Midterm Study Guide

  • Due No Due Date
  • Points None

The midterm exam will be available through Canvas from Monday, October 21, at 8 am to Tuesday, October 22, at 11:59 pm

  • You can take the exam at any time within the open period, but you must complete it no later than 10/25 at 11:59 pm (so make sure you start it at least an hour before then).
  • You will have 60 minutes to compete the exam once you log in. The exam cannot be paused, so make sure you’re prepared to finish the exam before you log in.
  • Questions for sections I and II will be randomly generated from a question bank.
  • Ignore your initial grade. Canvas is terrible at grading write in questions, but there is no way to disable the auto-grade feature. We know this is a problem, so we will be manually regrading each exam. Accurate scores for the exam will be published in Canvas once the exams have all been graded (this should take about a week). We will notify you when they are ready.

 

Note that you are being tested on what you learned IN THIS CLASS, not what you learned in another class, or from Wikipedia or any other website (which may contain inaccurate information), so you’ll want to be sure your answers come from lecture and our textbook. 

I: Definitions – 20%

All of these terms were defined in lecture. 20 of these terms will appear on the exam, you will match them to their definitions. Consult your lecture notes to find definitions, or visit this glossary https://tudorhistory.org/glossaries/ Links to an external site.. (A Google search will also turn up an accurate definition for most of these terms.) 1 point each; 20 points total.

  1. commonalty
  2. peerage
  3. gentry
  4. yeoman
  5. husbandman
  6. cottager
  7. femmes soles
  8. femmes coverts
  9. coverture
  10. dower
  11. marriage portion
  12. gerontocratic
  13. primogeniture
  14. manor
  15. parish
  16. demesne
  17. serf
  18. customary tenure
  19. copy-holder
  20. manor court
  21. confraternity
  22. guild
  23. livery
  24. Great Council
  25. Privy Council
  26. common law
  27. Parliament
  28. House of Lords
  29. House of Commons
  30. Exchequer
  31. Chamber
  32. affinity
  33. attainder
  34. recognisance
  35. surety
  36. retaining
  37. diocese
  38. benefit of clergy
  39. tithe
  40. sacrament
  41. transubstantiation
  42. purgatory
  43. penance
  44. relic
  45. rood
  46. syncretism
  47. convocation
  48. heretic

II: Short Answer Questions – 60%

All of the following material has been covered in lecture or in the textbook. 30 of these questions will appear on the exam, you will answer all of them. Answers should be no more than four words, and sometimes a simple yes or no. 2 points each; 60 points total. 

 

  1. Which two houses fought each other in the Wars of the Roses?
  2. To which house did Richard III belong?
  3. To which house did Henry Tudor belong?
  4. Was Henry Tudor a descendant of Henry V? (yes or no)
  5. Was Henry Tudor a descendant of John of Gaunt? (yes or no)
  6. In which battle did Henry Tudor defeat and kill Richard III?
  7. Whose daughter did Henry Tudor marry?
  8. What disease killed off a third or more of the population of Europe between 1345 and 1352, and kept recurring in occasional, large-scale outbreaks well into the seventeenth century?
  9. Who wrote the Tree of Commonwealth in 1510?
  10. List the three estates named in the Tree of Commonwealth.
  11. Was the commonwealth egalitarian? (yes or no)
  12. Were all members of the commonalty peasants?
  13. Could married women sign a contract, appear in court, or alienate land in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  14. Could single/widowed women sign a contract, appear in court, or alienate land in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  15. Who legally controlled all of the property within a marriage in Tudor England?
  16. In what circumstances could a woman be a head of household in Tudor England?
  17. What inheritance practice was the norm in Tudor England?
  18. Could women inherit property in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  19. Did women work outside the home in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  20. According to the Homily on Obedience in the Book of Homilies, who ordained the social order?
  21. Did most English people live in a town or in the countryside in the early 16th century?
  22. Did households in Tudor England consist only of parents and their children? (yes or no)
  23. Were servants considered members of the household in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  24. Did people from the lower classes have any choice in whom they married in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  25. Were married couples expected to live with their parents in Tudor England or set up their own household?
  26. What life event marked the true beginning of adulthood and the assumption of adult responsibilities for the vast majority of people in Tudor England?
  27. Was serfdom widespread in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  28. Could a freehold tenant sell or transmit his land in his will? (yes or no)
  29. What did a freehold tenant owe to the lord of the manor?
  30. Were customs the same on every manor? (yes or no)
  31. Could customs on a manor ever be changed? (yes or no)
  32. Where did tenants go to organize work on the manor, establish by laws, and arbitrate disputes between tenants?
  33. Name two of the institutions that fostered neighborliness in Tudor England.
  34. What kind of an organization did you have to belong to in order to have citizenship in most towns?
  35. Could women be citizens in Tudor England? (yes or no)
  36. What city was effectively the capitol of the north of England?
  37. What was the population of London in the 1520s?
  38. Was the English king considered to be above the law? (yes or no)
  39. What court was responsible for trying the most powerful people in Tudor England?
  40. Which court dealt with criminal matters?
  41. Where did the royal law courts sit?
  42. How many representatives did each town have in Parliament?
  43. How many representatives did London have in Parliament?
  44. Did lords have to be elected to Parliament? (yes or no)
  45. What were Parliament’s two functions in Tudor England?
  46. Was there regular royal taxation in Tudor England, or did taxes have to be approved in Parliament for exceptional circumstances?
  47. What was the king expected to live on during normal times?
  48. Name the four strategies the early Tudors used to establish their power and authority.
  49. Who wrote The Illustrious Union of the Houses of Lancaster and York as propaganda for Henry VII?
  50. How many archbishops did England have in the early 16th century?
  51. What do Catholics believe is transmitted through the sacraments?
  52. What 14th century English theologian’s teachings did the Lollards follow?
  53. What title did Henry VIII receive from Pope Leo X in 1521?
  54. What administrative unit was overseen by a bishop?
  55. Name two kinds of punishments church courts could impose.
  56. What did “doom” paintings in churches depict?
  57. What language was used for the Catholic mass and liturgy?
  58. What does “host” (Latin hostia) mean?
  59. Did the laity ever receive the wine during the Mass?
  60. According to the late medieval Catholic Church, where were people who died with sins unconfessed and penances unperformed most likely to go when they died?
  61. What kind of Bible did the Lollards use?
  62. Was a formal Inquisition ever established in Britain? (yes or no)

