Deck 11: The Flowering of Medieval Culture: the Christian Synthesis

Question 1

The medieval worldview held all the following EXCEPT

A)God was the source of all being and all knowledge.
B)God gave humanity the power to choose and to rise from the bottom of the cosmic hierarchy but only through God's grace and subordination to God's will.
C)God's will flows down to each individual through the angels and the church.
D)the worth of the individual comes from free will and intelligence, therefore, each person should follow Socrates' and the Stoic's search for knowledge and virtue.
E)humanity is higher than animals but still weak, egocentric, and sinful.

Answer 1

the worth of the individual comes from free will and intelligence, therefore, each person should follow Socrates' and the Stoic's search for knowledge and virtue.

Question 2

According to the text, all of the following works expressed the medieval sense that all of reality emanated from God and was purposely arranged in a spiritual hierarchy EXCEPT

A)The Divine Comedy .
B)The Song of Roland .
C)the Summa Theologica .
D)the Gothic cathedral.
E)Sic et Non.

Answer 2

The Song of Roland .

Question 3

The Benedictine abbot, Saint Anselm, was known for

A)writing the Summa Theologica .
B)a disreputable affair with Héloise which he eventually disavowed.
C)arguing that faith is the basis of philosophical speculation.
D)analyzing the Trinity in a way that angered churchmen.
E)synthesizing all of medieval learning.

Answer 3

arguing that faith is the basis of philosophical speculation.

Question 4

The university subject considered queen of the sciences was

A)logic.
B)arithmetic.
C)music.
D)theology.
E)astronomy.

Question 5

That celestial bodies moved eternally in uniform circles was an idea of

A)Plutarch.
B)Archimedes.
C)Parmenides.
D)Aristotle.
E)Plato.

Question 6

In the High Middle Ages, Christian contacts with Islamic culture were centered in

A)Alexandria.
B)Athens and Constantinople.
C)the Balkans.
D)Spain and Sicily.
E)the Holy Land.

Question 7

The university curriculum of the Middle Ages

A)had an emphasis on practical skills.
B)relied heavily on the works of Aristotle.
C)neglected mathematics and astronomy.
D)stressed Roman law.
E)introduced the study of the arts.

Question 8

While scholastics believed that reason could illuminate faith (it could, for instance, prove the existence of God), their critics found reason dangerous because it

A)led people to question articles of faith.
B)was a "fabricator of heresies."
C)hindered a person's union with God.
D)could challenge the church's authority.
E)all of the above

Question 9

During the High Middle Ages, the geocentric theory

A)refuted Aristotelian views.
B)offered basic geometry.
C)was imbued with Christian symbolism.
D)proposed that mathematics was the basic language of the universe.
E)was a new revolutionary theory.

Question 10

Peter Abelard's colorful life included all of the following EXCEPT

A)an affair with his student Héloise who as a result entered a convent after giving birth to their child.
B)castration on the orders of Canon Fulbert.
C)a position as teacher of theology at the Cathedral School of Notre Dame.
D)execution as a heretic.
E)condemnation by the Church and confinement in a monastery.

Question 11

The cultural revival of the High Middle Ages, known as the Twelfth-Century Awakening, did NOT include

A)the founding of universities.
B)the reemergence of the study of Latin and of Roman law.
C)efforts to harmonize Greek rationalism with Christian doctrines.
D)the creation of an original architectural style: Gothic.
E)a decline in the importance of vernacular literature.

Question 12

Which of the following does the text identify as the chief expression of expanding intellectual life in the High Middle Ages?

A)monastic schools
B)universities
C)cathedral schools
D)parish schools
E)royal courts

Question 13

At the heart of scholasticism lay the conviction that

A)reason and revelation can be reconciled.
B)scholarship needs to have a practical application.
C)the clergy, as the spiritual leaders of society, control the educational system.
D)education must be made available to all.
E)religion has no need of philosophy.

Question 14

The Empyrean Heaven

A)was the abode of God and the Elect.
B)was the heavenly sphere through which God transmitted motion to the planetary spheres.
C)was composed of a clear transparent substance.
D)was subject to change and corruption.
E)all of the above

Question 15

The early advocate of the emerging medieval scientific outlook who authored  Natural Questions  was

A)Saint Anselm.
B)Peter Abelard.
C)Maimonides.
D)Adelard of Bath.
E)Roger Bacon.

