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Test Bank for Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, 18th Edition, Josh

Test Bank for Western Civilizations: Their History &


Their Culture, 18th Edition, Joshua Cole Carol Symes

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CHAPTER 7: Rome’s Three Heirs, 500–950

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Justinian’s longest lasting reform was the:


a. creation of a standing Roman army.
b. organization and codification of Roman law.
c. construction of the Coliseum.
d. adoption of Christianity.
e. publication of a series of books about Roman history.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: page 214 OBJ: 1
TOP: II, A, 1 MSC: Applying

2. Why did Justinian try to reconquer the Western Roman Empire?


a. because the Persians had been defeated in the East, so he could safely launch military
expeditions to the West
b. because his empire required continuing conquests in order to prosper
c. because he sought to revive and reconstruct wholly the old empire
d. because he needed to keep his army as far away from his capital as possible
e. because he believed that he should be the head of a unified Christian Church
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: page 213 OBJ: 1
TOP: II, A, 2 MSC: Applying

3. Why did Justinian’s reconquest of the Western Roman Empire fail?


a. Justinian codified Roman law, which made a permanent merger impossible.
b. Western Christians no longer felt kinship with eastern Christians, and they fought against
Justinian from within.
c. The costs associated with conquering and defending the vast western empire were too
great given Justinian’s military commitments elsewhere.
d. Constantinople fell to Persian invaders and brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire.
e. Justinian was forced to withdraw his army to meet the mounting Islamic threat from the
south.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: page 213 OBJ: 1
TOP: II, A, 2 MSC: Applying

4. The pandemic known as Justinian’s plague spread rapidly through the eastern and western part of the
Roman Empire because it:
a. was a very virulent strain of smallpox.
b. was carried by birds who migrated great distances.
c. traveled along well-established trade routes both within and outside the empire.
d. had a very long incubation period, which meant people could travel long distances without
knowing they were infecting people.
e. was exacerbated by an epidemic of influenza in the empire.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: page 213 OBJ: 1
TOP: II, A, 2 MSC: Applying

5. It is difficult to date the beginning of Byzantine history with precision because:


a. Constantine never administered the Roman Empire from Constantinople.
b. Greek was the only language ever used by Roman emperors in Constantinople.
c. the Byzantine empire considered itself the uninterrupted successor of the Roman Empire.
d. Justinian resisted new forms of thought and art throughout his life.
e. it began during the so-called Dark Ages during which very few records were kept.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: page 215 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B MSC: Understanding

6. Between 610 and 1071, the major security threats to the Byzantine empire came from:
a. Persia, then Egypt. d. Persia, then the Slavs.
b. Persia, then the Islamic caliphate. e. the Western Roman Empire.
c. Persia, then the Turks.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 215 OBJ: 2 | 3
TOP: II, B MSC: Applying

7. The stability of Byzantine government was the product of:


a. a highly centralized palace government.
b. a predictable system of succession to the imperial throne.
c. an efficient bureaucracy.
d. regulated wages and prices.
e. a ruthlessly effective army.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: page 215 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 1 MSC: Remembering

8. The Byzantine economy in the early Middle Ages was:


a. highly regulated, including wage and price controls.
b. subject to wild fluctuations due to currency debasement.
c. industrially underdeveloped.
d. renowned for its use of paper money.
e. depressed due to being cut off from trade with northern Europe.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 215 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 1 MSC: Remembering

9. The early Byzantine religion was known for its:


a. intense interest in matters of doctrine and orthodoxy.
b. beautifully decorated churches.
c. rejection of the emperor as the leader of the Church.
d. ability to enforce religious doctrine throughout the eastern empire.
e. doctrinal merging of elements from Christianity and Islam.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: page 216 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 2 MSC: Applying

10. The Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth century C.E. was about:
a. the biblical laws forbidding “the work of Satan” on Sundays.
b. Emperor Leo’s decision to stop wearing the toga, the symbol of imperial manhood.
c. the impossibility of smashing all the pagan idols, so some were allowed to remain.
d. the use or prohibition of images in church, where people might worship the objects.
e. prohibition of the display of the crucifix in Byzantine churches.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: pages 216–217
OBJ: 2 TOP: II, B, 2 MSC: Understanding

11. Leo III’s support of iconoclasm may have been driven by a desire to:
a. make churches more beautiful.
b. strengthen the emperor’s control over the Church at the expense of monastic control.
c. strengthen monastic control over the Church at the expense of the bureaucratic control.
d. encourage artisans to produce books rather than images.
e. encourage Orthodox Christians to follow some of the tenets of Islam.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 217 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 2 MSC: Understanding