III. Primary Source Analysis – 20%

The following excerpts are from primary sources we have read for class. All of them will appear on the exam, you will choose ONE of them. Answers should do the following three things:

  1. Explain what the text is (e.g. what type of source is it, what is the source about, what do we know about the author, what do we know about where his information comes from, what is the author’s bias, and are there any other issues with the source that need to be taken into account). This should take no more than a couple of sentences; you should focus your efforts on the next two points.
  2. Analyze the quote (briefly explain where the quote is situated in the text and explain what is going on in the quote itself).
  3. How does this quote fit in to the contemporary themes and/or events discussed in lecture and the textbook?

 

Answers should be about 300-400 words in length. 20 points total.

 

1. Act Settling the Crown on Richard III and his Descendants, 1484 

[When] such as [Edward IV] had the rule and governance of this land, delighting in adulation and flattery and led by sensuality and concupiscence, followed the counsel of persons insolent, vicious, and of inordinate avarice, despising the counsel of good, virtuous, and prudent persons, the prosperity of this land daily decreased, so that felicity was turned to misery, and prosperity into adversity, and the order of policy, and of the law of God and man, confounded. 

2. Henry, earl of Richmond's speech to his army before the Battle of Bosworth Field, August 22, 1485? (published in 1548) 

For he that calleth himself king, keepeth from me the crown and regiment [government] of this noble realm and country, contrary to all justice and equity. Likewise, his mates and friends occupy your lands, cut down your woods, and destroy your manors, letting your wives and children range abroad for their living. 

3. Thomas Smith, De republica Anglorum, 1583 

Where one person beareth the rule they define a king, who by succession or election commeth with the good will of the people to that governement, and doth administer the common wealth by the lawes of the same and equitie, and doth seeke the profit of the people as much as his owne. A tyraunt they name him, who by force commeth to the Monarchy against the will of the people, breaketh lawes alreadie made at his pleasure, maketh other without the advise of the people, and regardeth not the wealth of his people but the advancement of him selfe, his faction, and kindred.

4. Thomas More, Utopia, 1516

To begin with then, each city is made up of households, consisting for the most part of blood relatives. For the women, once they have grown up and married, transfer to their husbands’ households; male children and grandchildren, on the other hand, remain in the household and are subject to the oldest member, unless he shows signs of senility, in which case the next in order of age takes his place.

 

Sample excerpt and answer

Sample Excerpt

The Song of Roland, c. 1100

Roland said: “I shall sound the oliphant and Charles, who is going through the pass, will hear it.  I pledge to you, the Franks will soon return.” Oliver said: “That would be most shameful and all your kinsmen would then be blamed; such shame would endure as long as they live.  When I spoke to you of this, you did nothing.  But you will not act so now on my advice.  If you sound the horn, there will be no valour in it.”

 

Sample Primary Source Analysis

(What is the text?) The Song of Roland is a chanson de geste that gives a fictionalized account of Charlemagne’s wars in Spain. It circulated orally for many years before being written down by an anonymous author. As a fictional account, it tells us very little about Charlemagne’s historical activities, but it does give us insight into chivalric culture around the year 1100.

(Where is the quote situated in the text and what is going on in the quote?) Charlemagne’s nephew Roland has been put in charge of the king’s rear-guard as the army leaves Spain. Caught in a narrow pass, Roland and the rest of the rear-guard have been attacked by a much larger Saracen army. Although they are vastly outnumbered by the Saracens, Roland has thus far refused to sound his horn to call back the main body of the Frankish army, in spite of his companion Oliver’s pleas that he do so before the battle began. Now, after it has become clear that they will die, Roland finally sees the wisdom of blowing his horn and offers to call back the Franks. Oliver implies that in refusing to blow his horn before the fighting began, Roland accepted the terms of the battle. Oliver also argues that calling the army back now that the fighting has begun and the rear-guard is being defeated would indeed be a source of shame, not only for Roland, but for his kinsmen as well. While Oliver feels that calling for help before the battle began would have been wise (a virtue that Oliver embodies), he reminds Roland that calling for help when they are being beaten (and after Roland had committed to this course of action) is cowardly.

(How does this quote fit in to the contemporary themes and/or events discussed in lecture and the textbook)The exchange between Roland and Oliver reflects the premium placed on reputation and honor in twelfth-century knightly society, as well as the overwhelming fear of shame in this society. This fear of shame and desire for honor is the most important motivator for knights like Roland and Oliver, and it was the most important way for real knights in the twelfth century to advance in a society organized for war. Honorable and valorous acts were rewarded by lords, while a knight who shamed himself by acting dishonorably could expect no advancement.  It is particularly important to note that just as one’s honor reflects well on one’s family, doing anything shameful will affect not only an individual, but all of their kin as well. Roland’s actions will affect not just himself, but everyone to whom he is related.   

0