Question 16

According to the text, the core of the medieval Christian worldview was that

A)God determined the rules for leading a good life and that conclusions derived from reason were secondary to divine revelation.
B)when reason and revelation seemed to be in conflict, individuals should follow the dictates of reason.
C)the Greco-Roman cultural heritage was pagan and hence should be rejected in favor of the divine revelations of Scripture.
D)each individual had to follow his or her own path to God.
E)the existence of a science of nature posed an insurmountable obstacle to the pursuit of grace and salvation.

Question 17

The establishment of medieval universities required

A)a corporation of either students or masters.
B)an aristocratic impetus.
C)royal supervision.
D)commercial leaders of the town who thought students might be good for business.
E)separate buildings and funding.

Question 18

Medieval universities performed all the following functions EXCEPT

A)developing the habit of reasoned argument.
B)supplying states and the Church with trained secretaries and lawyers.
C)creating a significant variety of worldviews.
D)creating a common culture for all of Latin Christendom.
E)establishing a tradition of learning in the West.

Question 19

In the realm of ideas and culture, Europe in the High Middle Ages

A)revived almost all the learning of the ancient world.
B)restored the dominance of rationalism in a system called scholasticism.
C)brought back a pure form of classical architecture.
D)nearly eliminated illiteracy.
E)fashioned Christian teachings into an all-embracing philosophy.

Question 20

Which of the following did NOT help to make the Twelfth-Century Awakening possible?

A)the revival of trade and the reappearance of urban life
B)the Carolingian Renaissance
C)increased contacts with Byzantium and the Muslim world
D)a weakening of the Church's position in society
E)greater political and social order

Question 21

Which of the following persons was a conservative churchman who decried university scholars' excessive reliance on dialectical argument?

A)Peter Abelard
B)Saint Anselm
C)Bernard of Clairvaux
D)Adelard of Bath
E)Francis of Assisi

Question 22

The work of which of the following foreshadowed the modern attitude of using science to achieve mastery over nature?

A)St. Thomas Aquinas
B)Roger Bacon
C)Jean Buridan
D)Robert Grosseteste
E)William Caxton

Question 23

Roman law

A)assumed the existence of universal principles.
B)stimulated medieval jurists to organize their own legal tradition.
C)encouraged reliance on a rational analysis of evidence.
D)influenced church law as well as secular codes in parts of France and Germany.
E)all of the above

Question 24

The condemnation of 1277 by the bishop of Paris

A)forbid the teaching of Platonic thought at the University of Paris.
B)significantly hindered the pursuit of knowledge in the field of natural philosophy.
C)was a triumph of conservative theologians.
D)did not include any of the propositions held by Aquinas.
E)all of the above

Question 25

When Aristotle's writings were translated into Latin and reintroduced to the West

A)church scholars accepted them enthusiastically.
B)church scholars largely discounted them as pagan delusions.
C)there was controversy about whether they would endanger faith.
D)there were doubts about whether the writings were really Aristotle's.
E)they came mainly from the Byzantines and newly rediscovered ancient collections.

Question 26

Sic et Non was an effort to demonstrate that

A)there was an irreconcilable conflict between reason and faith and that the Christian must choose faith.
B)different theologians had conflicting opinions and hence, the enterprise of theology in general was vain.
C)Aquinas's Summa Theologica was methodologically flawed.
D)the conflicting opinions of theologians could be reconciled through reasoned argument (dialectics).
E)questioning inconsistencies in church pronouncements should be prohibited.

Question 27

Which of the following statements best describes Robert Grosseteste?

A)Grosseteste thought that reason can prove that the world is round.
B)Grosseteste believed that the physical world has a mathematical order.
C)Grosseteste experimented on the refraction of light.
D)Grosseteste believed the earth was round, the physical world was mathematical, and experiments were worthwhile.
E)Grosseteste believed that the ancient sources show the world is round and mathematical.