12. Although the Iconoclastic Controversy was eventually resolved, its lasting effects included the:
a. sale or handing over of Byzantine portraits to the Muslims.
b. destruction of nearly all pre-eighth-century religious art in the Byzantine empire.
c. adoption of conservative clothing styles by nobles and common people.
d. gradual acceptance of religious diversity in the East.
e. banning of all monastic orders within the Byzantine empire.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: page 217 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 2 MSC: Remembering

13. In Byzantine schools, classical Greek literature was:


a. considered pagan and suspect, and so was read only with great reluctance.
b. the basis of the curriculum, with much study of the epics of Homer.
c. out of fashion, because people preferred to read the easier Greek of the Bible.
d. regarded as useless and impractical, but not offensive to Christian sensibilities.
e. not studied: Byzantium thought of itself as the heir of Rome and so read Latin classics.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: page 218 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 3, a MSC: Remembering

14. Women from wealthy Byzantine families:


a. did not receive classical educations, since they were destined for domestic life.
b. could read but were not allowed to write history, novels, or poetry.
c. were educated at home by tutors, but did engage in more public intellectual discussions.
d. were encouraged by parents to become actresses and singers like the Empress Theodora.
e. were educated in the public schools alongside the men.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: pages 219–220
OBJ: 2 TOP: II, B, 3, a MSC: Remembering

15. The Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia was influential in the history of architecture because it:
a. was constructed in a way that made light appear to come from directly above.
b. placed a massive dome on a building with a square shape.
c. was highly innovative in its external appearance and marble embellishment.
d. was the first Christian church converted into a mosque.
e. was the first building constructed completely from concrete.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 220 OBJ: 2
TOP: II, B, 3, b MSC: Remembering
16. The word Islam means:
a. pilgrimage. d. recitation.
b. migration. e. prayer.
c. submission.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: page 220 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, A, 1 MSC: Remembering

17. By the late sixth century C.E., the economy of Arabia was:
a. in a state of crisis brought on by the wars between Byzantium and Persia.
b. commercially sophisticated and was intersected by many trade routes.
c. still almost entirely made up of nomadic Bedouins.
d. based on the production of figs, wool, and goats at desert oases.
e. practically nonexistent due to Arabia’s domination by the Byzantine empire.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 221 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, A, 1 MSC: Understanding

18. The Hijrah (Hegira) refers to the Prophet Muhammad’s move from:
a. Medina to Mecca. d. Quadratic to Mecca.
b. Mecca to Quadratic. e. Mecca to Medina.
c. Medina to Quadratic.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: page 221 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, A, 1 MSC: Remembering

19. In their worship of Allah, Muslims worship:


a. the Prophet Muhammad.
b. the angel Gabriel.
c. the same deity worshiped by Christians and Jews.
d. a pantheon of gods.
e. the same deities worshiped by Hindus.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: pages 221–222
OBJ: 3 TOP: III, A, 2 MSC: Understanding

20. The contains:


a. the revelations sent by God to Muhammad.
b. Christian teaching about Christ’s divinity.
c. excerpts from the Hebrew Torah.
d. a detailed plan for the expansion of Islam after Muhammad’s death.
e. the sole guide for behavior for converts to Islam.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 222 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, A, 2 MSC: Remembering

21. Islam spread so quickly in the seventh and eighth centuries because:
a. Muslims insisted that all conquered peoples convert to Islam.
b. there were no Christians in the first lands that Muslims conquered.
c. the Pact of Unmark allowed for the total destruction of subject cities.
d. some local populations welcomed Muslim conquest.
e. its armies met no resistance.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 224 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 1 MSC: Understanding

22. During the expansion of the Islamic caliphate, Muslim rule was often preferred to Persian or Byzantine
because:
a. Muslim laws were less strict.
b. the caliphate extracted fewer taxes from conquered populations than these empires.
c. local Muslim rulers were considered better protectors than the governors from other
empires.
d. Muslim rulers were believed to be more moral than Byzantine and Persian emperors.
e. Muslim rulers were regarded as better military leaders.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: pages 224–225
OBJ: 1 TOP: III, B, 1 MSC: Remembering

23. The Shiite party arose among Muslims because:


a. disputes between Muslims in Iran created a schism.
b. of a dispute about the proper succession of caliphs in seventh-century Arabia.
c. the Umayyad dynasty wanted to expand westward.
d. the Abbasid dynasty wanted to expand eastward.
e. of a dispute in the eighth century regarding the proper interpretation of the .
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 225 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 2 MSC: Understanding

