Ancient Civilizations – Unit 5: (Part II)
Middle Ages in Western Europe and the Crusades
Test Study Guide and Practice Exercises
Name: _______________________
Period: _____
Overall description: The test will consist of 6 sections. Each section in this study guide
provides helpful information on each of the test sections.
Section 1: Map Skills (For this part of the study guide, use “Geography Review:
Unit 5” handout. On the test, all map based questions will come from the list
of geographic features mentioned in that handout)
Section 2: Chronology: Place the following events in a chronological order (place an
appropriate letter below each year on the timeline)
a). Charles Martel stops Muslim invasion into Western Europe at the Battle of Tours
b). Approximate (very rough estimate) beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe
c). Charlemagne crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III
d). Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture
e). Pope Urban II calls on the Crusade against the Muslims at the Council of Claremont
f). Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks
g). King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella finish the Reconquista of Spain
h). William the Conqueror wins the Battle of Hastings, ushering the Norman rule in England
i). Bubonic plague arrives to Sicily on Genoese (Italian) merchant ships
j). Joan of Arc, after being condemned as a witch and a heretic, burned at the stake
1075
500
732
800
1066
1095
1347
1431
1453
1492
3. Matching (10 items from the list below will be selected for the matching section on the
test)
Fief
Feudal Contract Charlemagne
Saladdin
King Richard
Tithe
Crusades
Sacraments
Diocese
Clergy
Three-Field
System
Common Law
Serfs
Guild
Burghers
Vernacular
Manorialism
Feudalism
Joan of Arc
Excommunication
Reconquista
Simony
Secular
Monasticism
Scholastics
Franks
Lay Investiture
Gothic
Pope Urban II
Henry IV
William
of
Pope Gregory VII Inquisition
Thomas Aquinas
Magna Carta
Normandy
Parliament
Hugh Capet
Philip II
Great Schism
100 Years’ War
4. Multiple Choice: Below you will find clues / helpful hints for each multiple choice
question on the test. (in other words, review/know the following:)
1. Approximate years of the Middle Ages. Collapse of what empire ushered the Medieval
Age?
2. Non-European invaders during the early Middle Ages. Famous battle that stopped the
Muslim advance into Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
3. The Church’s involvement / influence in people’s lives during the Middle Ages.
4. Accomplishments / legacy of Charlemagne
5. Feudal contract or feudal obligations between various social classes in Western Europe
6. Effect of invasions on manorialism and trade in Western Europe
7. Church tax
8. Papal Supremacy – understanding / definition
9. Papal “punishments” to those who stand against him
10. Norman Conquest – where: from? to? / Leader? Etc.
11. Importance of Magna Carta (details, effects on the power of kings in England)
12. Principles of Magna Carta
13. Parliament – definition, composition, duties.
14. French dynasty of 300 years and their accomplishments
15. Basis of wealth in the Early Middle Ages vs. Late Middle Ages
16. Guilds – members, workers, services
17. Effects of the Commercial Revolution and growth of cities in Late Medieval Period
18. Contributions of Church scholars during the Middle Ages
19. The Crusades (what, where, who, when, why)
20. Consequences of the Black Death in Europe
21. Anti-Semitism
22. Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade
23. Consequences of the Crusades
24. Major cause of the Hundred Years’ War
25. Significant results of the Hundred Years’ War
26. Religious orders (difference between monks and friars)
27. The Great Schism
28. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella – Inquisition and Reconquista
Section 5: Short Answers: (two questions will be chosen from the following list of topics)
1. What was the most powerful political institution during the entire span of Middle Ages
in Western Europe: monarchy, nobility, or the Church? Explain with specific examples.
2. What were the Sacraments and why were they so important to the followers of Roman
Christianity in Western Europe during the Middle Ages?
3. Discuss major motivations of various social classes for joining the Crusades OR What
were the major effects of the Crusades in Europe?
4. Explain this statement: “Manors were mostly self-sufficient” in the Middle Ages.
5. List and explain major effects of the Black Death on Europe.
6. How did the Catholic Church influence the lives of European Christians? Provide
Examples.
Section 6: Primary Source: (There will be two primary sources on the test). Let’s
practice!
At the beginning of October, in the year of the incarnation of the Son of God 1347, twelve Genoese
galleys . . . entered the harbor of Messina (in Sicily). In their bones they bore so virulent a disease that
anyone who only spoke to them was seized by a mortal illness and in no manner could evade death. The
infection spread to everyone who had any contact with the diseased. Those infected felt themselves
penetrated by a pain throughout their whole bodies and, so to say, undermined. Then there developed
on the thighs or upper arms a boil about the size of a lentil which the people called "burn boil". This
infected the whole body, and penetrated it so that the patient violently vomited blood. This vomiting of
blood continued without intermission for three days, there being no means of healing it, and then the
patient expired.
Questions:
(1) What is being described in the passage?
(2) Where did this disease come from? (direction or region) – thinking question!