Popular English adaptations of romances appealed primarily to:
A. the royal family and upper orders of the nobility
B. the lower orders of the nobility
C. agricultural laborers
D. the clergy
What is the climax of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain?
A. the reign of King Arthur
B. the coronation of Henry II
C. King John’s seal of the Magna Carta
D. the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine
Ancrene Riwle is a manual of instruction for:
A. courtiers entering the service of Richard II
B. translators of French romances
C. women who have chosen to live as religious recluses
D. knights preparing for their first tournament
The styles of The Owl and the Nightingale and Ancrene Riwle show what about the poetry and prose written around the year 1200?
A. They were written for sophisticated and well-educated readers
B. Writing continued to benefit only readers fluent in Latin and French
C. Their readers’ primary language was English
D. a and b only
In addition to Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, the “flowering” of Middle English literature is evident in the works of:
A. Geoffrey of Monmouth
B. the Gawain poet
C. the Beowulf poet
D. Chrétien de Troyes
Why did the rebels of 1381 target the church, beheading the archbishop of Canterbury?
A. Their leaders were Lollards, advocating radical religious reform
B. The common people were still essentially pagan
C. They believed that writing, a skill largely confined to the clergy, was a form of black magic
D. The church was among the greatest of oppressive landowners
Which influential medieval text purported to reveal the secrets of the afterlife?
A. Dante’s Divine Comedy
B. Boccaccio’s Decameron
C. The Dream of the Rood
D. Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women
Who is the author of Piers Plowman?
A. Sir Thomas Malory
B. Margery Kempe
C. Geoffrey Chaucer
D. William Langland
What event resulted from the premature death of Henry V?
A. the Battle of Agincourt
B. the Battle of Hastings
C. the Norman Conquest
D. the Black Death
E. the War of the Roses
Which literary form, developed in the fifteenth century, personified vices and virtues?
A. the short story
B. the heroic epic
C. the morality play
D. the romance