24. In comparison to the Umayyad, the Abbasid caliphate:


a. was more like a Byzantine successor state.
b. adopted more of the style of Persian royal absolutism.
c. moved its capital from Baghdad to Damascus.
d. modeled itself on the imperial court of Rome.
e. required all conquered peoples to convert to Islam.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 225 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 3, a–b MSC: Remembering

25. The Umayyads of Al-Andalus and the Abbasids of Persia competed for dominance through:
a. constant violent warfare.
b. a cold war, occasionally interrupted by brief proxy wars over disputed territories.
c. the constant creation and negotiation of alliances.
d. trying to surpass each other in support of literary and artistic production.
e. trying to conquer as much territory as possible.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 226 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 3, a–b MSC: Understanding

26. The Shiite claim to legitimacy rests on the direct connection to Muhammad through his daughter:
a. Aisha. d. Khadijah.
b. Yasmina. e. Sawda.
c. Fatimah.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: page 225 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 2 MSC: Remembering
27. Compared to medieval Europe in the central Middle Ages (800–1100), the Islamic world was:
a. comprised of small and isolated communities.
b. focused on trade only within its borders.
c. cosmopolitan but lacked manufacturing capacity and so traded little.
d. manufactured and traded goods widely in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
e. only interested in establishing trade connections with Europe.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 226 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, C MSC: Applying

28. Within Islam, social mobility was encouraged because of:


a. a decree by the Umayyad dynasty outlawing discrimination of all kinds.
b. the teachings of the twelfth imam that everyone should be tolerant of everyone else.
c. the origins of the faith where no one could take advantage of anyone else.
d. the teachings of Muhammad, which stressed the equality of all Muslim men.
e. a decree of the Abbasid dynasty outlawing discrimination of all kinds.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 227 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, D, 1 MSC: Understanding

29. Sexual relations within upper-class Muslim society around the year 1000 differed from classical Greek
and Roman patterns because:
a. Muslims abhorred homosexuality, whereas Greeks and Romans did not.
b. Muslim men had sexual access to slaves and concubines, whereas Greeks and Romans did
not.
c. women were highly valued in Muslim society, whereas they were not in Greece or Rome.
d. Muslim men were permitted to have more than one wife, whereas Greek and Roman men
were not.
e. Muslim women were permitted to have more than one husband, whereas Greek and
Roman women were not.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: page 227 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, D, 3 MSC: Remembering

30. Opportunity for advancement in Islamic cultures ideally depended on:


a. the social class into which one was born.
b. the sect of Islam that one professed.
c. one’s ability and one’s talent.
d. the level of bribes one was able to offer.
e. whom one knew within the bureaucracy.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: page 227 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, D, 2 MSC: Understanding

31. Charlemagne and Harun al-Rashid formed an alliance partially because of their shared enemy, the:
a. Umayyad. d. Sunnis.
b. Persians. e. Abbasid.
c. Byzantines.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 227 OBJ: 3
TOP: III, B, 2, b | E MSC: Remembering
32. Historians looking for a rupture in western European attitudes toward ancient Roman culture and
traditions will likely find it between the lives of:
a. Charlemagne and the Burgundian kings of Germany.
b. Gregory of Tours and Charlemagne.
c. Constantine and Justinian.
d. Cicero and Diocletian.
e. Gregory of Tours and Justinian.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 228 OBJ: 1
TOP: IV, A MSC: Applying

33. Most people in the early Middle Ages facilitated economic transactions by using:
a. standardized silver coins minted by a local lord.
b. standardized gold coins minted by the king.
c. jewels and gems.
d. food and labor.
e. manufactured goods.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 229 OBJ: 1
TOP: IV, A MSC: Understanding

34. The Merovingian dynasty in France traced its origin back to Clovis’s legendary grandfather,
Merovech, who was believed to be:
a. the last commander of the Roman legions in the West.
b. a sea monster.
c. the grandfather of England’s King Arthur.
d. a Benedictine monk who converted the Franks.
e. a Viking who had settled in northern France and conquered the Lombards.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: page 231 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV, B MSC: Remembering

35. Monasteries in the early Middle Ages were:


a. places of economic import only.
b. founded in cities.
c. places of political, religious, and economic import.
d. places of religious import only.
e. places of political import only.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: pages 233–234
OBJ: 4 TOP: IV, C MSC: Applying

