Medieval Vocabulary Quiz 1

Instructions: For each of the following questions, select the best response (A, B, C, D, or E). For each correct response, you get one point. Choosing an incorrect response does not lower your score. Good luck!

1) What or who was a castellan?

A) a tiny slit or opening in a castle wall to allow archers to fire at enemy soldiers
B) an official who was in charge of a castle and its defense
C) a type of defense used on the battlefield by infantry
D) a way in which to cut stones for the construction of round towers
E) a soldier who manned a piece of siege equipment

2) Which of the following is an article of clothing?

A) a barbette
B) an allure
C) a gebur
D) a marcae
E) a coomb

3) A knight's war horse would also be called his _____________.

A) rouncy
B) courser
C) palfrey
D) hackney
E) destrier

4) If I were properly wearing an espalier, what part of my body would be protected?

A) my head
B) the big toe on my right foot
C) my shoulder
D) my shin
E) my thigh

5) Of the following titles of nobility, which is the third highest in ranking?

A) baron
B) marquess/marquis
C) viscount
D) earl/count
E) duke

6) Of the following, who would most likely be a suzerain?

A) a king
B) a bishop
C) the pope
D) a manorial lord
E) a duke

7) If I said, "Knave, do not touch my coffyn!", what would I be talking about?

A) the wooden box I will be buried in if I should be smitten by a catapult
B) my ever so tasty meat-filled pastry
C) my (coughs) chamber pot
D) the painful sore on my buttocks
E) the flanged mace that I secretly used to beat in the head of the local sheriff

8) Which of the following is a member of the regular clergy?

A) a bishop
B) a parish priest
C) a pastor
D) a deacon
E) a monk

9) Which best describes the function of a reeve, and what was a similar position?

A) a transcriber of books; scribe
B) a financial official; clerk
C) a local, manorial administrator; seneschal
D) a person who works a certain craft or trade; an artisan
E) a recorder of historical events and decrees; chronicler

10) All of the following are examples of units of weight and measurement except:

A) an acreme
B) a rood
C) a league
D) a crupper
E) an ell