General Knowledge
During the medieval period, how long ago did buildings, towns and cities date back to?
(Isabella)
1000 years
How did they catch criminals in medieval times?
(Arthur)
All the townspeople catch the criminals as there is no police force.
What was the focus of warfare?
Capturing the enemies stronghold, usually a castle.
What is the name of the Medieval Architecture?
(Ashley)
The name of medieval architecture was named “Gothic Architecture”
Who was the most likely people to be able to read and write?
(Arthur)
The clergy.
How long did the medieval period in Europe last?
(Ashley)
The medieval period lasted for approximately 1000 years.
What were women expected to do when they married?
Run their husband's home and raise children.
Name three areas of medieval life in which music is important.
(Naomi)
Music marked the end of harvests, provided entertainment, and was an important part of religious life.
What were the paints for the illuminated manuscripts made out of?
(Naomi)
Paints were made of charcoal, plants,ground-up semi-precious stones and spices, sometimes urine and earwax.
What did judges start doing with court decisions during the rule of King Henry II?
They started writing down court decisions.
What about the life at a castle changed during times of war?
The castle went from having a few soldiers to guard it, to being a hive of military activity.
What could few people in Medieval Europe do?
Read or write.
In his anger with King John what ruling did the Pope make for English churches?
He banned them from having religious services.
What was Charles I also known as?
Charlemagne - King of the Franks
Whose daughter was Eleanor of Aquitaine?
the Duke of Aquitaine.
Roughly when was the printing press invented?
(Bronte)
1450
Inventions - What was the name of the person who invented the printing press?
(Ashley)
Johannes Gutenberg was the inventor of the Printing Press.
King Henry II introduced a new system of trial by jury. How did this work?
A jury of 12 men and a judge decided a person’s guilt.
What is a porticullis?
A reinforced lattice gate that could be raised or lowered from the gatehouse. Missiles could be dropped through murder holes in the roof of the gatehouse.
How long did it take to build Notre Dame?
(Naomi)
Construction began in 1163 CE and took 200 years.
Who had control of what books people could read before the printing press?
(Rai)
The church.
What was significant about Danelaw?
It was an area in north-west England that the then King of Wessex, Alfred, gave to the Vikings in exchange for their stopping raids of the region.
Eleanor of Aquitaine became Queen of France. What did she do during the Second Crusade (The Holy War)?
She took part in the Second Crusade alongside her husband and took 300 women with her to fight and help care for the wounded.
What were the illuminated manuscripts written on?
(Bronte)
Parchment or vellum which was made from sheep, goat or calf skin.
Literature - Why is our knowledge of how the poor lived in medieval times so limited?
(Naomi)
It was rare for the poor to know how to write, they couldn’t journal, or write letters.
King John’s ruling upset the nobles. They decided to act. What major thing did they force King John to do and when did this occur?
To sign the Magna Carta
15 June 1215
What TWO things were knights obliged to do in times of war?
Fight for their lord in times of war, as well as recruit others to fight for him.
What were the interior dimensions of Notre Dame?
(Rai)
130 metres long and 115 metres high.
Why did the church have so much power over what people read and how they understood the Bible?
(Bronte)
Because most people either couldn’t read, or they couldn’t afford to buy books.
By the early thirteenth century King John was ruler of England. What three things did he do to make him an unpopular king?
Which famous Medieval woman was born in 1412, and where was she born?
Joan of Arc in a small French village called Domremy.
How did people who couldn’t read understand what a book was saying?
(Bronte)
From the ornate illuminated manuscripts.
The Magna Carta was considered the first steps towards what?
The development of legal and political rights for ‘the people’ and the start of modern democracy.
What were the three types of trial by ordeal?
(Bronte)
Trial by fire
Trial by water
Trial by combat
Soldiers known as 'men-at-arms' were typically what?
Professional soldiers, from the upper social class. Often younger sons of noble families, wanting to improve their standing through military service.
Why did books take years to produce?
All documents were written by hand which was a time-consuming process.
What was the name of a popular type of music in medieval churches called? How was it performed? and what did it eventually lead to the creation of?
(Bronte)
Gregorian chants
Sung without instruments by a choir
The creation of the written notation of music.
What was the effect of the Printing Press on the average population?
(Ashley)
The printing press made books more available to the public, increasing the amount of people who could write and read.