36. The gradual conversion of the early medieval European countryside to Christianity was carried out
primarily by:
a. kings, whose armies ordered non-Christians to convert or leave Europe.
b. lay missionaries commissioned by the pope.
c. Frankish bishops seeking to enlarge their dioceses.
d. monks who founded new monasteries in frontier areas.
e. nuns working with the peasantry.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 234 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV, C, 3 MSC: Remembering
37. Why were so many convents (monastic houses for women) founded during the seventh century C.E.?
a. Convents met a variety of social and spiritual needs for women of all classes.
b. Lower-class women flocked to convents as an improvement on the drudgery of their lives.
c. Nuns were the only women allowed to become priests.
d. Convents were a way for the families that founded them to make money.
e. Families were expected to give their daughters to local monasteries to become nuns.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: page 234 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV, C, 2 MSC: Understanding

38. As a theologian, Pope Gregory I is regarded as the successor to:


a. Francis of Assisi. d. Athanasius.
b. John Chrysostom. e. Augustine.
c. Arius of Alexandria.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: page 234 OBJ: 4
TOP: IV, D, 1 MSC: Remembering

39. A long-term result of Boniface anointing Pepin on behalf of the papacy was that:
a. members of the Carolingian family regularly became popes.
b. the Carolingians founded a new capital for their empire in Rome.
c. first-born sons of the king henceforth became king automatically on the death of their
father.
d. the pope became directly responsible for the welfare of the Carolingian empire.
e. the power of kings was theoretically limited.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: page 237 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, A, 2 MSC: Applying

40. As a Christian king responsible for ruling a Christian society, Charlemagne:


a. was careful to observe the distinctions between religious and political authority established
by Saint Augustine of Hippo.
b. placed the Frankish church under the control of the pope, while he ruled the kingdom
politically.
c. took responsibility for reforming the religious life of his kingdom just as he reformed its
government.
d. became a monk at the end of his life, thus ensuring his own salvation.
e. established his empire as a theocratic state ruled by the laws set forth in the Bible.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: page 239 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, C MSC: Understanding

41. Underlying the Carolingian Renaissance was the basic conviction that:
a. learning was the foundation on which Christian wisdom rested.
b. the Bible could be best appreciated if it were translated into robust French and German
idioms.
c. original Latin poetry and epic literature were the highest form of art.
d. proper Christian doctrine should be widely disseminated and heretical beliefs should be
strictly punished.
e. to be better Christians, everyone should pray and devote their lives to the Church.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 239 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, D MSC: Remembering
42. Charlemagne reformed writing in his empire by:
a. introducing cursive script.
b. ensuring all copyists wrote in block letters only.
c. testing all copyists for literacy.
d. introducing the comma.
e. creating a simplified script and introducing punctuation.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: page 240 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, D MSC: Understanding

43. Which was the most significant event in creating Byzantine hostility toward the Latin Christian world?
a. the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor on Christmas Day, 800
b. the First Crusade
c. the Iconoclastic Controversy
d. the Fourth Crusade in 1204
e. the execution of the Byzantine ambassador to Rome in 816
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 240 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, E MSC: Applying

44. Scandinavian traders turned to raiding because:


a. it was more profitable.
b. instability in the Carolingian empire had made travel on their traditional trade routes
difficult.
c. instability in the Abbasid empire had made travel on their traditional trade routes difficult.
d. the market in luxury goods in northern Europe collapsed.
e. Muslim traders now controlled all possible trade routes between Europe and the Middle
East.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: page 241 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, G MSC: Understanding

45. The Vikings are generally regarded as being a destructive force in European history:
a. but such a view may not be correct in light of the principalities they established across
northern Europe.
b. as evidenced by the raids they staged on virtually every population center in Europe from
London to Paris to Rome itself.
c. because of the destruction caused to a great many monasteries throughout Europe and the
accompanying loss of the libraries in those monasteries.
d. but this has been exaggerated since they stayed mostly in Scandinavia with only a few
raids into England and northern France, destructive though those were.
e. which is true, but they have an undeservedly bad reputation when compared with the
Magyars who conducted raids into western and southern Europe.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: page 242 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, G, 1 MSC: Applying

46. Once they conquered a territory, Viking populations:


a. killed or enslaved all of the native population.
b. assimilated quickly within local populations.
c. divided the land into farms for Viking settlers, regardless of who was living and using that
land.
d. founded churches dedicated to Saint Amand, the patron saint of Vikings.
e. elected a king to rule the area.
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: page 241 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, G, 1 MSC: Remembering

47. One of the few rulers to successfully defend his lands against the Vikings was:
a. Alfred. d. Charles.
b. Arthur. e. Thomas.
c. Bede.
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: page 243 OBJ: 5
TOP: V, G, 2 MSC: Remembering

