Cultures of Europe 1
Session 4
The Medieval Age
1. How long did the Medieval Age, also
known as the Middle Ages, last?
a) from the 10th to the 12th centuries
b) from the 4th to the 15th centuries
c) from the 12th to the 16th centuries
2. Which of the following definitions is
correct for the word chivalry”?
a) the social system that existed during
the Middle Ages in Europe in which
people were given land and protection
by a nobleman, and had to work and
fight for him in return
b) any of the wars fought in Palestine by
European Christian countries against
the Muslims in the Middle Ages
c) the religious and moral system of
behaviour which the „perfect” knight
was expected to follow
3. What is the Roman Empire?
a) it extended through 16 centuries and included several stages in the evolution of the
Roman state. It encompasses a period in which it was divided into western and eastern
halves, and the history of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire that continued through
the Middle Ages and to the beginning of the Modern Era
b) centred on the capital of Constantinople, it was the direct continuation of the Roman
state, distinguishable from ancient Rome in its predominantly Greek culture and language
rather than Latin, with Orthodox Christianity as the state church after 380, replacing
Roman polytheism
c) a medieval Germanic empire
4. King Arthur
Historians glimpse him in Arturius, a 6thcentury warrior […]. Celtic ______ clustered
about his memory in Wales, even in Brittany
where some of his men fled when he _____. By
Richard’s day troubadours sang of a ______
Arthur, championed by 12 stalwarts who sat at
a Round Table lest _____ claim him
precedence.
The Name "Excalibur" was first _____ for King
Arthur's sword by the French Romancers. It
was not the famous "Sword in the Stone"
(which broke in battle), but a ______ sword
acquired by the King through the intercession
of his druidic advisor, Merddyn (Merlin).
Worried that Arthur would fall in _____, Merlin
took the King to a magical lake where a
mysterious hand thrust itself up from the
water, ______ aloft a magnificent sword. It was
the Lady of the Lake offering Arthur a _______
unbreakable blade, fashioned by an elf smith,
along with a scabbard which would ______ him
as long as he wore it.
Complete the sentences with
the missing words.
any, fell,
myths, chivalrous
second, holding
battle, protect
magic, used
5. The Vikings
Match the two corresponding parts of sentences in such a way that they create a
whole.
1. In 793
2. The Vikings were
3. The Viking age spanned 250
turbulent years,
4. Their society was simple in which
5. The ancient religion of the North
6. Besides superstitions
a) years of bloodshed, of discovery, of
colonization
b) held no promise of salvation, luck
rankd first
c) the Vikings stormed Europe
d) merchants as well as warriors
e) they had an affinity for ships and a
passion for poetry.
f) men lived by farming hunting and
fishing.
6. Charlemagne and William the Conqueror
Portait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer
Portrait of William the Conqueror
by an unknown artist
7. The feudal system
8. Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood
There were strict rules of courtly ____ and the art of
courtly love was practised by the members of the courts
across ____ during the Middle Ages. The romance, rules
and art of courtly love ____ knights and ladies to show
their admiration regardless of their marital state. It was a
common occurrence for a married lady to give a token to a
knight of her choice to be worn during a Medieval
tournament. There were ____ which governed courtly love
but sometimes the parties, who started their relationship
with such elements of courtly love, would become deeply
involved. A _____ example of a relationship which was
stirred by romantic courtly love and romance is described
in the Legend of _____, where his Queen, Guinevere fell in
love with Sir Lancelot. Many illicit court romances were
fuelled by the practise and art of courtly love.
