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Quiz about Memorable Medieval Moments
Quiz about Memorable Medieval Moments

Memorable Medieval Moments Trivia Quiz


We may not remember these events nowadays, but I'll bet they were memorable for someone back in the day.

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
374,925
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
826
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 120 (2/10), NekoNeko_1276 (9/10), Guest 184 (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Medieval Marriage: In one of the most significant weddings of the Middle Ages, in 1385 one country's Grand Duke Jogaila converted to Christianity and married the neighboring country's Queen Jadwiga in what is known as the Union of Krewo. Which two states were thus combined in a union that created one of the largest kingdoms in Europe and lasted over 400 years? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Medieval Massacre: As the medieval period was disappearing in Western Europe, Hungary's King Louis II and his allies were crushed by an invading power that would eventually reach the walls of Vienna. At Mohacs in 1526 they suffered such a devastating defeat that still today when a catastrophe strikes in Hungary, a Hungarian sometimes shrugs his shoulders and says, "It was worse at Mohacs." Which conqueror, in addition to killing 20,000 Christians in the battle, would afterwards have the heads of another 2,000 prisoners piled at his feet? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Medieval Mutilation: The year is 695. The emperor is overthrown and exiled to Cherson in the Crimea. But before being exiled, he suffers the indignity of having his nose cut off by the usurpers. Who was the emperor and what empire did he rule? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Medieval Motivator: Urban II is credited with getting the First Crusade started by exhorting French knights to take up the cross in speeches during November of 1095 at the Council of Clermont in Urban's native France. What was Urban's birth name? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Medieval Music: Blondel the Minstrel, whose actual name was probably Jean of Nesle (or his son, Jean II of Nesle), is the subject of a medieval legend that his singing of a particular song, known to himself and a formerly crusading monarch, enabled him to discover the king's place of imprisonment and then lead to his freedom. Who is the ruler from the story set in the year 1192? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Medieval Mayhem: Basil II was a great Byzantine emperor and sole ruler of the empire from 976 to 1025. Between 986 and 1014 he campaigned against and conquered a neighboring state, ruled by a tsar named Samuel. In the final battle, Basil earned his nickname. He dealt with his 15,000 prisoners by putting them in groups of 100, blinding 99 in each group, and taking only one eye of the hundredth so he could lead the others home. Samuel suffered a stroke when the defeated army got home, dying two days later. Which army was thus treated? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Medieval Medicine: In 1403 the 63rd Doge, Michele Steno, imposed one of Europe's first quarantines by setting up the first lazaret, or quarantine station, on the small island of Santa Maria di Nazareth, in an attempt to prevent continued spread of the Black Death from maritime travellers. Which medieval state was ruled by Steno? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Medieval Martyrdom: What did the following martyrs have in common? Abraham of Augsburg was burned to death in Augsburg, Germany, in 1265. Katarzyna Weiglowa, or Katherine Weigel, was burned at the stake in Krakow in 1539. Cornelio da Montalcino was burned alive in Rome in 1554. Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Medieval Motherhood: In 797 when a conspiracy arose against Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI. What did his mother and co-ruler, Empress Irene, do to resolve the power struggle? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Medieval Mystery: The Princes in the Tower: Edward IV, King of England, died suddenly in 1483, leaving two sons, ages 12 and 9. The boys were lodged in the Tower of London under the care of their uncle, the Lord Protector Richard, Duke of Gloucester. However, they disappeared and Richard assumed the throne as Richard III that same year. At the time of their disappearance, the older prince would have been Edward V, but who was his younger brother? (If Cadfael had still been around, he would have solved this mystery.) Hint



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quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Medieval Marriage: In one of the most significant weddings of the Middle Ages, in 1385 one country's Grand Duke Jogaila converted to Christianity and married the neighboring country's Queen Jadwiga in what is known as the Union of Krewo. Which two states were thus combined in a union that created one of the largest kingdoms in Europe and lasted over 400 years?

Answer: Lithuania and Poland

Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila thus founded the Polish Jagiellonian Dynasty, which lasted until 1572. Ruling Poland as Wladislaw II Jagiello, he reigned jointly with Jadwiga III until her death in 1399, after which he ruled alone until 1434, the longest reign in Polish history. His dynasty ended in 1572. From then until 1795, Poland-Lithuania was ruled by elected kings.
2. Medieval Massacre: As the medieval period was disappearing in Western Europe, Hungary's King Louis II and his allies were crushed by an invading power that would eventually reach the walls of Vienna. At Mohacs in 1526 they suffered such a devastating defeat that still today when a catastrophe strikes in Hungary, a Hungarian sometimes shrugs his shoulders and says, "It was worse at Mohacs." Which conqueror, in addition to killing 20,000 Christians in the battle, would afterwards have the heads of another 2,000 prisoners piled at his feet?

Answer: Suleiman II and the Ottoman Turks

Mohacs marked the end of the Jagiellon Dynasty in Hungary and Bohemia and caused the partition of Hungary between the Ottomans, the Hapsburgs, and Transylvania.
3. Medieval Mutilation: The year is 695. The emperor is overthrown and exiled to Cherson in the Crimea. But before being exiled, he suffers the indignity of having his nose cut off by the usurpers. Who was the emperor and what empire did he rule?

Answer: Justinian II, Byzantine Empire

Not to fret, Justinian was fitted with a gold replica nose to replace what he'd lost, and he even returned to the throne in 705, ruling until 711. He is known in history as "the Slit-Nosed." A second military revolt resulted in his death in 711.

Romulus Augustulus was the last Roman emperor in the West, being overthrown in 476 by Germanic tribes led by Odoacer.

Bayezid was also known as "The Lightning" (or "The Thunderbolt"), as well as "Sultan of Rome." He ruled from 1389 until overthrown in 1402.