48. The economic base of the Abbasid caliphate lay in:


a. the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Mesopotamia.
b. the Nile Delta.
c. Syria and Lebanon.
d. Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey.
e. its capital, Constantinople.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: page 243 OBJ: 3
TOP: VI MSC: Applying

49. The Abbasid empire effectively came to an end in:


a. 1258, when the invading Mongol armies captured the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.
b. 733, when the Abbasid Army was defeated by Charles Martel at Tours.
c. 1066, when the dominant Shiites defeated the Sunnis at Damascus.
d. 930, when the Shiites Army attacked and captured Mecca.
e. 1186, when Philip of France and Richard of England captured Jerusalem.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: page 243 OBJ: 3
TOP: VI MSC: Applying

50. The overall unity of the Muslim world disintegrated during the tenth and eleventh centuries because
of:
a. a special tax levied on Jews and Christians.
b. failures among the Umayyad rulers of Spain.
c. repeated attacks by the Mughal empire of India.
d. economic problems and a stagnating intellectual life.
e. increasing intolerance of regional and ethnic differences of practice and belief within
Islam.
ANS: E DIF: Difficult REF: page 243 OBJ: 3
TOP: VI MSC: Applying

TRUE/FALSE

1. The Byzantine empire was never stable because of the intrigue and violence that constantly occurred at
the imperial court.

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 215 OBJ: 2


TOP: II, B MSC: Applying
NOT: In spite of the frequent opposition to imperial leadership, the Byzantine empire was relatively
stable due to its extensive bureaucracy that continued to operate even when imperial rule was
challenged.

2. Byzantine culture was the means by which the heritage of Western civilization was preserved for the
Europe where Greek had become very rare.

ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: page 219 OBJ: 2


TOP: II, B, 3 MSC: Applying
NOT: Greek books were copied and preserved. Much of the heritage of Western civilization was
cultivated by Byzantium but was inaccessible to Europe as Greek became increasingly rare.

3. Muhammad wrote about his revelations in the .

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 222 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, A, 2 MSC: Understanding
NOT: The Qu’rân is a collection of sayings or recitations of Muhammad that were collected and
transcribed by Muhammad’s followers before and after the prophet’s death.

4. One factor in the success of cities in Arabia was the protracted wars between the Byzantine empire and
Persia, which made the Arabian trade routes safer than the northern ones.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: page 221 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, A, 1 MSC: Applying
NOT: The wars made trade almost impossible and drove up the price of goods. The Arabian routes
were an excellent alternative.

5. Islam is a religion without sacraments or priests.

ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: page 223 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, B MSC: Remembering
NOT: Every Muslim believer has a direct responsibility for living the faith without an intermediary.
Only religious scholars comment on problems of the faith or law and act as judges.

6. After 750 C.E., the Umayyad dynasty abandoned Spain and focused its rule in Damascus.

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 225 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, B, 3, a MSC: Remembering
NOT: After 750 C.E., the Umayyads were replaced by the Abbasids who ruled from Persia, and only
Spain remained in Umayyad control.ad

7. Spain was largely abandoned by Islam as a cultural backwater.

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 226 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, D MSC: Applying
NOT: Under Umayyad rule, Spain was home to some of the greatest libraries (for instance, Caliph
Al-Hakam II’s library of more than 400,000 books) and thinkers in the medieval world.

8. Islam created its own culture and actively destroyed the artifacts of those civilizations that came before
them.
ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: pages 225–227
OBJ: 3 TOP: III, D MSC: Applying
NOT: As the reach of Islam expanded, Muslim culture became more cosmopolitan, tapping into the
civilizations of Byzantium and Persia, which were themselves the heirs of ancient empires stretching
back to the time of Hammurabi’s Babylon.

9. The division between Islam and Christianity was not an impenetrable barrier as communication and
gifts between the Abbasid and Carolingian empires illustrates.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: page 227 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, E MSC: Understanding
NOT: The most famous of these gifts was the elephant Harun al-Rashid gave to Charlemagne.

10. Sufism is a mystical sect of Judaism whose members stressed contemplation and ecstasy.

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 227 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, D MSC: Remembering
NOT: Sufism is a sect of Islam.

11. By the seventh century, western Europe had become a more fluid economy in which luxury goods and
coinage circulated, albeit to differing degrees, among all levels of society.

