Through History with The Monday Quiz: the 1100s

The eleventh century became the twelfth century, and things would never be the same again!  Of course, that's always true.

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1. Its glory days as a prosperous center of trade in salt, gold, ivory, and slaves was still centuries in the future, but somewhere around 1100 a seasonal camp of Tuareg nomads became a permanent settlement. Today, it’s the best-known city in Mali.  What's it called?

2. In about 1100, probably in the south of France, the game of Alquerque was adapted to a new form that used backgammon pieces on a chessboard. This was the invention of what?

3. People from the Killke culture in highland Peru built this fortress, called Sacsayhuamán, in around 1100. A few centuries later, a city would grow nearby that would be the capital of a vast empire. What was the name of that city?

4. Properly called "Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress," it has housed many prisoners over the centuries. The first was Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, who was imprisoned for a while by Henry I in 1100, more of less on charges of having been an effective tax administrator during the previous reign. What is the common name of this old and once-feared building?

5. On December 25, 1100, Baldwin of Boulogne was crowned as Baldwin I of a brand new kingdom that had just been created the previous year. Of what was Baldwin king?

6.

Construction of the Arsenal began around 1104…. It became the largest industrial complex in Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution…. With high walls shielding the Arsenal from public view and guards protecting its perimeter, different areas of the Arsenal each produced a particular prefabricated ship part or other maritime implement, such as munitions, rope, and rigging. These parts could then be assembled into a ship in as little as one day.

The Arsenal produced the majority of [the city's] maritime trading vessels, which generated much of [its] economic wealth and power, lasting until… Napoleon's conquest of the area in 1797.

Where was the Arsenal?

7. In the fall of 1104, Hekla erupted explosively. Settlements as far as 70 km away were abandoned. Others, including the now-reconstructed farm compound at Þjóðveldisbærinn Stöng, were completely buried in ash. Where did all this happen?

8. In February and March of 1106, X/1106 C1 was noticed and recorded in in Wales, England, mainland Europe, Japan, Korea, and China. After a while, it seemed to break into two or more pieces. What was X/1106 C1?

9. King Jayavarman VI (ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៦), ruling the Khmer Empire from its capital city, Angkor, died in 1107. What modern country occupies the territory that was the heart of the medieval Khmer Empire?

10. The Norwegian Crusade: in 1108, Sigurd I’s seaborne army stopped on their way to the Holy Land to raid and plunder this “half Christian, half heathen” city. What city was it?

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The Grudge Match Week Quiz

1. The bypassing of the Maginot Line kicked off World War II.
2. Bogart and Bacall were costars a second time in The Big Sleep.
3. Rome won the First Punic War. Rome also won the Second and Third Punic Wars.
4. Gatsby was breathless, was, somehow, betrayed when they met again.
5. The Return of the King is the only sequel to win an Oscar without the original movie having done so.
6. Conrad, Gordon, and Bean were, yes, astronauts. They were the Apollo 12 astronauts, and won humanity's rematch with the Moon. (The Moon would subsequently win Apollo 13.)
7. The Filioque controversy is, at least ostensibly, a major reason for the Great Schism of Christianity.
8. After the Hundred Days Napoleon lost Waterloo.
9. The quasi-riot was the exciting debut of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. It was probably more about the goofy dancing then the music, actually, but that doesn't make nearly as good of a history-music story.
10. After the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics, the Soviets and most of their allies boycotted the L.A. Olympics.

Bonus: Italy and Yugoslavia always had issues over who ended up with Trieste. Italy has pretty much ended up with Trieste, as least for now.

I believe the winningest slate of answers belonged to gS49, a venerable name (number? character sequence?) in Michael5000 quizzes!