Question 1

What factors led to the Babylonian Captivity?

Accepted Answer

After years of declining prestige and importance,the papacy reached what was perhaps its nadir during the period known as the Babylonian Captivity.The conflict grew out of tensions between Pope Boniface VIII and French king Philip IV.Boniface is considered a reforming pope who wanted to reassert the supremacy of Rome.In 1300,Boniface called for a celebration of papal jubilee,claiming that Rome was the center of the Christian world,which necessarily meant that the pope was the world's most important religious leader.Philip then sent knights to the papal residence,and as a result of his treatment at their hands,Boniface died shortly thereafter.
Boniface's replacement,Clement V,in a bid to secure the good graces of the king,moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon,in France.For seventy years,the papacy would remain located in France,a period known as the Babylonian Captivity,a period when the papacy came to be viewed as decadent and materialistic and lost a great deal of its prestige.

Question 2

Why did the Pax Mongolica come to an end?

Accepted Answer

A)  Conflict between rival trading groups increased and violence broke out.
B)  The Mongols lost control of the Silk Road to the Chinese.
C)  The Mongols began to push further West into Europe and war broke out.
D)  The Mamluk sultanate of Egypt began attacking caravans on the Silk Road.
E)  The Mongols converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and so closed the Silk Road to Western Roman Catholics. A

Question 3

The most obvious source of gold for European monarchs was China.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 4

In the thirteenth century,Moscow became an important center because:

Accepted Answer

A)  Muscovite dukes conquered much of Siberia.
B)  it became a center of trade for both eastern and western merchants.
C)  it became a tribute-collecting center for the Mongol Khanate.
D)  it became a leading intellectual center for the study of Greek texts.
E)  it became the site of an annual meeting for the leaders of various Mongol territories.

Question 5

As the power of the papacy weakened after 1250,popular piety:

Accepted Answer

A)  decreased dramatically.
B)  became formulaic as people used old and tired rituals.
C)  became technically heretical as the papacy no longer had the moral authority to effectively lead Christians in Europe.
D)  became markedly less spiritual and meditative.
E)  found its most creative forms of expression.

Question 6

In his Divine Comedy,most of the people Dante placed in Hell were:

Accepted Answer

A)  women.
B)  Jews.
C)  popes and other rulers.
D)  peasants.
E)  Muslims.

Question 7

The medieval painter Giotto is remembered especially because he:

Accepted Answer

A)  rendered architectural details with photographic precision.
B)  specialized in individual portraits,which were highly lifelike.
C)  developed a new technique for painting on canvas with oil paints.
D)  brought a deep humanity and naturalism to his religious images.
E)  developed a new technique for painting on wood using pigment mixed with egg white.

Question 8

Time became standardized in the fourteenth century due to:

Accepted Answer

A)  most towns agreeing that only one church bell would ring the hours.
B)  the increased use of sundials.
C)  the invention and proliferation of mechanical clocks.
D)  the recent adoption of Islamic methods of timekeeping.
E)  the standardization of candles,which burned hour by hour.

Question 9

Medieval colonies in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic were driven by a desire to foster trade.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Mongol governance was directed toward:

Accepted Answer

A)  ensuring absolute rule over all subject territories.
B)  creating a stable staffed by Mongols in all subject territories.
C)  securing tribute from subject territories.
D)  instituting taxes on trade and commerce in all subject territories.
E)  centralizing control in a single ruler.

Question 11

Increasing European interest in African gold was driven by:

Accepted Answer

A)  declining gold prices.
B)  the discovery of large gold deposits in Europe.
C)  increasing demand for bulk goods from Asia.
D)  decreasing demand for silver in Europe.
E)  increasing demand for expensive luxury goods in Europe.

Question 12

What events marked the decline of the papacy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What events marked the decline of the...

Question 13

What was the purpose of the early European colonies?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What was the purpose of the early...

Question 14

The Vikings did not permanently colonize the eastern coast of North America in part because:

Accepted Answer

A)  eastern North America had no goods of interest to the Vikings.
B)  their ships could not carry goods easily from North America to Europe.
C)  it was too cold in northern North America to contemplate permanent residence.
D)  they could find no land suitable for farming.
E)  Viking relations with the indigenous people of North America were not peaceful.

Question 15

The nominalist distinction between reason's ability to understand the natural world and its inability to understand the divine world encouraged people to:

Accepted Answer

A)  ignore the natural world.
B)  contemplate God alone,as all important knowledge came through revelation.
C)  understand the human world as a metaphor for the divine world.
D)  understand the real world without reference to the supernatural.
E)  look to universals in the world,which could provide some small insight into the divine world.

Question 16

The Mongol "horde" got its name from the Turkish word for "horn," no doubt due to the use of the battle horn in Mongol warfare.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

The name "The Babylonian Captivity" for the Avignon papacy references the:

Accepted Answer

A)  exile of Christians from Roman citizenship in the first three centuries c.e.
B)  exile of Christians from the Levant (ancient Babylonia) after Saladin's victory at the Horns of Hattin in 1187 c.e.
C)  exile of Christians from Spain after the Muslim conquest in the 700 c.e.
D)  exile of the Jews in Babylon during the sixth century b.c.e.
E)  diaspora of the Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 c.e.

Question 18

While the Mongol empire covered one-fifth of the world's surface,Kublai Khan primarily ruled:

Accepted Answer

A)  China and Mongolia.
B)  India.
C)  northern Africa.
D)  Arabia.
E)  Greenland.

Question 19

The thirteenth century had witnessed the development of the philosophical belief that the secular and spiritual worlds were rational,organized,and comprehensible to human beings.In the fourteenth century,William of Ockham:

Accepted Answer

A)  denied that human reason could prove fundamental theological truths.
B)  confirmed such a belief.
C)  argued that theological questions could all be resolved through reason,but questions concerning the natural world could not all be so resolved.
D)  determined that human reason could resolve nothing with regard to the world,with the exception of the truths of mathematics.
E)  argued that the only knowledge human beings could attain came through divine revelation alone.

Question 20

Edward made the territory of _________ a settler colony of England.

Accepted Answer

A)  Wales
B)  Scotland
C)  Ireland
D)  Brittany
E)  Cornwall

Exam 1: The Medieval World, 1250-1350

What factors led to the Babylonian Captivity?

Why did the Pax Mongolica come to an end?

The most obvious source of gold for European monarchs was China.

In the thirteenth century,Moscow became an important center because:

As the power of the papacy weakened after 1250,popular piety:

In his Divine Comedy,most of the people Dante placed in Hell were:

The medieval painter Giotto is remembered especially because he:

Time became standardized in the fourteenth century due to:

Medieval colonies in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic were driven by a desire to foster trade.

Mongol governance was directed toward:

Increasing European interest in African gold was driven by:

What events marked the decline of the papacy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?

What was the purpose of the early European colonies?

The Vikings did not permanently colonize the eastern coast of North America in part because:

The nominalist distinction between reason's ability to understand the natural world and its inability to understand the divine world encouraged people to:

The Mongol "horde" got its name from the Turkish word for "horn," no doubt due to the use of the battle horn in Mongol warfare.

The name "The Babylonian Captivity" for the Avignon papacy references the:

While the Mongol empire covered one-fifth of the world's surface,Kublai Khan primarily ruled:

The thirteenth century had witnessed the development of the philosophical belief that the secular and spiritual worlds were rational,organized,and comprehensible to human beings.In the fourteenth century,William of Ockham:

Edward made the territory of _________ a settler colony of England.