Medieval History Quiz: Part One

Question: What theologian, historian, and chronologist helped popularize the practice of dating events relative to the birth of Jesus Christ?

Answer: St. Bede the Venerable, who died in 735, was an Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian, and chronologist. He wrote Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (“Ecclesiastical History of the English People”), a source vital to the history of the conversion of peopl in the British Isles to Christianity. His method of dating events relative to Jesus Christ’s birth—that is, AD—came into general use through the popularity of the Historia ecclesiastica and two works he wrote on chronology.

Question: Which Crusade leader’s death while attempting to swim a stream was regarded by Muslims in the Holy Land as an act of God?

Answer: The German king and Holy Roman emperor Frederick I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was nearly 70 years old when he joined the Third Crusade at the request of Pope Gregory VIII. On June 10, 1190, Frederick drowned while attempting to swim a stream. His death broke the morale of his army. To Saladin and Muslim forces, who had been seriously alarmed by Frederick’s approach, the emperor’s death seemed an act of God.

Question: Which king of Scotland gained independence from English overlordship in 1189?

Answer: William I, also known as William the Lion, was king of Scotland from 1165 to 1214. Although he submitted to English overlordship for 15 years (1174–89) of his reign, he ultimately obtained independence for his kingdom.

Question: Which king of England began his reign in 1042 and was eventually made a saint because of his reputation for piety?

Answer: Edward, also called St. Edward the Confessor, was the king of England from 1042 to 1066. His reputation for piety preserved much of the dignity of the English crown. He was canonized in 1161.

Question: Which group propagated the views of the 14th-century theologian John Wycliffe, considered one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation in England?

Answer: In late medieval England, Lollards were followers, after about 1382, of John Wycliffe, a University of Oxford philosopher and theologian whose religious and social doctrines in some ways anticipated those of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. The name, used pejoratively, derived from the Middle Dutch lollaert (“mumbler”).

Question: Who was the first archbishop to rule the whole English church?

Answer: Consecrated by Pope St. Vitalian in 668, Theodore was the seventh archbishop of Canterbury and the first archbishop to rule the whole English church.

Question: Which king of Wessex prevented England from falling to the Danes in the 9th century?

Answer: Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex, a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. He prevented England from falling to the Danes in the 9th century.

Question: The teachings of which Roman Catholic saint were condemned in 1277 by the university masters of Paris?

Answer: In January 1274 St. Thomas Aquinas was personally summoned by Pope Gregory X to the second Council of Lyon, which was an attempt to repair the schism between the Latin and Greek churches. In 1277 the masters of Paris, the highest theological jurisdiction in the church, condemned a series of 219 propositions; 12 of these propositions were theses of Thomas. This was the most serious condemnation possible in the Middle Ages.

Question: Which author of a popular English medieval travel book made up many of the tales in his work and may never have traveled at all—if, in fact, he himself existed?

Answer: Sir John Mandeville was the purported author of a collection of travelers’ tales from around the world, generally known as The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The actual author of the tales remains as uncertain as the existence of an English knight named John Mandeville. The tales are selections from the narratives of genuine travelers, embellished with Mandeville’s additions and described as his own adventures.

Question: Which of these kings defended the Holy Roman empress Matilda’s rights to the English throne?

Answer: David Iwas one of the most powerful Scottish kings (reigned from 1124). David recognized his niece, the Holy Roman empress Matilda, as heir to Henry I in England, and from 1136 he fought for her against King Stephen, hoping thereby to gain Northumberland for himself.