Middle Ages

Question 0

What is a fief

Answer 0

An area of land which the king granted a lord. In return the lord promises to fight for the king

Question 1

What is the feudal system

Answer 1

The name given to the system of land ownership in the middle Ages

Question 2

What is a motte

Answer 2

A man-made hill on which a Castle was built

Question 3

What is a bailey

Answer 3

The court yard of medieval Castle

Question 4

What is a moat

Answer 4

A deep ditch dug around the walls of a castle

Question 5

What is a keep

Answer 5

A large square tower

Question 6

What is a portcullis

Answer 6

An iron gate which could be lowered over the entrance of the Castle during an attack

Question 7

What is a turret

Answer 7

A small tower built on a castle wall

Question 8

What is a barbican

Answer 8

A defensive gatehouse at the entrance of a castle

Question 9

What is fosterage

Answer 9

A common practice in the middle Ages whereby the children of the lord and lady of the castle were sent to other noble families to supervise the up bringing

Question 10

What is hawking

Answer 10

A form of hunting whereby birds of prey are trained to hunt for small animals

Question 11

What is the Manor

Answer 11

The land owned by the lord

Question 12

What is demense

Answer 12

The land retained by the lord for his own use

Question 13

What is a page

Answer 13

The first stage of the Knights training. Young boys were taught manners and basic fighting skills

Question 14

What is squire

Answer 14

The second stage of a knights training. Squires accompanied full trained Knights and learn how to fight with real weapons

Question 15

What is a tournament

Answer 15

A contest between Knights

Question 16

What is jousting

Answer 16

A contest in which two Knights on horseback charge at each other with a lance in an attempt to unseat their opponent

Question 17

What is chivalry

Answer 17

A code of conduct for Knights

Question 18

What is the open field system

Answer 18

A system in which the land in the village is divided into three large fields and then divided into different strips, which were farmed by the serfs

Question 19

What is a serf

Answer 19

A peasant who was not allowed to leave the village without the lord’s permission

Question 20

What is a tithe

Answer 20

Every year the serfs had to give one tenth of their crops to the parish priest to pay for the upkeep of the church

Question 21

What is pottage

Answer 21

A vegetable stew

Question 22

What is a charter

Answer 22

A list of rules from the medieval town or city

Question 23

What is the toll

Answer 23

Money that had to be paid in order to trade in the medieval town

Question 24

What is the curfew

Answer 24

Once darkness came, townspeople had to extinguish all fires

Question 25

What is a guild

Answer 25

An organisation for craft workers which had strict rules for all its members

Question 26

What is pillory

Answer 26

A medieval form of punishment where an offender’s hands and head were locked in a wooden frame

Question 27

What is a sanctuary

Answer 27

A place of refuge from the law within church grounds

Question 28

What is a cloister

Answer 28

A walled, enclosed area in a monastery where monks prayed

Question 29

What is the abbot

Answer 29

The monk in charge of the monastery

Question 30

What is a tonsure

Answer 30

The shaving of the crown of a monk’s head

Question 31

What is the chapter house

Answer 31

It is where the monks held daily meetings

Question 32

What is the refectory

Answer 32

The dinning room in a monastery

Question 33

What is an infirmarian

Answer 33

A monk that looked after the sick

Question 34

What is an almoner

Answer 34

A monk that looked after visitors and distributed food to the poor

Question 35

What is the Black Death

Answer 35

A medieval plague