ANS: F DIF: Moderate REF: page 229 OBJ: 1


TOP: IV, A MSC: Understanding
NOT: In the seventh century, the economy was two-tiered in which the upper class traded in silver
and gold for luxury goods, but the lower classes existed mainly on a barter system for supplies.

12. Pope Gregory was not only a reformer of the Church and theologian, but was the first pope to break
free of Byzantine control and establish an autonomous, Western-oriented Latin church.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: page 235 OBJ: 5


TOP: IV, D, 2 MSC: Applying
NOT: Although the papacy later forged strong ties with the Carolingians, Gregory’s break from the
Byzantines was a move that reoriented the Church and established it as an independent entity.

13. Charles Martel is regarded as one of the founders of the Frankish kingdom due to his defeat of a
Muslim force near Paris.

ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: pages 236–237


OBJ: 5 TOP: V, A, 1 MSC: Remembering
NOT: Charles Martel is sometimes considered the second founder of the Frankish kingdom. His claim
to this title is twofold: first, in 733 or 734 he repelled a Muslim raiding party 150 miles from Paris;
second, Charles had developed an alliance with Benedictine missionaries that eventually connected
him with the papacy and assisted in his efforts to reform and control the Frankish churches.

14. Charlemagne regularly chose the bishops in his empire.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: page 239 OBJ: 5


TOP: V, C MSC: Remembering
NOT: Although the papacy would later argue that it alone had the right to appoint bishops, popes in
the ninth century were not yet strong enough to assert this claim. Regarding himself as a protector and
promoter of the Catholic Church, Charlemagne did not question his own ability and right to appoint
bishops. Bishops in this period also often had both religious and secular functions, thus Charlemagne
had a vested interest in ensuring men loyal to himself and his empire held such positions of power.

15. By 1000, Vikings had reached North America.

ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: page 241 OBJ: 5


TOP: V, G MSC: Remembering
NOT: Vikings ventured West from Scandinavia and the British Isles, reaching Iceland, Greenland,
and Vinland (archaeological evidence suggests this is in or around Newfoundland, Canada) by the
early eleventh century.

ESSAY

1. Explain how Justinian’s conquest of the Mediterranean was both a success and a failure.

ANS:
Justinian’s conquest of the Mediterranean lands was complete enough to render it once again a
“Roman lake” by his death, but the costs were tremendous. Justinian had to impose oppressive taxation
in order to give his generals the men and supplies they needed to conquer these lands. This taxation
undermined the support of vitally important areas such as Egypt and the East. Justinian’s western
campaigns distracted him from the growing threat of the Persians who would become a dangerous foe
to his successors. Justinian’s wars caused extreme devastation throughout Italy. Aqueducts were cut,
and the countryside became marshes. While the attacks weakened Italy, the oppressive taxation
imposed by Justinian in Egypt weakened that province’s ability to resist the Islamic invasions of the
seventh century. Already destabilized territories of the empire were further weakened by the Justinian
Plague, a pandemic that spread through the empire (and the world around it) and killed a total of 25
million people. Thus, while the immediate success of Justinian’s reconquests gave him wealth and
glory, the aftermath, combined with the effects of a world pandemic, caused the newly reunited empire
to begin to crumble only a few years after Justinian’s death in 565 C.E.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 212–213 OBJ: 1


TOP: II, A, 2 MSC: Evaluating

2. What was the impact of Justinian’s law code on the Middle Ages?

ANS:
Justinian’s law code was not only a collection of laws from throughout the empire, but also a textbook
of legal principles and a summary of the writings of all great jurists. Together, this corpus, called the
Corpus iuris civilis, became the foundation on which many future European law codes would rest.
While it remained an important text for law in the East from the time of its creation, it was little known
in the Latin West until the twelfth century, when Justinian’s corpus began to be studied extensively
there. As result of its influence in both the East and the West, the Corpus iuris civilis impacted the
conduct of government and the developing legal systems of Europe. It even influenced the Napoleonic
Law Code, which is still current in France. The impact on political thought was profound. The
wide-ranging powers for lawmaking that it granted to princes became one of the foundations of the
political theory of absolutism in early modern Europe. However, Justinian’s Corpus also supported
constitutionalism because it maintained that a sovereign’s powers were delegated to him by the people
and since power came from the people, it could also be taken away by the people. The idea of a
modern state as an abstract entity rather than the private property of the ruler also stems from
Justinian’s work and has shaped the emergence of the state through the late medieval era and into the
modern times.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 214–215 OBJ: 2


