Medieval Europe Assortment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Odoacer

Flavius Odoacer deposed the 16 year old Romulus and declared himself as King of Rome. Odoacer was killed by Theodoric in Ravenna in 493 AD. Alaric, the first king of the Visigoths, died in 410 AD. Vercingetorix was a Gaul leader defeated by Julius Caesar and Theodoric was king of the Ostrogoths.

Answer: Merovingian

The Merovingian dynasty was followed by the Carolingian dynasty in 751 AD. The sons of Clovis were Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire. They, and their successors, expanded the area under their control to cover what is now known as France.

Answer: Heraclius

Heraclius was the governor of Egypt and with a small force managed to defeat and execute Phocas whose main forces were engaged against the Persians. Heraclius reigned until 641 and he made Greek as the official language of the Empire. Maurice was overthrown by Phocas in 602 AD. Augustus and Tiberius were the first two emperors of the Roman Empire.

Answer: Bede

The Venerable Bede was born in 672 and died in 735. Bede was a monk at Jarrow in Northumbria and wrote a great number of books. His works include commentaries on the Bible, hymns, poems, and works on geography and history. Augustine died in 430 AD and Josephus in 100 AD.

Answer: Dublin

The Vikings named the settlement Duiblinn which later became Dublin. Belfast is built on the river Lagan, London on the river Thames and Edinburgh on the Water of Leith.

Answer: Cordoba

Cordoba at that time was a Muslim city and was an intellectual and commercial centre. Cordoba's mosque, the Mezquita, was one of the most important places of worship of the Muslim world. The population was around 100,000 and the city was the most prosperous in Europe. Madrid was then a frontier town and the other two options are cities in France.

Answer: Canute

Canute (or Cnut) invaded England with his father and conquered England. He married the widow of Ethelred, who was Christian, and later he became Christian as well. He was, at one time, king of Denmark, England, Scotland and Norway. He died in England and was buried at Winchester. Harold was Canute's son who succeeded him to the throne.

Answer: Bologna

Bologna University was the first educational establishment that offered degrees for studies in Law. The students gave monetary gifts to their teachers, as the teachers did not earn any salary. Paris was second, followed by Oxford then by Vicenza.

Answer: Runnymede

The Great Charter was an agreement between the king and a group of noblemen, in order to put an end to exorbitant taxation and arbitrary rule of the country. The Charter contains 63 clauses and was written in Latin. There is no single copy of the charter as multiple copies were written and distributed to the various centres around England. Runnymede is not a town or city but a meadow west of London.

Answer: Avignon

Pope Clement was pressed by the French king Philip IV to relocate, due to the prevailing unstable conditions in Rome. Avignon was chosen because it was on land owned by people that were paying fealty to the Popes.