Question 28

The Song of Roland tells of

A)a knight's first love.
B)a vassal's loyalty to his lord and devotion to Christianity.
C)a deserter who returns to battle and dies heroically.
D)troubadours and chivalry.
E)the dark world of Anglo-Saxon politics.

Question 29

Saint Thomas Aquinas argued that

A)both faith and reason point to the same truth.
B)reason was an enemy to faith.
C)faith was a product of God, whereas reason was a product of man alone.
D)revelation was not a true source of knowledge.
E)faith and reason had inherent and irreconcilable differences.

Question 30

Medieval European Aristotelians were most strongly influenced by

A)Alcuin.
B)Averroës (Ibn Rushd).
C)Saint Anselm.
D)Plato.
E)Avicenna (Ibn Sina).

Question 31

A genuine scientific movement in Latin Christendom emerged in the

A)tenth century.
B)tenth and eleventh centuries.
C)twelfth century.
D)twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
E)thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Question 32

Saint Thomas Aquinas disagreed with Saint Augustine's view that

A)philosophy could aid in faith.
B)humanity had sinned and needed God's grace to be saved.
C)knowledge of society and the physical world was an obstacle to true knowledge.
D)ultimate truth comes from God.
E)no boundary existed between the world of grace and the world of nature.

Question 33

Avicenna's Canon of Medicine

A)relied on sympathetic magic and prayers for the sick.
B)was used in Roman times, but was then forgotten.
C)placed much faith in herbal cures.
D)synthesized Greek and Arabic medicine.
E)came to be accepted by modern medicine.

Question 34

Which work is sometimes called "the Iliad of the Germans"?

A)Beowulf
B)The Divine Comedy
C)Siegfried
D)Nibelungenlied
E)The Love of Tristan and Iseult

Question 35

The work of the Dominican Albert the Great

A)included a study of nature using empirical evidence.
B)drew on views of the universe based on his mystic experiences.
C)rested on philosophy and a belief that to study nature was an arrogant attempt to understand the mind of God.
D)was lost because he never had the opportunity to teach.
E)furthered the influence of the Inquisition.

Question 36

The Corpus Juris Civilis is recognized as

A)a response to the disorder of barbarian invasions.
B)the root word for an early jury system.
C)a compendium of Roman law and various commentaries.
D)a classical text that remained from the period of the Republic.
E)the church's canon law.

Question 37

The chansons de geste are best associated with

A)love poetry.
B)songs of troubadours.
C)heroic deeds.
D)ribald peasant tales.
E)satire.

Question 38

Late medieval thinkers

A)were unable to move beyond Aristotle's influence in the field of physics.
B)made the breakthrough to modern science.
C)successfully removed science from a theological setting.
D)provided translations and commentaries that served as a precondition for the emergence of modern science.
E)rejected the importance of mathematics for interpreting nature.

Question 39

In a dialogue between Adelard of Bath and his nephew, Adelard attributes his guidance in the use of reason to

A)Arabic teachers.
B)Byzantine texts.
C)the writings of the church fathers.
D)ancient authorities.
E)medieval scholastics.

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT true of medieval Romans?

A)They were written in Latin for an aristocratic audience.
B)King Arthur and his Round Table were the subject of Romans.
C)They circulated by word of mouth for centuries.
D)They spread from the British Isles to France and Germany.
E)They combined love with adventure, war, and the miraculous.

Question 41

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
spiritual hierarchy

Question 42

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Twelfth-Century Awakening

Question 43

The Divine Comedy presents all the following EXCEPT

A)a hierarchical vision of the afterworld.
B)a hell in which Lucifer burns eternally for his treachery.
C)a purgatory where the dead destined to go to heaven undergo punishment.
D)a heaven bathed in loving, divine light.
E)a mystical vision of God.

Question 44

Which of the following accurately describes differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture?

A)Gothic buildings used rounded arches, whereas Romanesque buildings used pointed ones.
B)Gothic buildings had smaller and fewer windows than Romanesque.
C)Gothic buildings used flying buttresses, whereas Romanesque buildings did not.
D)Gothic was a medieval style; Romanesque passed with the fall of the Roman Empire.
E)Gothic buildings created a sense of massive solidity, whereas Romanesque building created the illusion of lightness.