TOP: II, A, 1 MSC: Evaluating

3. What factors allowed the Byzantine empire to survive into the Middle Ages?

ANS:
Efficient bureaucratic government was one of the major reasons for Byzantine success. Literate
officials supervised education and religion and presided over all economic endeavors. Imperial
officials regulated prices and wages and systems of licensing. The system could function regardless of
the ruler’s ability or inability. A second reason for success was the sound economic base of the state.
Constantinople was a vital trade emporium for Far Eastern luxury goods and Western raw materials.
The empire also protected and nurtured its own industries, especially silk weaving, and encouraged the
growth and stability of its major cities. The Byzantine empire’s economic strength meant that its
currency was strong and stable. A third reason for success was Byzantium’s rich agriculture. The free
peasantry was a strong and loyal work force that had done much not only to feed the state, but also to
protect it from encroachers. The fourth factor was religion, which endowed the Byzantine state with a
powerful sense of confidence and mission.

DIF: Easy REF: pages 215–216 OBJ: 2


TOP: II, B, 1 MSC: Analyzing

4. How can Muhammad be described as both a prophet and a statesman?

ANS:
In 610, Muhammad experienced a spiritual enlightenment, and he converted to monotheism
immediately and began to preach his new religion. Although his first motives were to spread this new
religion as a prophet, he encountered harsh and violent resistance, especially in Mecca, where he was
living. Invited to come to Yathrib in order to serve as an arbiter there, Muhammad and a small group
of followers left Mecca in 622. In Yathrib, Muhammad did broker a settlement and became the town’s
leader. He then changed the name of the town to Medina, which means “City of the Prophet” and
began to organize his converts into a political as well as a religious community. He began to lead raids
of neighboring towns and caravans, especially caravans traveling to and from Mecca, which had
negative economic consequences for trade in that city. It also helped him win more converts to Islam.
Wearying of lost earnings and the constant attacks on their caravans, those governing Mecca invited
Muhammad back in 632 C.E. The townspeople then submitted themselves to Muhammad’s religious
and political authority. Thus, for Muhammad, religious authority was not divorced from political
authority—both went hand in hand.

DIF: Easy REF: page 221 OBJ: 3 TOP: III, A


MSC: Analyzing

5. What accounts for the rapid growth of Islam?

ANS:
The early spread of Islam was not accomplished through crusade. A new, shared religion helped create
unity between the different people of the Arabic world, and once united, Arab Muslims began looking
to conquer new territory. While the Islamic invaders sought to retain a separate identity from the
conquered, acting in God’s name and carrying out the will of God proved an attraction for the people
of the conquered land to join their conquerors’ religion. There were political benefits from adopting
the religion of the conquerors as well. For the peoples of North Africa and the East, Islamic conquest
meant deliverance from oppressive taxation and the effects of an unwieldy imperial bureaucracy. Islam
gave freedom, identity, and purpose to the peoples it conquered and thus it grew quickly, surviving
even the Shiite–Sunni schism.

DIF: Easy REF: pages 223–225 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, B MSC: Analyzing

6. Why was paper such an important commodity in the Muslim world of the Middle Ages?

ANS:
As Muslim control over various territories in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia Minor increased,
so too did their control of important trade routes connecting the Mediterranean world to China. This
fostered the growth of commerce and industry. One of the most important commodities that began to
be produced in the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates was paper, the production of which Muslim
Arabs and Persians learned from the Chinese. Paper was easier to produce and to store than the
papyrus or parchment that had been used until then—and it was cheaper. The result was a revolution in
the transfer of knowledge. Book production rates, and thus literacy rates, in Muslim territories were
very high, facilitated by cheap and readily available paper. In the eighth century, Baghdad had more
than one hundred shops dedicated to selling paper and books, and in Cordoba the Umayyad caliphs
amassed a library of some 400,000 books—this at a time when good monastic libraries in Europe may
have housed 100 books. Both Baghdad and Cordoba became important intellectual centers, where
literary, philosophical, legal, and scientific treatises were produced in great number. Such cultural
production could not have occurred without the technological shift to the production of paper.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 225–227 OBJ: 3


TOP: III, C, D MSC: Evaluating
7. To what extent did the Carolingians owe their success to the Merovingians?

