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Quiz on the Middle Ages: Key Events and Figures

This quiz on the Middle Ages explores key events, figures, and developments that shaped this historical period. Test your knowledge on significant wars, influential leaders, and cultural advancements.

#Middle Ages #History #Medieval #Events #Figures #Culture

1 Edward I waged war against the Principality of Wales and the Kingdom of Scotland, with mixed success, to assert what he considered his right to the entire island of ________.

2 ________ of the Franks is a well-known example of a barbarian king who chose Catholic orthodoxy over Arianism.

3 He divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and ________, his youngest son, giving Lothair the opportunity to choose his half.

4 The return of this Latin proficiency to the kingdom of the Franks is regarded as an important step in the development of ________.

5 Aristotle especially became very important, his rational and logical approach to knowledge influencing the scholars at the newly forming ________ which were absorbing and disseminating the new knowledge during the 12th Century Renaissance.

6 Martial societies such as the Avars and the ________ were still capable of causing major disruption to the newly emerging societies of Western Europe.

7 The division between east and west was encouraged by Constantine, who refounded the city of ________ as the new capital, Constantinople, in 330.

8 The dynasty took a new direction in 732, when Charles Martel won the ________, halting the advance of Muslim armies across the Pyrenees.

9 Urban promised ________ to any Christian who took the Crusader vow and set off for Jerusalem.

10 The Emperor Louis recognized his eldest son ________ as emperor and confirmed him in the Regnum Italicum (Italy).

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Roman Catholic prelature of Trondheim was founded in 1843 and based on the archbishop diocese abandoned in 1537 with the Reformation on the shrine of St. Olav, one of the most important pilgrim destinations in the Middle Ages.
  • the accolade (pictured) was a ceremony for knighthood in the Middle Ages.
  • the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant discovered in 2005 is the only known British-made medieval astrolabe.
  • the English mediæval shrine statue Our Lady of Ipswich, ordered to be destroyed during the Reformation, might have survived in an Italian village.
  • thanks to its well-preserved medieval fortifications, the town of Paczków is called the Polish Carcassone.
  • of Kraków's eight original medieval city gates, only the Gothic Florian Gate (pictured) remains.
  • one theory suggests that the unique Chester Rows (pictured) were constructed in the medieval era on top of debris from the ruins of Roman buildings.
  • since humidity and the cold climate inhibited its production in the Low Countries, salt was imported from Iberia in the Middle Ages.
  • the chaperon was a hat from the Middle Ages that could be worn in at least six different ways.
  • the Royal Road leading into Wawel Castle (pictured) through the medieval Old Town, goes by way of the only defensive gate still standing after the modernization of Kraków.
  • the Speculum Humanae Salvationis (Mirror of Human Salvation) (one page pictured) was one of the most popular illustrated books of the Middle Ages.
  • the depictions of fish on the medieval statue of St Christopher in Norton Priory, Cheshire, England, are so realistic that five different species can be identified.
  • the most comprehensive history of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages was composed by Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi, whose tomb (pictured) lies at the base of the Mount of Olives.
  • the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, though not written by Saint Jerome himself, was the most widely-used martyrology during the Middle Ages.
  • the Dictionary of the Middle Ages (1989) is the largest English language encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, covering over 100,000 topics.
  • the spangenhelm was the most popular war helmet in Europe and the Middle East during the early Middle Ages.
  • the Swallow's Nest (pictured), constructed in 1911-1912 and located on top of a 40 meter cliff in Crimea, Ukraine, is a medieval-type castle which has survived an earthquake measuring 6-7 on the Richter scale.
  • most knights of the Middle Ages wore chausses as leg protection.
  • many of the Dartmoor longhouses built during the Middle Ages still stand today.
  • Hockenhull Platts, three bridges on a medieval road in Cheshire, England, were crossed in 1353 by the Black Prince, in 1698 by Celia Fiennes, and in 1780 by Thomas Pennant.
  • Hortus deliciarum (pictured) was a medieval illuminated encyclopedia created to teach about everything, including the torments of hell.
  • Maturinus was the patron saint of jesters, comic actors, and clowns during the Middle Ages.
  • government by itineration was a key mechanism of government in the Middle Ages in northern and eastern Europe.
  • Crypt Chambers, a department store in Chester, Cheshire, England, was built in 1858 above one of the best medieval crypts in the city.
  • Rabanus Maurus's attribution of the Liber Pontificalis to Saint Jerome was the prevailing view throughout the Middle Ages.
  • Chorley Old Hall, the oldest inhabited country house in Cheshire, consists of two ranges, one medieval (c.1300) (pictured), the other Elizabethan (mid-16th century).
  • Cistercian architecture, "counted among the most beautiful relics of the Middle Ages", was made possible by the Cistercian Order's innovativeness and skill as metallurgists.
  • samite was a luxurious and heavy silk fabric worn in the Middle Ages, and famously by Tennyson's Lady of the Lake (pictured).
  • St. Michael's Castle (pictured) was built like a medieval fortress for the personal protection of the Russian Emperor Paul I, who ironically was assassinated in his bedroom shortly after moving in to his new castle.
  • ancient herds of White Park, a rare breed of horned cattle, have been preserved in Great Britain from the Middle Ages.
  • during the Middle Ages, a papal legate holding a legatine council outranked all other council attendees.
  • many regional cuisines of medieval Europe were heavily influenced by Arab cuisine through contact with Muslim Iberia and Sicily.
  • a crow-stepped gable is a roof slope design arising in the Middle Ages which was decorative, but also facilitated access to chimneys for maintenance.
  • Sir William Cheyne has been described as one of the most obscure Chief Justices of the King's Bench in the late medieval period.
  • St Baglan's Church, a medieval church in Llanfaglan, Gwynedd, Wales, is listed Grade I because it is unrestored, and has an exceptionally complete set of 18th-century furnishings.
  • St Mary's Church, Derwen, Denbighshire, Wales, is listed Grade I because it possesses an exceptionally complete rood screen and loft and otherwise retains much of its medieval character.
  • Bordeaux wine merchants in the Middle Ages, concerned about the competition from nearby regions, prohibited trading access to Bordeaux until most of their wine was sold.
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