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Trifles from British History Trivia Quiz

This is not a quiz about major events in history, battles, political issues, but about things that shaped daily life, minor matters, traditional customs.

A multiple-choice quiz by flem-ish. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
flem-ish

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
158,987

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
3157

Last 3 plays: Guest 147 (6/10), Guest 70 (7/10), Guest 192 (7/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. We all know that at a given moment in Medieval History, the Knights Templars were abolished. But do we also know who their possessions went to? Hint

the Grey Friars or Franciscans

the Knights Hospitaller

the Black Friars or Dominicans

the poor of London

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Which of these was not a form of torture used to obtain a confession or at least a plea (of guilty or not guilty) , but a punishment for petty crimes, begging, vagrancy and breach of discipline in the army and navy? Hint

thumb-screwing

stretching people on a rack

whipping

pressing people with heavy weights on their chest

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. In the Middle Ages what was meant by saying that the weak "go to the wall" during a church service? Hint

to be given food and a crust of bread

to take a nap

to have their feet washed by the local priest

to sit on a stone bench

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. In the Middle Ages legal suits between knights could be decided by combat. For other categories of people "fire" or "water" were the methods. To which of these categories did the ordeal of fire typically apply? Hint

freemen

clerics

villains

women

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. From which of these plants did medieval textile workers obtain a red dye? Hint

saffron

woad

madder

weld

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Worsted is a type of cloth, using long wools, that was originally produced in Worstead, Norfolk.

True

False

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Question 7 of 10

7. In which of these novels by Thomas Hardy does there occur an example of the ancient practice of "wife-selling"? Hint

Under the Greenwood Tree

The Mayor of Casterbridge

The Trumpet Major

Far From the Madding Crowd

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Apart from "blacksmiths" there also were "whitesmiths" in the Middle Ages. What did that name refer to?
Hint

workers in tin

jewellers

the lay brothers of the Cistercian abbeys who wore white aprons

the makers of white crockery

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which of these products belonged to the category of "great" tithes ? Hint

non-cereal crops

hay

wool

livestock

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Wergild or "man-money" was the annual money payment a knight had to pay per soldier if he preferred to commute his duty of military service into a financial contribution to his lord's treasury.

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We all know that at a given moment in Medieval History, the Knights Templars were abolished. But do we also know who their possessions went to?

Answer: the Knights Hospitaller

It's very rare in history that any major possessions were ever distributed among the poor. It was no different when in 1312 the Knight Templars were dissolved.
They had originally been founded in 1119 as the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.

Answer: whipping

Men and women were tied to a post or fastened to the tail of a cart which was led through the streets.

3. In the Middle Ages what was meant by saying that the weak "go to the wall" during a church service?

Answer: to sit on a stone bench

Pews were rare in the early Middle Ages. Wooden benches were introduced during 14th century. Until then people stood in church or squatted on the floor.

Answer: freemen

Such ordeals were legal until 1212. They never applied to clerics who were judged in ecclesiastical courts.

5. From which of these plants did medieval textile workers obtain a red dye?

Answer: madder

From weld and saffron yellow dyes were obtained. A typical production-centre of saffron was Saffron Walden.
Woad was used to obtain blue, black and purple dyes.
From the 15th century on the import of indigo replaced woad.

6. Worsted is a type of cloth, using long wools, that was originally produced in Worstead, Norfolk.

Answer: True

Later "worsted" became a speciality of the upper Calder and Aire valleys in the West Riding of Yorkshire. (The village of Worstead, about 15 miles NNE of Norwich, has an enormous medieval church - a testimony to its prosperity in those times).

7. In which of these novels by Thomas Hardy does there occur an example of the ancient practice of "wife-selling"?

Answer: The Mayor of Casterbridge

Wife-selling has been nick-named 'the poor man's divorce.'
The sale had to be conducted according to recognized procedures such as the venue being a public space (e.g. the market place). There had to be a previous public announcement. An auctioneer led the woman in a halter to signify that she was the property of her husband. After the purchase the purchaser became the woman's accepted lover.

8. Apart from "blacksmiths" there also were "whitesmiths" in the Middle Ages. What did that name refer to?

Answer: workers in tin

In French tin is called "white iron" ("fer blanc"). Whitesmiths also were polishers and finishers of metalware.

9. Which of these products belonged to the category of "great" tithes ?

Answer: hay

Small tithes were the personal and mixed tithes. Personal because accruing from labour, art, trade and navigation. Mixed when accruing from beasts fed from the ground. Examples: wool; milk; pigs.
Great tithes were those issuing from the earth, such as hay, wood, fruit etc.

Answer: False

That is what scutage came down to.
Wer-gild (related to were-wolf: manwolf) was an Anglo-Saxon, pre- Norman system of compensation for murder or malicious injury. The malefactor had to make a certain payment in accordance with the social importance of the man he had killed or maimed.
It was a means to avoid the worse effects of a blood-feud.

Source: Author flem-ish

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