Medieval History Quiz: Part Two

Question: During which English monarch’s reign was Archbishop Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral?

Answer: Thomas Becket was the chancellor of England (1155–62) and archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70) during the reign of King Henry II. His career was marked by a long quarrel with Henry that ended with Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral.

Question: What was a ceorl in medieval England?

Answer: A ceorl was a free peasant in medieval England. The word ceorl came to denote a subject peasant and, by the 14th century, was used as a pejorative.

Question: Who became king of England when his rival for the throne was, supposedly, killed in battle with an arrow shot through his eye?

Answer: William I (the Conqueror) was the king of England from 1066 to 1087. He seized control of England through his victory at the Battle of Hastings, defeating Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, who reputedly died after having been shot with an arrow through his eye.

Question: Who among these kings preserved the political ties between England and Normandy that William I (the Conqueror) had established?

Answer: William IIwas the son of William I (the Conqueror) and the king of England from 1087 to 1100. He prevented the dissolution of political ties between England and Normandy, but his strong-armed rule earned him a reputation as a brutal, corrupt tyrant.

Question: Which king of England spent only about six months in his realm during his 10-year reign, which began in 1189?

Answer: King Richard I, nicknamed “the Lion-Heart,” was mainly interested in a Crusade to recover Jerusalem and in the struggle to maintain his French holdings against the French king Philip II Augustus. He spent only about six months of his 10-year reign (1189–99) in England.

Question: What rebellion in England was partially resolved by the personal intervention of the young king Richard II?

Answer: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, also called Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, was the first significant popular rebellion in English history. King Richard II met Tyler and his followers on June 14, the day after they had forced the surrender of the Tower of London. Tyler was killed in Richard's presence by the mayor of London. The king appealed to the rebels as their sovereign and, after promising reforms, persuaded them to disperse.

Question: In what year was the Magna Carta first granted?

Answer: Magna Carta (“Great Charter”) was the charter of English liberties granted by King John in 1215 under threat of civil war and reissued with alterations in 1216, 1217, and 1225.

Question: Which English king led his country into the Hundred Years’ War with France?

Answer: Edward III, king of England from 1327 to 1377, led England into the Hundred Years' War with France.

Question: Which of these English kings has a nickname derived from a word meaning “bad counsel”?

Answer: Ethelred II was the king of the English from 978 to 1013 and from 1014 to 1016. An ineffectual ruler who failed to prevent the Danes from overrunning England, he was called Ethelred the Unready. The nickname is derived from unraed, meaning “bad counsel” or “no counsel.”