A World Lit only by Fire Summer Reading Test
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A World Lit Only By Fire Summer Reading Test
Section 1: The Medieval Mind
1. Whose country was described as “the back of a horse?”
The Huns country
2. Who declared he was “above grammar?”
Sigismund
3. Who invaded Rome in A.D. 410?
The Visigoths under the leadership of Alaric
4. Who was the last Roman emperor of the west?
Romulus Augustulus
5. What were the serfs basic agricultural tools?
Picks, forks, spades, rakes, scythes, and balanced sickles
6. Why did outlaws flourish in the Hercynian Forest?
The were seldom pursued
7. What replaced Rome as the imperial fixer of European frontiers?
Constantinople
8. What is the Nicene Creed?
The Creed that Constantine set up for his theology
9. What was the first great work to shape and define the medieval mind?
De civitate Dei
10. What did Canossa symbolize?
Secular submission
11. When did the designation of saints emerge?
Second and third centuries after Christ
12. Why did Leo III become a very unpopular emperor?
He issued a Draconian act in 726
13. From where did the name exchequer emerge?
Royal treasury officials were so uneducated they used a checkered cloth for doing sums
14. What was the lowest title of the aristocratic order?
Knight
15. Why were proclamations from the Holy See called bulls?
Bulla, a leaden seal which made them official
16. Why was the papacy moved to Avignon in 1305?
Italian disorders and a campaign to outlaw the Catholic Knights Templar
17. Why do we know nothing of the architects and builders of Chartres or Canterbury?
They were glorifying God. To them their identity in this life was irrelevant
18. What was the Great Schism?
The period in the Church where there were multiple popes, or antipopes, at one time
19. When did the Renaissance begin?
Early 1400s
Section 2: The Shattering
1. Who was the next explorer to successfully navigate the Straits of Magellan after Magellan?
Sir Francis Drake
2. What was the policy of Spain toward Jews beginning 1492?
Give them 3 months to accept Christian baptism or be banished from the country
3. What was the most celebrated crime of the Middle Ages?
Murdering the heirs of royal thrones to become king
4. According to Manchester, at any given moment the most dangerous enemy in Europe was who?
The reigning pope
5. Who said “God has given us the papacy. Let us enjoy it?”
Leo X
6. What scriptural precedent did the Church use to justify the sale of indulgences?
Matthew 16:19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
7. When did the Church establish rules of celibacy for the clergy?
1123 and 1139
8. Who conspired to murder Lorenzo de Medici?
Pope Sixtus IV and the Pazzi family
10. What were the three largest European cities in 1500?
Paris, Naples, and Venice
11. Why were there no correctional facilities in the sixteenth century?
Sixteenth-century men did not believe that criminal characters could be reformed or corrected
12. Who are the Fuggers?
A family that became wealthy as moneylenders
13. How large was the average man of the time?
135 pounds and 5 feet tall
14. What was the life expectancy for the peasants of Europe in the 16th century?
Most were expected not to live past 30-40
15. What were the required uniforms for lepers, prostitutes, and Jews?
Lepers: They had to have clappers to warn people that he/she is coming
Jews: Yellow round patch on ones breast
Prostitutes: Distinctive colored hoods and skirts
16. What substituted for prison terms at the time?
Pilgrimages to holy places such as Rome or Jerusalem
17. Why was Castile unique for travelers?
It was guarded by archers
18. Who was the model for Machiavellis The Prince?
Cesare Borgia