Through History With the New Monday Quiz: the 1340s

You think you've got problems?  Try living in the 1340s! 

---

1. “Cities… such as Cahokia, Kincaid and Moundville went into an accelerated state of decline in this decade,” according to some sources. Where were these places?

2. On June 24, 1340, the English fleet virtually destroyed the French navy at The Battle of Sluys, one of the first episodes of a very long conflict that has come to be called the _________________.

3.

On St. George's Night (April 23) 1343, a signal was given by setting fire to a house on a hilltop for a coordinated attack on the foreigners in Harria. The plan was to “kill all the Germans along with their wives and children. And so it happened, because they started to slay virgins, women, servants, maidservants, noblemen and commoners, young and old; all, who were of German blood, had to die.”

This was an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by Estonians to get rid of their Livonian overlords. In addition to the usual complaints, what particular cultural imposition did the Estonians resent?

4. In 1347, Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah established the Bahmani Empire on the Deccan plateau with his capital in the city now called Gulbarga. For the next couple of centuries, Bahmani would be one of the most important medieval kingdoms of __________.

5. Starting in the second half of the decade,

The trend of recent research is pointing to… 45–50% of the European population dying during a four-year period. There is a fair amount of geographic variation. In Mediterranean Europe, areas such as Italy, the south of France and Spain… it was probably closer to 75–80% of the population. In Germany and England ... it was probably closer to 20%.

What was happening?

6.

In men and women alike it first betrayed itself by the emergence of certain tumours in the groin or armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg...From the two said parts of the body this deadly gavocciolo soon began to propagate and spread itself in all directions indifferently; after which the form of the malady began to change, black spots or livid making their appearance in many cases on the arm or the thigh or elsewhere, now few and large, now minute and numerous. As the gavocciolo had been and still was an infallible token of approaching death, such also were these spots on whomsoever they showed themselves.

What was this terrible unpleasantness?

7. From 1348 to 1350, more than 500 Jewish communities in northern Europe were either slaughtered or, in a few cases, committed suicide to avoid slaughter. Why?

8. Meanwhile, Charles University was founded in 1348. It’s still in operation today, with about 50,000 students, and is considered an elite world University and the most prestigious in its country. Famous alumni include Famous alumni include Jan Hus, Milan Kundera, and Rainier Rilke. In what city is it located?

9. Clement VI officially condemned the Flagellants in a bull of October 20, 1349. What’s a Flagellant?

10. In 1349, its south outer wall collapsed in an earthquake, generating a real bonanza of pre-cut stone for the local contractors. But the building still stands. See? What’s it called, and where is it located?

---

Through History with The New Monday Quiz: the 1330s

1. "Battle of Velbazhd" -- a. The Serbians defeated the Bulgarian army and advanced on Macedonia
2. the emperor fails to take real power -- Japan.
3. Amda Seyon I, emperor of Christian Ethiopia.
4. The fortress on the Moscow River is called a "Kremlin."
5. History of the Realm of Romania is the history of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.
6. China had an awful famine from 1333 to 1337.
7. George V the Brilliant was one of the great kings of Georgia.
8. In 1334, in Hubei, The Black Death enters the historical record.
9. Nicomedia was taken from the Byzantines by the Ottomans.
10. The Effects of Good Government still (I think) graces the walls of city hill in Sienna.

Summertime, and people are outside enjoying fun in the sun and neglecting their historical studies.  Honor students pfly and Susan made it to class. pfly defends his Historian of the Week laurels, and catches another fleeting glimpse of Laura reflected in the window, the torment of which he will cherish forever, or at least until next week.