Unit 6: Middle Ages - Short Answer Possibilities & Essay

Question 1

What was chivalry? What did it cover?

Answer 1

A clear code for how men should conduct themselves during the Middle Ages. This brought order. It covered areas of conduct and love.

Question 2

What did the code chivalry blend?

Answer 2

It blended Christian virtue, with the virtues a knight would need: bravery, loyalty, and courage.

Question 3

What were the things that would happen to a knight publicly if he fell short of the ideal?

Answer 3

• His shield hung upside down
• Armor stripped from him
• Weapons broken
• Would be placed in a coffin and carried to a church where a priest would hold a funeral service and declare him dead to honor.

Question 4

Was there room for each person in towns? How were the sanitary conditions?

Answer 4

There was very little room for each person and sanitary conditions were poor.

Question 5

What was done with garage/other waste? What did this cause?

Answer 5

Many times people simply threw garbage and other waste directly into the street. Disease and fire were rampant.

Question 6

Where would people gather in the town?

Answer 6

People would gather at the marketplace where merchants would have their goods on display.

Question 7

What would merchants in the marketplace do to indicate what was for sale at their shop?

Answer 7

They would often hang a symbol (a twisted pretzel, anvil etc.)

Question 8

What was introduced to the Europeans as a result of the Crusades?

Answer 8

The Europeans were introduces to a much broader world.

Question 9

What’s was increased as a result of the Crusades?

Answer 9

Trade was increased between Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Question 10

Who did the Crusades especially increase religious tolerance between?

Answer 10

Especially among Christians and Muslims. But relationship between Jews and Christians continued to be tense.

Question 11

At the start of the Middle ages, the Church was concerned with carrying the Gospel to nonbelievers. What did they begin to focus on over time?

Answer 11

Taking back the Holy Lands, which had fallen to the Seljuk Turks.

Question 12

Where did people have to make a pilgrimage to?

Answer 12

To Jerusalem for a long time. But Muslims permitted them. After the Turks defeated Jerusalem in 1085, they cracked down on Christians coming to the city.

Question 13

What was the journey that the Pilgrims now faced?

Answer 13

A much more dangerous one. The goal became to take back Jerusalem.

Question 14

Who did the Byzantine Emperor Alexis Comenus I ask to send help to the East in 1091?

Answer 14

Pope Urban II

Question 15

Who did Pope Urban II long to reunite?

Answer 15

The East and the Western Church. He asked nobles to help in unifying the church.

Question 16

What did Pope Urban II call this reunification? What was the purpose of it?

Answer 16

A Crusade. The purpose was to bring the Church back together and to free the Holy Land of “infidels” (Muslims).

Question 17

How many people joined in the first Crusade? What kinds of people joined?

Answer 17

Close to 100,000 people. Soldiers, knights, and non-combatants.

Question 18

What were the motives for participating in the first Crusade?

Answer 18

• Obligation/obeying God’s will
• Hope of wealth and land/to improve status
• Adventure & opportunity to escape from
  their peasant lives
• Payment for sin/hoped to achieve salvation

Question 19

What did Peter the Hermit do?

Answer 19

Peter the Hermit assembled a group of 30,000 peasants that set out for the Holy Lands before all of the nobles were ready.

Question 20

What did Peter the Hermit’s group of 30,000 peasants do?

Answer 20

They set out for Constantinople and killed many Jews along the way. When they finally arrived in Jerusalem, many of them were either killed or sold into slavery.

Question 21

Afterr taking many important cities, the Crusaders finally arrived at Jerusalem, in the spring of 1099. What did Godfrey and his troops do?

Answer 21

They broke through the walls and massacred the Muslims, Jews, and even Christians dresses in “Eastern Clothes.”

Question 22

What did most Crusaders want to do after achieving victory? What happened to the land? What was built?

Answer 22

They wanted to return to their homes. The land, though, needed protecting and was divided up into four kingdoms. They built a fortified castle in each city, a few of which can still be seen today.

Question 23

After Pepin’s death, his son Charles continued to build a strong central government. What title was he given?

Answer 23

He so impressed everyone in the empire that they gave him the titles of Charles the Great or Charlemagne.

Question 24

What was Charlemagne’s main goal? What did he conquer?

Answer 24

His main goal was to unite all Germanic tribes into a single Christian Kingdom. He conquered an empire that reunited large areas of the Western Roman Empire.

Question 25

Who did Charlemagne defeat? What did he win back? What did he establish?

