In 1831, a farmer on the Isle of Lewis, north of Scotland, discovered a centuries-old Viking chess set in a ship burial.  It is the oldest complete set of chessmen ever found.   Walrus Ivory. British Museum, London.  Twelfth-century Norway.

Questions for the Midterm Examination

Two of the questions below will be on the mid-term examination.  You will write on one of them.  There will also be five identifications.  You will be asked to write a paragraph on the IMPORTANCE of the person, event, or place being discussed.  One of the five identifications will be a visual image taken from the class website.  You will be asked to identify the image and to discuss its importance.

 


1. Compare and contrast the spread of Christianity to the spread of Islam.  How did the expansion of  Islam create political and military conflict between the two religions and what were the consequences of those conflicts? 

2. Discuss the role of the papacy in the Church from the Apostolic Age to the Gregorian Reform in the eleventh century.

3. Discuss the migrations of peoples in the period between 350 A.D. and 900 A.D. What effect did these movements of peoples have on Christianity and the formation of the Christian Church?   Use at least one example to support your points from the documents on the website illustrating the missionary movement.

4. Discuss the importance of the conversion of Constantine to the formation of the Christian Church.  How did the Christian Roman Empire shape the Church between 312 and 600.

5.  What is the importance of the Gregorian Reform movement for the development of the Church?  How can the reform movement be seen as a reaction to the history of the popes in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries?  What were the significant problems in the life of the Church that the Reformers wanted to solve?

6.  Discuss the "Church," the religious landscape of the pagan Roman Empire, and early Christian communities before 312 A.D.    Why did Christianity triumph over its competitors?

7. Pepin's and Charlemagne's reigns was an important turning point in the development of the relationship of Church and State in European civilization.  Outline what was significant and important about their relationship with the papacy and the Church.

8.  Discuss the role of the Vikings in European and Church history from 700-1100 A.D.