Deck 6: A World Divided: Western Kingdoms, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, C.A 376-1000

Question 1

The Roman historian Tacitus

A) Wrote his book on Germans to urge Romans to adopt more virtuous customs
B) Wrote a history of his captivity by the Germans
C) Denounced German men for oppressing German women
D) Praised German men for oppressing German women

Answer 1

Wrote his book on Germans to urge Romans to adopt more virtuous customs

Question 2

The society of early Germans

A) Was led by strong kings with virtually dictatorial powers
B) Was very nomadic with wars occurring only when tribes were wandering
C) Was often very warlike and occasionally nomadic
D) Was dominated by female leaders

Answer 2

Was often very warlike and occasionally nomadic

Question 3

Of the societies studied in the first five chapters, Germanic society had the most parallels with

A) The urban society of Sumer
B) The heroic society described in Homer's epics
C) The monumental society of Egypt
D) The republican society of Rome

Answer 3

The heroic society described in Homer's epics

Question 4

The tribe whose movement seems to have triggered the invasion of the Roman Empire was the

A) Ostrogoths
B) Huns
C) Franks
D) Vandals

Question 5

All of the following statements are true of the Roman Empire in the era of invasion except:

A) Some tribes were often permitted to settle in Roman lands as federates
B) Many of the invaders were Christian, though with ideas shaped by Arius's teachings
C) Britain was able to hold out against the Germanic invaders
D) The empire lost the rich and productive North African lands to the Vandals, who once lived in Eastern Europe

Question 6

Historians have criticized the concept of the "fall" of Rome because

A) The eastern half of the empire did not collapse but remained strong for several more centuries
B) The concept of "transformation" fits the evidence better
C) The Germans themselves were transformed, both in their languages and in their religious beliefs
D) All of these options are correct

Question 7

The popes began to claim spiritual authority over the Christian church because

A) Some biblical writings-mainly a passage from the Book of Matthew-could be cited in support of this idea
B) The Germanic invasions were so destructive that for a time the bishop of Rome was the only bishop remaining in the west
C) Constantine, when he moved to Constantinople, left the government of Rome in the hands of its bishop
D) Of a need to fill a power void

Question 8

Pope Gregory the Great enhanced the position of the papacy by doing all of the following except

A) Formally ending the Arian heresy through his theological arguments
B) Taking over the day to day administration of the city of Rome
C) Exerting his authority outside Italy by offering financial assistance to distant churches
D) Negotiating a truce with the Lombards to prevent a sack of Rome

Question 9

The founder of Western Christian monasticism that had great influence on the Middle Ages was

A) Patrick of Ireland
B) Benedict of Nursia
C) Augustine
D) Gregory the Great

Question 10

The monastic movement founded by Benedict of Nursia

A) Encouraged fasting and asceticism among the monks
B) Permitted abbots to exercise authority over bishops
C) Established a balanced daily regime of work and prayer
D) Rejected education as unnecessary for salvation

Question 11

The most famous of the Merovingian rules of the Frankish kingdom was

A) Clovis
B) Theodoric
C) Odovacar
D) Pepin

Question 12

The Merovingians of the Frankish kingdom

A) Were converted to orthodox rather than to Arian Christianity
B) Were brutal and murderous in spite of their Christianity
C) Lost their real power to "mayors of the palace."
D) All of these options are correct

Question 13

Theodoric was a ruler of the

A) Visigoths
B) Ostrogoths
C) Franks
D) Vandals

Question 14

Which of the following is not true about the Ostrogothic kingdom?

A) It had a vigorous intellectual life, with one notable development being that of a dating system that remains the basis of our Western dates today
B) It was short lived, falling into disarray after the death of its great ruler, Theodoric and his successor
C) Its rulers briefly united the entire Roman Empire
D) It shared a weakness with several other Germanic states because its people were Arian rather than Roman Christians

Question 15

After numerous wanderings the Germanic Visigoths, who had started in Eastern Europe, settled in

A) North Africa
B) Italy
C) France
D) Spain

Question 16

The Visigothic kingdom in Spain

A) Was destroyed by invasions of Muslims from North Africa
B) Was noted for its political instability
C) Was noted for its persecution of Jews
D) All of these options are correct

Question 17

The Byzantine Empire

A) Was founded by Justinian
B) Ended when its capital, Constantinople, was sacked by the Visigoths
C) Was an eastern continuation of the Roman Empire
D) Ended when the name of its capital was changed to Istanbul

Question 18

The Byzantine emperor Justinian

A) Undertook a major codification of laws that has influenced law to the present
B) Was overthrown in the Nika revolt
C) Tore down the Hagia Sophia because it was a center of heresy
D) Imposed and enforced draconian laws upon his subjects