Question 45

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Empyrean Heaven

Question 46

The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer's great masterpiece

A)was the last major English work written in Old English.
B)was written in Latin.
C)discussed the journey of the soul to paradise.
D)described pilgrims making the journey to a religious shrine.
E)did not focus on contemporary English society but on an idealized perfect Christian community.

Question 47

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
mystic

Question 48

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Incarnation

Question 49

The Jewish Maimonides

A)was born in Muslim Spain.
B)tried to reconcile philosophy and religion.
C)was respected by Christian and Muslim thinkers.
D)achieved fame in his lifetime and became physician to the Muslim sultan in Egypt.
E)all of the above

Question 50

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
chansons de geste

Question 51

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Trinity

Question 52

Medieval cathedrals were made possible by

A)donations from the devout.
B)architects and builders who sought to honor God.
C)the collection of tolls and taxes on goods shipped to fairs.
D)revenue raised from income-producing church properties, such as farmland, mills, and forests.
E)all of the above

Question 53

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
geocentric theory

Question 54

The medieval concept of courtly love involved all of the following EXCEPT

A)a husband-wife relationship.
B)a gentler, more respectful treatment of women.
C)the active influence of noblewomen.
D)eroticism condemned by the Church.
E)the concept of a warrior as a gentleman.

Question 55

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
ether

Question 56

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
scholasticism

Question 57

The High Middle Ages are set apart from both classical civilization and modern society by

A)their religious orientation.
B)their limited technology.
C)their character as the Dark Ages.
D)their lack of political unity.
E)a lack of dynamism.

Question 58

The hierarchical universe of the Middle Ages

A)created in medieval individuals a sense of security.
B)was based on the belief that men and women were strong and pious.
C)equated humans with the angels.
D)was broken into separate spheres of control, with humans in the lowest level.
E)denied humans the ability to ascend to the higher world of perfection.

Question 59

The best examples of Gothic architecture are

A)city fortifications.
B)cathedrals.
C)palaces.
D)noble manor houses.
E)castles.

Question 60

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Redemption

Question 61

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Explain the principles of the geocentric theory, and discuss the theory's impact on medieval thought. How and why did the geocentric theory support or undermine the Christian understanding of the universe?

Question 62

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Romanesque

Question 63

Instructions: Please use this outline map of Europe to answer the question(s).
Locate and label three of the following medieval centers of learning: Salerno, Cambridge, Salamanca, Grenoble, Kraków, and Prague.

Question 64

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Explain the revival of literature in the High Middle Ages.

Question 65

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Discuss the ways that the Gothic cathedral of the Middle Ages illustrates the interests or concerns of society during that period of history. What type of architecture do you think holds interest for the masses of people in the contemporary world?

Question 66

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. How did the economic, social, and political vitality of the High Middle Ages contribute to the intellectual and culture revival beginning with the Twelfth-Century Awakening?

Question 67

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Identify three individuals whose studies during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries contributed to the development of a more scientific approach to nature. Discuss the nature of their work.

Question 68

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. What was the relationship between intellectual activity and the church in High Middle Ages? What points of resonance and sources of tension existed, and why?

Question 69

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Gothic

Question 70

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Compare and contrast the medieval worldview with that of Greco-Roman civilization. What accounts for the differences in perspective between the two?

Question 71

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. In what ways did Roman law influence the Middle Ages?

Question 72

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Using material from both Chapters 10 and 11, explain how the High Middle Ages differed politically, socially, economically, and culturally from its predecessor, the Early Middle Ages.

Question 73

Instructions: Please use this outline map of Europe to answer the question(s).
Locate and label the earliest medieval center of the study of Roman law and the home of Dante.

Question 74

Instructions: Please use this outline map of Europe to answer the question(s).
Locate and label the institutions where the following worked or taught: St. Anselm, Peter Abelard, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Robert Grosseteste.

Question 75

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
troubadours

Question 76

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. How might Aristotle's philosophy imperil Christian thought? How successful was the Church in banning Aristotelian ideas?

Question 77

Key Terms Instructions: Please define the following key terms. Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
roman

Question 78

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question. Describe the main aspects of the university during the Middle Ages. To what extent was the university a place of academic discourse and learning? Explain.