Chapter 19 - Castles and Fortified Towns of Medieval Times

Question 1

Ch 19: What did JRR Tolkien write a review of?

Answer 1

Beowolf.

Question 2

Ch 19: Who was Beowolf?

Answer 2

A dude form Sweden that kills the monster named Grendel.

Question 3

Ch 19: A mead hall, a prototypical structure of Northern Europe and Scandinavia used for social and civic purposes, is also known as _____________.

Answer 3

Longhouse

Question 4

Ch 19: Why were the Middle [Medieval] Ages called the Dark Ages by Petrarch?

Answer 4

Evidence of monumental architecture is largely absent.

Question 5

Ch 19: As the Roman Empire declined, the systematic approach to infrastructure, funding through collection of taxes, and a legal system declined for most cities. These are the essentials of sustaining _______ life.

Answer 5

Civic.

Question 6

Ch 19: The Middle [Medieval] Ages are the time period between the ______ ________ and the _________.

Answer 6

Roman Empire; Renaissance.

Question 7

Ch 19: Two styles of architecture that dominate the Middle [Medieval] Ages are _______ and _________.

Answer 7

Romanesque and Gothic

Question 8

Ch 19: Romanesque is subdivided into these 2 periods, while Gothic is subdivided into these 3 periods.

Answer 8

Romanesque = Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque; Early , Middle, and Late/Flamboyant.

Question 9

Ch 19: The ______ dominated the physical appearance of towns and cities as well as their socioeconomic structures.

Answer 9

Church

Question 10

Ch 19: The most dominant characteristic of medieval secular architecture is its _________ posture. Describe what this means.

Answer 10

defensive. Most towns had walls around them.

Question 11

Ch 19: During the Middle Ages, the Church referred to this specific faith.

Answer 11

The Roman Catholic Church.

Question 12

Ch 19: Most important churches had a reliquary - what was this?

Answer 12

A shrine in which the relics of the saints were stored (piece of a skull, hair, clothing, etc).

Question 13

Ch 19: What were the Crusades?

Answer 13

Military expeditions to reclaim the Holy Lands from the Levant.

Question 14

Ch 19: What 2 effects did the Crusades have on architecture?

Answer 14

Crusader castles and architectural motifs.

Question 15

Ch 19: Who were the 2 main crusader military Christian orders?

Answer 15

Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller

Question 16

Ch 19: The crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers in present day Syria could house up to ________ soldiers.

Answer 16

4000

Question 17

Ch 19: What was the prototypical wall structure of fortified towns?

Answer 17

Concentrically walled.

Question 18

Ch 19: Most Middle [Medieval] castles were built using this material.

Answer 18

Wood

Question 19

Ch 19: A typical castle was built on a flattened _________ and the sides were steepened to create a perimeter ditch called a ________.

Answer 19

mound; motte.

Question 20

Ch 19: What is a ‘keep’?

Answer 20

a tower or timber house to be used as a place of refuge/defense.

Question 21

Ch 19: Details about Medieval castle structures are located on the ___ page of the chapter (in the middle of the chapter.

Answer 21

3rd page.

Question 22

Ch 19: What did Henry VIII do to his wife, and what consequence did it have on the Church?

Answer 22

He had he beheaded because he was firing blanks. This lead to the cessation from the Roman Catholic Church to the formation of the Church of England.

Question 23

Ch 19: Castles are the visible embodiment of ________ _________.

Answer 23

social hierarchy.

Question 24

Ch 19: What is unique about the situation of Caerphilly Castle in Wales?

Answer 24

Instead of being on a hilltop, it’s located within a bowl.

Question 25

Ch 19: Fortified towns - What are battlements?

Answer 25

a low, protective wall along the edge of a roof (parapet) broken by slots.

Question 26

Ch 19: Fortified towns - what are crenels/embrasures?

Answer 26

the slots in a parapet (wall along the edge of roof).

Question 27

Ch 19: Fortified towns - what are merlons?

Answer 27

The alternating solid portion of the battlement.

Question 28

Ch 19: Fortified towns - what are turrets?

Answer 28

a small tower extending above a parapet.

Question 29

Ch 19: Fortified towns - what does it mean if a battlement is either crenelated or castellated?

Answer 29

If the parapet has turrets, battlements, or both.

Question 30

Ch 19: Fortified towns - what is a machicolation in relation to a parapet?

Answer 30

It is reference to the uppermost parapet projecting outward.

Question 31

Ch 19: The walls of larger cities would be rebuilt ________ from the central core when needed as populations grew and the city expanded.

Answer 31

Outward.

Question 32

Ch 19: Some medieval towns had the appearance of a ________ monumental work of architecture from a distance (achieved by the uniformity of building materials).

Answer 32

single.

Question 33

Ch 19: What 4 ways could a medieval town be sieged?

Answer 33

(1) Flood with attackers
(2) use siege engines to batter the walls
(3) dig under the walls
(4) cut off resources (food, water supplies)

Question 34

Ch 19: What is remarkable about the land that Le Mont St. Michel is built on?

Answer 34

It’s on an estuary that floods and has quicksand.

Question 35

Ch 19: On the island of Bornholm there are examples of religious architecture that are secular in their character - why is that? What kind of openings/windows did they have?

Answer 35

They were places of worship that were built for defense. The windows were ‘Y’ shaped to shoot arrows.