Yazdegerd III was the last ruler of the Sasanian, or Sassanid Empire in Persia, ruling from 632 (at age 8) to 651, when he was deposed after the fall of his empire to Arab forces.
4. Medieval Motivator: Urban II is credited with getting the First Crusade started by exhorting French knights to take up the cross in speeches during November of 1095 at the Council of Clermont in Urban's native France. What was Urban's birth name?

Answer: Odo of Chatillon

Another form of Urban's birth name was Otho de Lagéry.

Hildebrand of Sovana, Ildebrando di Soana in Italian, was the birth name of Gregory VII, who was pope from 1073 to 1085.

Wibert of Ravenna was the birth name of Antipope Clement III, who was claiming the Papacy when Urban II was named Pope.

Anselmo da Baggio was the birth name of Alexander II, whose papacy lasted from 1061 to 1073.
5. Medieval Music: Blondel the Minstrel, whose actual name was probably Jean of Nesle (or his son, Jean II of Nesle), is the subject of a medieval legend that his singing of a particular song, known to himself and a formerly crusading monarch, enabled him to discover the king's place of imprisonment and then lead to his freedom. Who is the ruler from the story set in the year 1192?

Answer: Richard the Lionhearted

Richard I, returning to England after the Third Crusade, was captured and imprisoned by Leopold V, Duke of Austria. The legend says Blondel, after discovering Richard's location when the captured monarch sang another verse to a song that Blondel had been singing within earshot of Richard's place of imprisonment, either freed the king himself or got word to friends so a ransom could be arranged.

The story's veracity is damaged by the fact that Richard's place of imprisonment was already known before his ransom. Nonetheless, both Jeans of Nesle (located near Amiens) were well-known nobles and minstrels of the twelfth and thirteenth Centuries.
6. Medieval Mayhem: Basil II was a great Byzantine emperor and sole ruler of the empire from 976 to 1025. Between 986 and 1014 he campaigned against and conquered a neighboring state, ruled by a tsar named Samuel. In the final battle, Basil earned his nickname. He dealt with his 15,000 prisoners by putting them in groups of 100, blinding 99 in each group, and taking only one eye of the hundredth so he could lead the others home. Samuel suffered a stroke when the defeated army got home, dying two days later. Which army was thus treated?

Answer: Bulgarians

Thus did Basil II earn the nickname, "the Bulgar Slayer." Also known as "Father of the Army," Basil's success against Bulgaria also brought control of Croatia, which was followed by control of the southern Crimea as a result of the capture of the Khazar king George Tzoul.
7. Medieval Medicine: In 1403 the 63rd Doge, Michele Steno, imposed one of Europe's first quarantines by setting up the first lazaret, or quarantine station, on the small island of Santa Maria di Nazareth, in an attempt to prevent continued spread of the Black Death from maritime travellers. Which medieval state was ruled by Steno?

Answer: Venice

The term "lazaret" is derived from the name Lazarus, the poor man at the rich man's gate from the parable of Jesus. The term "quarantine" is derived from the Italian "quaranta giorni" or 40 days, the time period established by the Republic of Venice in the years following 1403.
8. Medieval Martyrdom: What did the following martyrs have in common? Abraham of Augsburg was burned to death in Augsburg, Germany, in 1265. Katarzyna Weiglowa, or Katherine Weigel, was burned at the stake in Krakow in 1539. Cornelio da Montalcino was burned alive in Rome in 1554.

Answer: They were Christians who converted to Judaism.

Born in Augsburg, Abraham converted to Judaism in a foreign land. When he returned to Augsburg he attacked images of the saints. Sentenced to torture and death, he was martyred along with 61 other Jews.

Weiglowa refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and was imprisoned at age 70. Burned at age 80, she is regarded as a martyr by Jews and Unitarians, among others.

Cornelio was a Franciscan friar who converted and was burned alive at the Campo del Fiori.
9. Medieval Motherhood: In 797 when a conspiracy arose against Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI. What did his mother and co-ruler, Empress Irene, do to resolve the power struggle?

Answer: She had Constantine arrested and blinded.

The conspiracy against her son was actually engineered by Irene herself, in response to Constantine's attempts to remove her. Following her son's death (he died several days later from injuries resulting from his blinding), Irene ruled alone as emperor, not empress, for five years.

In 802 she was deposed and eventually exiled to Lesbos. During her reign, however, she was successful in restoring the use of icons in the Byzantine Church, and she remains a saint in the Greek Orthodox Church with her feast day on August 9.
10. Medieval Mystery: The Princes in the Tower: Edward IV, King of England, died suddenly in 1483, leaving two sons, ages 12 and 9. The boys were lodged in the Tower of London under the care of their uncle, the Lord Protector Richard, Duke of Gloucester. However, they disappeared and Richard assumed the throne as Richard III that same year. At the time of their disappearance, the older prince would have been Edward V, but who was his younger brother? (If Cadfael had still been around, he would have solved this mystery.)

Answer: Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York

In 1674 a box containing two small human skeletons was dug up near the White Tower (rumored to have been the burial place of the young princes) by workmen. After being reburied, the skeletons were again exhumed and examined in 1933, with the ages of the skeletons' owners at death determined to have been from 11 to 13 years and from 8 to 9, respectively.

Edward of Woodstock was the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Edward III.

William Marshall, first Earl of Pembroke, was considered by many to have been the greatest knight who ever lived. He served four kings. He was never "Duke of Salisbury," a title I made up.

John Hawkwood was a famous English-born knight and self-made mercenary of the fourteenth century who hired himself out, first to the Pope, and then to whichever Italian city-state would pay the most. The titles I've given him are fictitious.
Source: Author shvdotr

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