantine culture was the means by which the heritage of Western civilization was preserved for Europe where Greek had become very rare.

Question 42

After 750C.E.,the Umayyad dynasty abandoned Spain and focused its rule in Damascus.

Question 43

Once they conquered a territory,Viking populations:

A) killed or enslaved all of the native population.
B) assimilated quickly within local populations.
C) divided the land into farms for Viking settlers, regardless of who was living and using that land.
D) founded churches dedicated to Saint Amand, the patron saint of Vikings.
E) elected a king to rule the area.

Question 44

Islam is a religion without sacraments or priests.

Question 45

Sufism is a mystical sect of Judaism whose members cultivated spiritual ecstasy.

Question 46

Which was the most significant event in creating Byzantine hostility toward the Latin Christian world?

A) The coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor on Christmas Day, 800
B) The First Crusade
C) The Iconoclastic Controversy
D) The Fourth Crusade in 1204
E) The execution of the Byzantine ambassador to Rome in 816

Question 47

Islam created its own culture and actively destroyed the artifacts of those civilizations that came before them.

Question 48

Spain was largely abandoned by Islam as a cultural backwater.

Question 49

Muhammad wrote about his revelations in the Qu'ran.

Question 50

Scandinavian traders turned to raiding because:

A) it was more profitable.
B) instability in the Carolingian empire had made travel on their traditional trade routes difficult.
C) instability in the Abbasid Empire meant that potential targets for raids could no longer be adequately defended.
D) the market in luxury goods in northern Europe collapsed.
E) Muslim traders now controlled all possible trade routes between Europe and the Middle East.

Question 51

The holiest place in Islam is in Medina.

Question 52

One of the few rulers to successfully defend his lands against the Vikings was:

A) Alfred.
B) Arthur.
C) Bede.
D) Charles.
E) Thomas.

Question 53

The Byzantine Empire was never stable because of the intrigue and violence that constantly occurred at the imperial court.

Question 54

The overall unity of the Muslim world disintegrated during the tenth and eleventh centuries because of:

A) a special tax levied on Jews and Christians.
B) failures among the Umayyad rulers of Spain.
C) repeated attacks by the Mughal empire of India.
D) economic problems and a stagnating intellectual life.
E) increasing intolerance of regional and ethnic differences of practice and belief within Islam.

Question 55

Underlying the Carolingian Renaissance was the basic conviction that:

A) learning was the foundation on which Christian salvation rested.
B) the Bible could be best appreciated if it were translated into robust French and German idioms.
C) original Latin poetry and epic literature were the highest form of art.
D) proper Christian doctrine should be widely disseminated and heretical beliefs should be strictly punished.
E) to be better Christians, everyone should pray and devote their lives to the Church.

Question 56

Charlemagne reformed writing in his empire by:

A) introducing cursive script.
B) ensuring all copyists wrote in block letters only.
C) testing all copyists for literacy.
D) introducing the comma.
E) creating a simplified script and introducing punctuation.

Question 57

The economic base of the Abbasid Caliphate lay in:

A) the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Mesopotamia.
B) the Nile Delta.
C) Syria and Lebanon.
D) Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey.
E) its capital, Constantinople.

Question 58

The Abbasid Empire effectively came to an end in:

A) 1258, when the invading Mongol armies captured the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.
B) 733, when the Abbasid Army was defeated by Charles Martel at Tours.
C) 1066, when the dominant Shiites defeated the Sunnis at Damascus.
D) 930, when the Shiites army attacked and captured Mecca.
E) 1186, when Philip of France and Richard of England captured Jerusalem.

Question 59

The Vikings are generally regarded as being a destructive force in European history:

A) but such a view may not be correct in light of the principalities they established across northern Europe.
B) as evidenced by the raids they staged on virtually every population center in Europe from London to Paris to Rome itself.
C) because of the destruction caused to a great many monasteries throughout Europe and the accompanying loss of the libraries in those monasteries.
D) but this has been exaggerated since they stayed mostly in Scandinavia with only a few raids into England and northern France, destructive though those were.
E) which is true, but they have an undeservedly bad reputation when compared with the Magyars who conducted raids into western and southern Europe.

Question 60

The division between Islam and Christianity was not an impenetrable barrier as communication and gifts between the Abbasid and Carolingian Empires illustrate.

Question 61

Explain how Justinian's conquest of the Mediterranean was both a success and a failure.

Question 62

Charlemagne regularly chose the bishops in his empire.

Question 63

What was the impact of Justinian's law code on the Middle Ages?

Question 64

Pope Gregory was not only a reformer of the Church and theologian,but also the first pope to break free of Byzantine control and establish an autonomous,Western-oriented Latin church.

Question 65

How was the Carolingian dynasty established?

Question 66

What innovations characterize the Carolingian Renaissance?

Question 67

Charles Martel is regarded as one of the founders of the Frankish kingdom due to his defeat of a Muslim force near Paris.

Question 68

Why was paper such an important commodity in the Muslim world of the Middle Ages?

Question 69

What accounts for the rapid growth of Islam?

Question 70

How did monasticism aid the growth and prosperity of secular territories?

Question 71

How did the Islamic Empire disintegrate?

Question 72

By 1000,Vikings had reached North America.

Question 73

By the seventh century,western Europe had become a more fluid economy in which luxury goods and coinage circulated,albeit to differing degrees,among all levels of society.

Question 74

What factors allowed the Byzantine Empire to survive into the Middle Ages?

Question 75

How can Muhammad be described as both a prophet and a statesman?