From Pilgrims to Saracens and Crusaders Quiz / Test | History

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1. The first example of a "Pilgrimage" to Jerusalem may have been the journey made to the Holy Places by the mother of Constantine the Great. What was her name?

Answer: Helena

Galla Placida has her Mausoleum at Ravenna.She was the daughter of Theodosius the First, Emperor of Rome.
Monica was Augustine's mother. She was born in North Africa at Tagaste.AD 333. Died at Ostia near Rome in 387. Theodora was the wife of Justinian I. The Church suspected her of being a secret adherent of the Monophysite heresy. Helena was Constantine the Great's mother. She is supposed to have been an inn-keeper originally.

2. In the course of Constantine's reign his mother pressed him for the building of basilicas in some of the "holy spots" in Palestine. One was the Nativity Church in Betlehem, another the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Which of these was the third of those basilicas?

Answer: Mt. of Olives Basilica

St Peter's Tomb at ROME was also built at the demand of Constantine's mother. The Mt. of Olives Basilica was meant to commemorate the Agony of Christ in Gethsemane.

3. When in 638 the Holy Places at Jerusalem were taken by the Muslims, the reaction of the Christians at first was to look for 'substitutes' in their own territory. One such a centre of devotion was the supposed burial place of the Three Magi. Where was that?

Answer: Cologne in Germany

As was told to the world by Geoffrey Chaucer, it was Thomas � Becket, the 'holy blisful martyr' that pilgrims came to worship at Canterbury.
Rumours of the presence of St. James in Galicia made Santiago another centre of pilgrimage. Vezelay was where the French had reserved a niche for Mary Magdalen whose relics were supposed to have been taken to this place in Burgundy after she had died in Provence. A 'woman who had loved much' was not an untypical French choice. But Cologne was where the Magi had ended their travels, at least in the medieval imagination.

4. Pilgrims to Jerusalem wore a special outfit of which a broad-rimmed hat and a staff were two of the requisites. On their return-trip, they symbolised the successful outcome of their enterprise, by wearing : ___________________

Answer: a little palm-tree branch

A tiny bag with a particle of wood from the Holy Cross. Pilgrimages were declared 'useless' in 1530 by the Augsburg Confession - the first Protestant declaration of 'articles of faith'. That such pilgrimages were not without danger may be illustrated by the case of Vesalius, the Flemish anatomist, who as a punishment for his 'sacrilegious' dissecting of corpses was sent to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. On the return trip his ship capsized and most of the pilgrims were drowned. For the author of "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" the "pilgrimage sentence" had become a death sentence.
Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela attached a seashell to their outfit.

5. In the 8th century the continuous invasions by Muslim armies into Western Europe were finally stopped by the grandfather of Charlemagne in a battle near Tours, usually called the "Battle of Poitiers". Who was that "grandfather of Charlemagne"?

Answer: Charles Martel

The battle took place in 732. Pepin of Landen died in 639. His son Pepin of Herstal(640-714) became Palace Mayor to the Merovingian King in 687. Charles Martel (685-741) succeeded him as such and grew more powerful than the King himself. Pepin the Short (714-768) grew so powerful that the Kings lost all power and the so-called Carolingian dynasty was born when Pepin's son Charlemagne took over the whole realm.

6. The Muslim invasions had not only robbed the Christians of access to Jerusalem, also the major part of Spain had fallen into the hands of what the Western world then called the Saracens. The Reconquista was to take some time. Some parts of Spain had however always remained "Christian territory". Which of these areas had never been conquered?

Answer: Asturias

Andalusia was the part of Spain that stayed Muslim territory for the longest time. The North of Portugal had remained christian territory, but not the area south of the Tagus. The only territory that needed no reconquista was up north, west of the Basque country.

7. The Muslim withdrawal from Spain began already in 1212 when on the 16th of July Alfonso VIII defeated the Moorish troops in the Battle of _____________

Answer: Las Navas de Tolosa

The Reconquista was completed on January 6th 1492, when Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile entered the city of Granada.
How closely linked "pilgrimages" often were with "international politics" may be seen in details such as the nickname of Sant Iago of Compostela, which was: "Matamoros". The devotion to the great Apostle was also a devotion to a " killer of Moors", even though that killing of Moors only existed in the popular imagination of soldiers claiming they had seen " Saint James" himself fighting with them against the enemy troops. A formidable morale-booster!

8. What did Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095 promise to the Knights that undertook to fight for the liberation of Palestine ?

Answer: forgiveness of their sins

Forgivance of their sins was tantamount to a place in heaven. In other words the Crusades were a kind of Christian jihad. The plot of land had not been officially promised but that was no reason for the crusaders not to feel entitled to it. Often their pious zeal to liberate the Holy Places came into conflict with their wish to conquer land for themselves.

Not only the Kingdom of Jerusalem(1099-1187) was created, but also the County of Edessa (1098-1144) and the Kingdom of Antioch (1098-1268). In later Crusades the 'christian knights' were occasionally diverted from their Holy Land destination by such worldly matters as the political affairs of Byzantium and Venice.

In the Second Crusade the Christian army got involved in fighting with the Tunisians, which led to the untimely death of French King saint Louis who rather unheroically died of an infection incurred during those fights.

9. When you "liberate" a country that has not asked for liberation, you have to leave behind an occupying force. In 1099 ,at the end of the First Crusade, a Kingdom of Jerusalem was created for this purpose. The man to whom the title of King was offered, piously rejected the proposition. Who was he?

Answer: Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon (who probably had been born at Boulogne, then in Flanders, rather than at Bouillon) declined the offer. He had been the third Crusader to get across the walls of Jerusalem and was generally well-respected as a true pious crusader. Baldwin of Flanders (and also of Hainaut), his brother, had no scruples about accepting the job. Louis of France and Richard Lion Heart were not candidates as they did not participate in that First Crusade.

10. Saracens were not the only victims of the Crusading zeal. 'Crusades' were also organised against 'local' heretics. Which of these were the first target of such a half military, half religious enterprise (and also of the first Papal Inquisition) ?

Answer: the Albigenses or "Cathars"

Lollards was the name given to the followers of John Wycliff. The name derives from the verb 'to loll' which means to sing softly. They rebelled against the riches of the Church. The Hussites were followers of John Hus, the Bohemian 'heretic', who was burned at the stake in 1415, despite having been given safe conduct.
The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia might be called the early "protestants" of the east. Just as the Cathars or Albigensians, they were Manicheans , who believed in a dualistic creation in which Good and Evil were independent and antagonistic powers.
The name Albigenses or Albigensians was given by the Council of Tours (1163). Strictly speaking the name Albigensians applies to only a part of the Cathars. The Church decided on a military expedition when it became clear that the local nobility was unwilling to counteract this "dangerous heresy".

Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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From Pilgrims to Saracens and Crusaders Quiz

As history shows religion can lead to the best, but also to the worst. What began as an expression of devotion ended in holy wars. Crusaders took the relief of the pilgrims as travellers to Jerusalem . Check your knowledge of the facts.

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