ANS:
The many advancements of the Merovingians set the stage for the Carolingian success. First, the
Merovingians solidified control over their territory and created alliances with the Church through the
building of monasteries throughout Gaul. These gifts of monastic foundations not only drew the
Church closer to the king, but also helped to redistribute the power of land ownership among the
nobility, establishing a firm foothold for the supporters of the king and destabilizing the troublesome
rival nobility. It also illustrates the great wealth that the Merovingians must have enjoyed and through
which the Carolingians would prosper greatly. The technological advances made during the
Merovingian dynasty also enabled the Carolingians to thrive: most especially, the heavy-wheeled
plow. These plows were able to cut deeply into the sod, making far more nutrient-rich soil available
and allowing cultivation of the rich, heavy, relatively untouched soils of northern France. Agricultural
prosperity meant growth in population and in trade and income for the Merovingians. Without these
firm cornerstones of renewable wealth and ties to power, the Carolingians would have had little basis
to establish an empire and few means to maintain it.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 230–232 OBJ: 5


TOP: V, A, B MSC: Evaluating

8. How did monasticism aid the growth and prosperity of secular empires?

ANS:
Monasticism was an important tool for the nobility for many reasons. The monasteries were excellent
places for rulers to establish footholds of power by installing their own offspring as abbots or abbesses.
This was a particularly effective method by which royal women of the ruling house could maintain and
exercise control over a monastery’s extensive lands. In this way, rulers could extend their power into
areas held by other noble families or into the frontiers of their kingdoms, where many of these
religious houses were founded. The special relationship between the monasteries and secular empires
was one of mutual dependence, with the monks supporting the spiritual and even secular welfare of the
houses in return for protection. The assistance a king could provide in helping to Christianize his
people, as shown in the cases of the Merovingians and Anglo-Saxons, was often repaid by political
support from the pope; for example, the Carolingians’ military support of the Church earned it its
legitimacy and ecclesiastical backing from the pope himself.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 232–234 OBJ: 4


TOP: IV, C MSC: Analyzing

9. What was the legacy of the Carolingians?

ANS:
Test Bank for Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, 18th Edition, Josh

The Carolingian empire dissolved upon the death of Louis the Pious, who divided the empire into
thirds as the inheritance for his sons. This division and the legacy of the Carolingians would become
the foundation of the modern states of France, Germany, and Italy. The legacy of organized
government also ensured the stability of these areas. The areas of Carolingian power retained their
powerful cities and prestigious status and wealth, becoming centers of power for later kings and
emperors to draw upon, such as Saxony, which had first contributed great wealth to Charlemagne. In
addition, the strong relationship with the Church continued to be a powerful legacy of the
Carolingians, who confirmed their status and gained enormous power as the sword-arm of the Church.
This legacy carried over to the successor states of France and Germany and contributed substantially to
their growth and stability. Classical and Christian learning continued throughout Europe as a legacy of
the great Carolingian Renaissance. A great number of classical Latin texts were collated, corrected,
and recopied in a process facilitated by the invention of Carolingian minuscule, a form of handwriting
which became the basis of most later scripts and typefaces in the West. The growth of cities and trade
during the Carolingian period was likewise due largely to the establishment (or reestablishment) of
trading routes and partners of the Carolingian kingdom. Although the lands were now under separate
rulers, they continued to trade with one another and with international partners in Byzantium and the
south. The courts of law established by Charlemagne continued to flourish, and the systems of taxation
made revenue collection possible even in dissolution. The legacy was not always beneficial, but
aroused a powerful and resentful nobility that was ready to grab its own share of power. The new
presence of the Vikings made control difficult for the new kingdoms that had long known peace and
prosperity. The prosperity of the Carolingian successor kingdoms attracted invaders, and in its
fragmented state, the former empire was unable to respond with a crushing victory. Instead, it reverted
to payment to avoid attacks and subsequently lost much land, including Normandy, to the invaders.

DIF: Moderate REF: pages 239–242 OBJ: 5


TOP: V MSC: Evaluating

10. What innovations characterize the Carolingian Renaissance?

ANS:
Although art and architecture made great advances during this period, education was the chief focus.
The English Benedictine monk Alcuin was brought to Charlemagne’s court as an intellectual leader.
He established a court school in which the seven liberal arts were taught, and great texts, such as the
Latin Bible, were corrected and copied. Alcuin’s court was also interested in classical Greek and
Roman texts, which they preserved and copied. A new style of handwriting, Carolingian minuscule,
was developed that was simplified and that made the learning of Latin easier and the copying of it
faster. The introduction of standardized spelling and spacing between words also reduced the
likelihood of future mistakes in copying corrected texts. Charlemagne also made the court the center of
culture by attracting scholars and establishing schools there. The schools produced theological and
pastoral works, along with Latin poetry. This new court culture dramatically changed the model for
successful kingship throughout Europe.

DIF: Easy REF: pages 239–240 OBJ: 5


TOP: V, D MSC: Analyzing

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