Question 19

Justinian's efforts to re-conquer the western Mediterranean

A) Led to the complete restoration of the Roman Empire throughout the Mediterranean
B) Led to the re-conquest of North Africa and a temporary re-conquest of Italy
C) Failed because he was defeated by the Ostrogothic queen, Theodora
D) Were defeated by Attila the Hun

Question 20

The capital of the Byzantine Empire was

A) Mecca
B) Rome
C) Alexandria
D) Constantinople

Question 21

To defend the empire, Byzantine rulers did all of the following except

A) Divide the empire into themes or military districts, raising local troops to defend each province
B) Develop a new weapon, Greek fire, for naval combat
C) Rely on force rather than diplomacy to solve international relations
D) Maintain a strong armored cavalry as the backbone of its army

Question 22

Unlike the imperial government in Rome, the imperial government in Constantinople

A) Banned chariot races
B) Used eunuchs in both civil and church administration
C) Forbade luxurious display
D) Continued Diocletian's persecution of Christians

Question 23

Cyril and Methodius

A) Converted many of the Slavic tribes to Christianity
B) Were the first great rulers of Kievan Russia
C) Were the originators of the iconoclast controversy in Byzantium
D) Were responsible for the schism of 1054 between the Latin and the Greek churches

Question 24

In what important way did the Byzantine world and the West separate themselves from each other?

A) The language of Byzantium was Latin, but the language of the west was Greek
B) The Byzantine world adopted Arian Christianity
C) The west rejected the iconoclastic religious ideas of the Emperor Leo III, leading to long-lasting religious disputes
D) The Byzantines conspired with the Visigoths to sack Rome

Question 25

The Kievan Rus

A) Converted to Eastern Christianity under its ruler Vladimir
B) Converted to Latin Christianity as a deliberate snub to Byzantium
C) Was also known as the kingdom of the Bulgars
D) Were the successors to the Golden Horde

Question 26

Before Muhammad

A) Camels were unknown in Arabia
B) Mecca was already an important trading city with connections to Egypt
C) Most of the Arabian peninsula was controlled by Persia
D) The Bedouin tribes had accepted Christianity

Question 27

Muhammad believed that he was

A) The Prophet of God, rescuing the divine message from Christian and Jewish distortions
B) The founder of an entirely new religion
C) An angel sent from God
D) The successor to Jesus

Question 28

During his lifetime, Muhammad

A) Destroyed Mecca because it would not accept him as the prophet of God
B) Spread his religious beliefs to the Bedouin tribes from his headquarters in Medina
C) Rejected the Julian Calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar
D) Made Jerusalem the center of the Islamic faith

Question 29

Which of the following is not among the Pillars of Islam?

A) The pilgrimage to Mecca
B) Prayer five times a day
C) A long guided study of Islamic theology before one could become a Muslim
D) Fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan and almsgiving

Question 30

The Islamic conquests succeeded in part because

A) The unification of the Bedouin and oasis Arabs created an effective fighting force
B) Of the willingness of dissident Christians to prefer Muslim rule in place of Byzantine rule
C) Of a belief that God supported their military expansion
D) All of these options are correct

Question 31

The Islamic world created a unified culture in the areas of conquest for all of the following reasons except

A) The elimination of all non-Islamic religions
B) The spread of Arabic as the language of rule and commerce as well as religion
C) The uniform enforcement of laws based on the Qur'an and the traditions attributed to the Prophet
D) A vigorous trade network that stretched from the Mediterranean to India

Question 32

Which of the following statements is correct regarding daily life in the Islamic world?

A) The Syrian Christian practice of women wearing veils was discarded
B) A great part of its commerce was the export of fine wines to both Europe and China
C) Muslim men were limited to four wives
D) Slavery was nonexistent in the Islamic world

Question 33

Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was

A) The first caliph or successor to Muhammad
B) The author of a medical text that laid the foundation for experimental science
C) The leader of the Shi'ites after the assassination of 'Ali
D) The greatest of all Arab mathematicians

Question 34

A major political question that divided Muslims after the death of the Prophet was

A) Whether toleration should be extended to Christians and Jews
B) Whether the political capital should be in Mecca, which had ceased to be the political center of the Islamic world
C) Whether commercial trade with non-Muslims should be permitted
D) Whether the caliphate should belong to the descendants of the Prophet and 'Ali, his son in law and cousin

Question 35

The Shi'ites

A) Are the majority sect among Muslims
B) Believe that the right to govern the Islamic world belongs to the descendants of 'Ali, the son in law of the Prophet
C) Believe that governance of the Islamic world should be purely political, with a clear distinction between religion and state
D) Erected their capital in Damascus

Question 36

The 'Abbasid caliphate

A) Overthrew the Umayyads, claiming that it would restore spiritual authority to the caliphate
B) Moved the capital to Baghdad, which gave Islam a more Persian cultural flavor
C) Never controlled the entire Islamic world and gradually lost its political dominance
D) All of these options are correct

Question 37

According to the text, the two greatest scientific advances in the Islamic world were in

A) Mathematics and medicine
B) Medicine and physics
C) Chemistry and mathematics
D) Biology and chemistry

Question 38

Tacitus, the Roman historian, wrote a book denouncing the customs and morals of the Germans.