Answer 25

He defeated the Lombards in Italy. Won back lands in Northern Spain from the Muslims after crossing the Pyrenees Mts. He established a buffer zone between Muslim controlled Spain and Christian Europe that was known as the “Spanish March.”

Question 26

Charlemagne also battled the non-Christian Saxons and forced them to convert to Christianity. What did Charlemagne promote throughout the empire? How did he support this?

Answer 26

He promoted Christianity throughout the empire by supporting the work of missionaries, and organizing parishes.

Question 27

To support the parishes, what was each Christian was required to pay?

Answer 27

10% or a turned of their income to the Church.

Question 28

What did Charlemagne closely ally himself with?

Answer 28

He allied himself very closely with the Church and in 800, Pope Leo III was driven from his throne in Rome.

Question 29

Where did Charlemagne go to after Pope Leo III was driven from his throne in Rome? Who did he bring back?

Answer 29

He fled to Charlemagne’s court. Charlemagne brought the Pope back to Rome and reestablished the papal throne.

Question 30

In gratitude, On Christmas Day, Charlemagne attended Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. What did the Pope do as Charlemagne finished praying?

Answer 30

The Pope placed a crown on his head and all the people of Rome cheered.

Question 31

Why was the Pope crowing Charlemagne considered a mixed blessing?

Answer 31

Even when the Pope gave him the crown, he could still take it away. The crown bound him together with the church. This shows that the Pope still holds authority over the King.

Question 32

Charlemagne established a strong government. Who did he recruit?

Answer 32

He recruited talented officials to govern all 300 of his districts and to carry out is policies.

Question 33

What were Charlemagne’s recruited officials known as?

Answer 33

Missi Dominick or Lord’s Messengers

Question 34

Charlemagne also established the _________ ___________: a revival of learning. What did he want to improve?

Answer 34

Carolingian Renaissance. He wanted to improve learning throughout the empire.

Question 35

What did Charlemagne do to encourage education?

Answer 35

He invited scholars from all over Europe to his court. Monasteries were established: schools and training for clergy.

Question 36

What is Feudalism? How did it come about?

Answer 36

As the Roman Empire collapsed, people began to search for aid. They looked to large landowners or monasteries for this help. At the center of this system were the relationships (how people related to each other) between different groups of people.

Question 37

Who was at the top of the Feudal System?

Answer 37

The King. He was the most powerful in the land.

Question 38

Who came after the King in the Feudal System?

Answer 38

The Lords. They were most often wealthy landowners. They wanted and needed respect and protections. To gain these things, they granted “fiefs” or portions of land. Lords could rent land, receive income, and the food from the land.

Question 39

Who came after the lords in the Feudal System?

Answer 39

The vassals. They would swear a solemn oath to their lord in a ritual that was known as “investiture.” As a vassal, he had essentially complete control over the land given to him and everything/everyone on it.

Question 40

What could vassals do? What were they required to do?

Answer 40

Could coin money, wage war, make alliances, or collect tolls. The only thing that he was required to do was defend his lord if called to do so.

Question 41

What was the main goal as a vassal?

Answer 41

To try and increase your power over even lower individuals.

Question 42

If you were a vassal, you would be required to perform certain services: What would you have to serve as? What could you do instead of serving the lord? What did this mean? What could the lords do if a vassal did not fulfill his obligations?

Answer 42

Might have to serve as a solider for a couple of months or serve in some other capacity. As time went on, a vassal could pay “shield money” instead of serving the lord. This meant to pay someone else to fight for you. If a vassal did not fulfill his obligations or didn’t have any heirs, their lord could take his land.

Question 43

The most long-lasting invasion that came against Europe were those of the Vikings. Why were the Vikings forced to seek land in other parts of Europe?

Answer 43

• Overpopulation
• Poor farming conditions in Scandinavia
• Monasteries were an easy way to get rich
  quick on treasure and slaves.
• Primogeniture: younger sons received no
  land inheritance when the father died, the
  eldest son got the land.
• The Vikings enjoyed sailing and fishing.

Question 44

Sailing from northern harbors in long boats, What did the Vikings burn and loot?

Answer 44

Towns, castles, churches, and monasteries. Vikings exploded, raided, and traded along the rivers of Eastern Europe and Russia.

Question 45

Who did the Vikings also go up against? What were the Vikings paid to do as a result of this?

Answer 45

They also went up against Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor was so impressed that he paid the Vikings to be elite soldiers in their army.