MEDIEVAL AGE

I. Choose the correct answer:

1. Early medieval period has beentermed as Dark Age.

2. Feudalism was a socialsystem based on land.

3. Prophet Mohammad founded thereligion of Islam.

4. The title of lion heart was givento Richard.

5. Holy land of Christian is Jerusalem.

II. Match the following:

1. Constantine -emperor

2. Fief -land

3. Cambridge -university

4. Genoa -coastal town

5. Barbarians -tribe

III. Answer briefly:

1. What is feudalism?

• An important feature of the middle ages wasfeudalism.
• The word feudalism is derived from the Latinword feud or fief.
• Fief means a land held on condition ofService.
• It was essentially an agrarian system.
• The peasants had to give a portion of theProduce from the land to the lords as rent or taxes.

2. What is manor?

• A manner was a sub division of the land.
• The barons received the land from the king.
• This land was sub divided into manor.
• Each manor was given to a sub tenant.

3. What are the coastal towns andtrade centres?

• Genoa and Venice were the coastal during themedieval period.
• Genoa, Florence and Venice became tradingcentres.
• Florence, Pisa and Milan were situated oninland trade routes.

4. How did the king get militaryservice in the time of war?

• The king distributed the lands to barons onthe conditions ofmilitary and administrative services.
• In times of war, the feudal lords supplied themilitary force to the king.
• So the king had to rely on the militaryservices provided by his vassals.
• The army was not given uniform training in thekingdom.

5. Who were the leaders of thechildren’s crusade?

• The children’s crusade took place in 1212.
• The leaders were Nicholas of Germany andStephen of France.
• They believed that god could mysteriously guideand guard the children in their endeavors.
• But none of the children went beyond Italy.

6. Mention some of the universities ofmedieval Europe?

• The University of Bologna was famous for thelearning of law.
• Arabic and Hebrew were taught in Spanish university.
• The University of Oxford in England wasmodeled on the Paris University of France.
• The Cambridge University came into existencein the 12^th century.

7. What was the aim of the crusades?

• Crusades were the holy wars of the Christiansof Western Europe against the Turks.
• Jerusalem, the holy place of the Christianswent under the control of Seljuk Turks.
• The Seljuk Turks were religiously intolerantpeople.
• The Christians wanted to save themselves fromthe persecution and humiliation.
• For all these reasons Christians undertookcrusades.

8. Who was the authority of thechurch?

• By the 6th century A.D., the pope became thehead of the church.
• Kings were the rulers of the kingdoms.
• Sometimes the popes were stronger than theking.
• The pope was considered as the representativeof Jesus Christ.

IV. Answer all the questions given under theeach following:

1.Feudalism:

(a) From which word “feudalism” isderived?

• The word feudalism is derived from the Latinword fief or feud.

(b) Who were the feudal lords?

• The king divided the kingdom into severalfiefs and distributed to the barons. They were the feudal lords.

(c) How was the feudal village called?

• The feudal village was called fief.

(d) What did this system prevailed inEurope?

• During the medieval period.

2. Papacy:

(a) Who was the head of the church?

• The pope was the head of the church.

(b) How was the leadership between thepope and the king?

• Sometimes the popes were stronger than theking. They developed a system of dual leadership under the popes and the kings.

(c) What was the role of pope?

• The pope was considered as the representativeof Jesus Christ. He was the highest authority of the church.

(d) What was the result of the dualleadership?

• The dual leadership led to the rivalriesbetween the church and the state.

3.Crusades:

(a) Which was the holy land of theChristians?

• Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

(b) Who gave call to the Christiansall over the world?

• Pope urban II gave a call to the Christiansall over the world to come together and to take arms.

(c) Where did the council meet?

• At Clermont.

(d) How many crusades have takenplace?

The first four were major crusades andthe last four were minor crusades.

4.Mohammed the prophet:

(a) Which was the birth place ofIslam?

• Arabia.

(b) Who was the founder of Islam?

• Prophet Mohammad.

(c) What are the important cities inArabia?

• Mecca and Medina.

(d) What did Islam religion stress?

• Islam laid stress on the unity of god and onfollowing moral standards and principles.

V. Answer in the paragraph:

1. Describe the barbarian invasion.

• The barbarian mention has a severe blow to theRoman Empire
• It shook up the roman solidarity.
• Barbarians like the Goths, Huns, and vandalspoured into the country in large numbers.
• Their aim was to loaf the people of theconquered territories.
• This invasion disturbed the internal peace.
• Lords and the common people had no otheroption except accepting the new system of feudalism.

2. Write the causes for the downfalloff the Roman Empire?

• The decline of the mighty Roman Empire wasbrought by nature and time. Hurricanes and earth quakes affected the empire.
• The inflow of wealth brought moraldegradation.
• The church stood against the empire.
• The political mechanism of the Rome was notsuitable to Roman Empire.
• Roman Empire became too big to be ruled.
• Colonial people suffered.
• The people lose the freedom of speech.
• The in different attitude of the massestowards their rulers became a cause for the down fall.

3. Explain the rise of Islam inEurope?

• During the middle ages, Arabia became thebirth place of Islam.
• As a religion it united the various warringtribes.
• The founder of the Islam religion was ProphetMohammad.
• Islam laid stress on the unity of god and onfollowing high moral standards and principles.
• Mecca and Medina became two important pilgrimcentres in Arabia.
• This religion contributed in the field ofliterature, science and medicine.
• The Arabs wanted to spread their religion inthe conquered region.
• It posed a serious threat to the Christianculture resulting in crusades.

4. What were the results of thecrusades?

• The crusades failed in recovering the holyplaces in Palestine.
• This led to the establishment of new Christiankingdoms in Spain and Portugal.
• The byzantine power lost its prestige andhonour.
• Feudalism received its rudest shock from thecrusades.
• The military orders were seriously affected.
• The power and prestige of the popes increased.
• It prepared the way for the discovery of newtrade routes.
• Ship building industry developed with theusage of mariner’s compass.
• A spirit of enquiry was created leading to therenaissance of the 6th century.