Question 39

The early Germanic tribes glorified warfare, raiding and plundering.

Question 40

The movement of the Huns, an Asian rather than a Germanic people, seems to have been the trigger for the Germanic invasions of the Roman Empire.

Question 41

The "fall" of Rome occurred in such a manner that many contemporaries did not believe that Rome had "fallen."

Question 42

The early pope who, according to the text, dramatically forwarded the case for papal supremacy was Leo I.

Question 43

The monastic rules of Benedict of Nursia emphasized fasting and other ascetic activities.

Question 44

The Merovingian dynasty in France was overthrown by Pepin the Short, with the approval of the pope.

Question 45

Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths in Italy, persecuted Roman Christians because of his Arian beliefs.

Question 46

The Visigothic kingdom in Spain maintained strict laws against the Jews living there.

Question 47

The capital of the Byzantine Empire was Damascus.

Question 48

Justinian's greatest achievement may have been his Corpus Iuris Civilis, which has influenced western legal codes down to the present.

Question 49

Justinian was unable to drive the Vandals out of North Africa.

Question 50

The western popes supported the Byzantine emperor in the iconoclast controversy.

Question 51

The Russians converted to Latin rather than Greek Christianity.

Question 52

Muhammad was born into a wandering Arab Bedouin tribe.

Question 53

The 114 revelations that, according to Islamic tradition, were given by God to Muhammad are known as the Qur'an.

Question 54

Dissident Christians in the Byzantine Empire often preferred Muslim to Byzantine rule.

Question 55

The Islamic world was noted for its cultural diversity.

Question 56

Those who believe that the caliph should be chosen from among the family of the Prophet are called Sunnites.

Question 57

Avicenna (Ibn Sina) had a reputation both in the Islamic and the western worlds as the author of a standard text on history.

Question 58

The famous "Arabic" numbers were brought to Islamic mathematicians from India.

Question 59

The Roman historian who wrote on the customs and habits of the Germans was ________.

Question 60

The Asian tribe whose invasion of Europe precipitated the Germanic migration into the Roman Empire was the ________.

Question 61

The Goths, before their migration into the Roman Empire, were converted by Ulfila to a Christianity of the ________ variety rather than the Greek or Latin.

Question 62

The Germanic tribe that invaded North Africa was the ________.

Question 63

According to the text, the early pope whose activities, both secular and religious, forwarded the case of papal supremacy was Pope ________.

Question 64

The Italian who founded a monastic order and wrote a rule that defined the times for both work and prayer was ________.

Question 65

The royal family that ruled the Frankish kingdom in its earliest days was known as the ________.

Question 66

The Frankish "mayor of the palace" who seized the throne from the Merovingians with the support of the pope was ________.

Question 67

The great king of the Ostrogoths was ________.

Question 68

The capital of the Byzantine Empire was ________.

Question 69

A peasant who became one of the most important Byzantine emperors was ________, who was strongly aided by his empress, Theodora.

Question 70

Influencing western law from this day to the present was Justinian's great codification, the Corpus Iuris Civilis or in English, the ________.

Question 71

The religious controversy spawned by the Byzantine emperor Leo III's destruction of religious images is called ________.

Question 72

The Byzantine missionaries who started the conversion of the Slavic peoples to Christianity were these two, ________________.

Question 73

The Russian ruler who converted to Orthodox Christianity was ________ .

Question 74

The Arabian city where Muhammad grew up is ________.

Question 75

The revelations that, according to Islamic tradition, were given by God to Muhammad became the book of scripture called the ________.

Question 76

Those Muslims who believed that the office of caliph or successor to the Prophet, belonged with the family of Muhammad are known as ________.

Question 77

The Muslim author of the most important medical treatise of the Middle Ages was Avicenna or________.

Question 78

Overthrowing the Umayyads and establishing the Caliphate in Baghdad were the ________.

Question 79

Muslim mathematicians have given us the word ________ to describe an important branch of mathematics.

Question 80

Write an essay on Germanic life before the migrations into the Roman Empire. How did the German lifestyle differ from Roman lifestyle?