Everyday Life
What job did about 90% of people have during the Middle Ages?
Farming (peasants).
Who was at the top of medieval society?
The King or Queen.
What religion did most people in Western Europe follow?
Christianity.
Where did the Vikings come from?
Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark).
What was another name for the Black Death?
The Bubonic Plague.
Name two animals commonly raised on medieval farms.
Sheep, pigs, chickens, or cows.
What was the name of the system based on exchanging land for loyalty and service?
Feudalism.
Who was the leader of the Catholic Church?
Answer: The Pope.
What type of ship did the Vikings use?
Longships.
What animal helped spread the plague?
Rats (through fleas).
Why could a poor harvest be dangerous for medieval families?
It could lead to famine and food shortages.
What did nobles promise the king in return for land?
Loyalty, taxes, and soldiers.
Why did churches use paintings and stained-glass windows?
To teach Bible stories to people who could not read.
What important event happened at Lindisfarne in 793 CE?
The Vikings attacked the monastery.
Name two symptoms of the Black Death.
Fever, weakness, headaches, or swollen buboes.
Describe two ways life in Medieval Europe was different from today.
Examples: No electricity, no running water, no supermarkets, manual farming, simple homes.
Explain how feudalism benefited both nobles and peasants.
Nobles received food, taxes, and labour; peasants received land to farm and protection.
Give three jobs that monks performed in monasteries.
Copied books, farmed, prayed, taught students, cared for the sick, helped the poor.
Besides raiding, name three other things Vikings did.
Traded, explored, settled new lands, farmed, built ships, or worked as blacksmiths.
Why couldn't doctors stop the Black Death?
They didn't understand germs or bacteria and had no effective treatment.
Why did children usually not attend school during the Middle Ages?
They learned practical skills from their parents and helped with farming and household work.
Explain how each group in the feudal system depended on the others.
The king depended on nobles, nobles depended on knights and peasants, and peasants depended on nobles for protection.
Why were monasteries important to preserving history?
Monks copied books by hand, preserving knowledge from Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Christian Church.
Why were Viking longships so successful for travel and raids?
They were fast, could cross oceans, and were shallow enough to travel up rivers.
How did the Black Death weaken the feudal system?
So many people died that workers became scarce, allowing peasants to demand better wages and conditions, reducing the power of nobles.