9. The art of courtly love
The origins of Courtly Love were believed to be in
Aquitaine in France in the _____ and spread to other
European countries. The art of courtly love was practised
in English courts from the 1300's to the 1500's. During this
period of time _____ were arranged and had little to do
with love. A successful marriage was perceived as one that
brought material _____ to the participants and their
families. As love was clearly unrelated to marriage the
requirement for romance could be gained outside marriage
- as long as the rules relating to chastity and fidelity were
strictly adhered to.
famous, Europe, rules , advantages, King Arthur, 12th century , love, allowed , marriages
10. Francis of Assisi
a) His Friars Minor (Friars hoped his
brothers would always be less than all
others) followed a path of simplicitly and
humility.
b) Francis and his brothers” roved the
countryside singing, begging, working at
whatever tasks came to hand.
c) Turning from happy-go-lucky days of his
youth in Italy, Francis created a
brotherhood to pursue the pure life of the
Gospels.
d) His humility, his innocent love of all
creatures, cast a glow across the centuries
whose radianace warms mankind yet.
e) Francis preached to simple folk, even
urged my little brethren birds to love
God, for ye do not sow, neither do ye
reap, yet He keeps and feeds you.
11. Voices form the Middle Ages.
Match the enumerated titles with the nationality of their author.
1. Divine Comedy
a) English
2. Beowulf
b) French
3. Song of Roland
c) Italian
4. Canterbury Tales
d) Italian
5. Decameron
e) French
6. Ballade
(„I die of thirst beside a fountain”)
f)
English
12. Building Great Cathedrals
columns, down,
capped, carry,
The ribs ____ the vault’s
weight down to the
columns. But this
outward thrust would
splay the _____ if there
were no buttresses to
counter the pressure.
Slender stone bridges do
this, leaping _____ and
out from one pier to
another, each junction
_____ by a pinnacle.
13. The Life of the Scholar
Search for knowledge, pursuit of pleasure filled a
student’s day. Up at dawn, he tidied his cell-like
room. At morning classes the professor lectured
ex cathedra; some listened, others scanned texts
or daydreamed. Scholars jotted notes on wax
slates, few could afford costly parchment. Boys
of 12 or 13 could begin in liberal arts, while older
collegians pursued law, medicine, theology.
14. Trade in the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages saw the rapid expansion of
Medieval trade and commerce. The most
important contribution to this was through
______________.
The Medieval navigators imported spices,
groceries, linen, Egyptian paper, pearls, perfumes,
and a thousand other rare and choice articles. In
exchange they offered chiefly the precious metals
in bars rather than coined, and it is probable that
at this period they also exported ______________.
The bad state of the roads, the little security they
offered to travellers, the extortions of all kinds to
which foreign merchants were subjected, and the
System of fines and tolls which each landowner
thought right to exact, before letting merchandise
pass through his domains, ___________________.
Improvements to the Middle Ages trade and
commerce were made by improving the roads and
security. The coasts were protected from piratical
incursions; lighthouses were erected at dangerous
points, to prevent shipwrecks; and treaties of
commerce with foreign nations, including even the
most distant, ______________________________.
o
all created obstacles to the
development of Middle Ages trade
and commerce.
o
which had previously only existed
by land, and that with great
difficulty
o
the Crusades.
o
guaranteed the liberty and security
of traders abroad.
o
iron, wines, oil, and wax.
The compass, known in Italy as early as
the twelfth century but little used until
the fourteenth, enabled the mercantile
navy to discover new routes, and it was
thus that true Middle Ages maritime
trade and commerce may be said
regularly to have begun. The sailors of
the Mediterranean, with the help of the
compass dared to pass the Straits of
Gibraltar, and to venture on the ocean.
From that moment trade and
commercial intercourse,_____________,
was permanently established between
the northern and southern harbours of
Europe.
References
Courtly Love. Retrieved from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/courtly-love.htm
King Arthur. Retrieved from http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/excalibur.html
Middle Ages Trade and Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middleages-trade-commerce.htm
The Age of Chivalry. Edited by Merle Severy. Washington D. C.: National Geographic Society, 1969.
The Byzantine Empire. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/byzantine-empire
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
The Feudal System. Retrieved from
History on the Net. com http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/feudalism.htm
The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire. Retrieved from http://www.roman-empire.net/
The Roman Empire. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Roman_Empire