How long was Christine de Pizan married to Etienne du Castel?
12 years.
The signing of the Magna Carta was a significant legal development in England and continued to be developed over the centuries. What did the Magna Carta require?
It required the Monarch to be subject to the will of others.
When and where did the Gothic architecture originate from?
(Isabella)
It originated from Notre Dame in Paris and began in 1163 CE.
When King Henry II came into power what change did he make to the justice system to help all of his subjects?
He wanted all of them to have access to royal justice with legal rulings based on evidence and analysis.
Why were early swords made to be light?
Because when using a shield, the fighter had only one hand for his sword.
Who crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans in 800AD?
The Pope
What was frequently required by the church for a person to be forgiven for their sins?
Pay penance usually by a gift of money or food.
Provide THREE facts about The Franks
Dominated Western Europe
Commanded a powerful military force
Had a close relationship with the Catholic Church
Brought stability to the region by unity many tribal groups under Christianity to form the Holy Roman Empire
were most powerf8ul under Charles, also known as Charlemagne.
What were Medieval women not able to do for herself?
Make decisions.
Living Conditions
Why did some wealthy people build garderobes that stuck out from the walls of their second-storey apartments?
Human excrement would fall from the second-storey often directly onto the heads of passers by below.
What THREE things fuelled the growth of towns and cities in medieval Europe?
1. Trade which boomed during the Crusades
2. Towns and cities attracted peasants who could earn a living as skilled labourers.
3. Many towns and cities had cathedrals, so they attracted Christian pilgrims as well as merchants.
What would happen if a lord discovered a peasant had their son educated without the lord's permission?
What court and what punishment?
The matter went to the manor courts, where more serious matters were heard.
The peasant would be fined or put in the stocks.
What did siege tactics include? You must provide THREE.
1. surrounding the castle in order to cut off its food supply.
2. poisoning the water supply
3. digging under sections of its outer walls to gain entry.
What did peasant farmers share their house with?
Provide a full explanation of what it meant to be excommunicated from the Catholic church?
A Bishop or the Pope would expel you from the church which was a terrifying punishment, as it meant a person could no longer attend church or receive sacraments, and that their soul was doomed to live in hell for eternity.
Why need many of the former Anglo-Saxon nobility flee to Denmark, Scotland and Wales?
After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William and his Norman nobles began imposing their rule on the English.
What happened to Joan of Arc when she was 13?
She believed she began to see visions and hear the voices of the saints. The voices told her she would help the French defeat the English.
What was Charlemagne's brother's name?
Carloman
What did ordeal by fire involve?
The accused held a red-hot iron, put an arm in a fire, or walked across burning coals. If, after three days, the burn was not healing cleanly, they were seen to be guilty.
Explain when gunpowder was first used effectively and what changes it brought to fighting tactics.
During the Hundred Years' War - a series of conflicts between France and England from 1337 to 1453. The use of weapons fired with gunpowder meant that castle walls could be more easily broken down.
Describe what it meant to be one of the Bishops of the Catholic church?
They were responsible for larger church districts known as dioceses. They controlled church courts, ruling as judges over cases involving the clergy or church property. They also ruled over matters such as marriages and wills. They were wealthy and enjoyed a high social status.
Explain why this period in Medieval Europe was a time of great political change. Provide FOUR specific examples.
1. New groups of people moved across the region and settled in different places
2. New ideas and beliefs spread throughout the population
3. Important events such as wars, famines and plagues brought about changes at all levels of society.
4. New empires, kingdoms and rulers were also established.
What was done to someone to ensure confessions for crimes such as heresy, witchcraft, or treason? Be specific.
What would happen to them if they were found guilty?
They were tortured with the use of thumbscrews, the rack, or an iron maiden.
If found guilty, people could be executed by being burned alive, hanged, or 'drawn and quartered'.
Drawn = Tied to a horse and dragged along.
Quartered = Accomplished by tying each of a person's four limbs to a different horse and spurring the horses in different directions.
Provide FIVE requirements of knights from the Code of Chivalry, which was established between 1170 and 1220.
What were the crusades, when and why did they occur?
A series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims between 1096 and 1270 to gain control over key religious sites in and around the city of Jerusalem.
List FIVE changes to the law as a result of the Magna Carta.