1. Ye Olden Times
   Middle Ages
2. Monty Python Ages

Medieval Europe was also called the Middle Ages. It was the kid who always got ignored in history class.

1. William the Conqueror’s rampage
   fall of the Roman Empire
2. construction of the English Channel

When the Roman Empire fell, the Middle Ages began in Europe. Without the Romans dominating the continent, life changed for everyone.

1. Olive Garden
   Bank of Medici
2. Catholic Church

With the Roman Empire fallen, the Catholic Church stepped into the power vacuum. The church was incredibly powerful in the Middle Ages.

1. castles
   caves
2. countryside

In this area and time, most people lived in the countryside. By today’s standards they lived exceedingly simple lives.

1. 10 percent
   50 percent
2. 80 percent

The Catholic Church required many Europeans to "tithe" 10 percent of their earnings to the church. And yet, the church itself rarely had to pay any sort of real taxes.

1. banks
   kings
2. Muslim rulers

Kings were the top landholders in the Middle Ages. They did as they wanted with their property, and no one (save perhaps an invading army) could say otherwise.

1. farming
   banking
2. llama ranching

Farming was a way of life for most people, and it was backbreaking toil. People worked to eat, and hoped to save enough food for leaner times.

1. ladies of the night
   peasant farmers
2. robber barons

Villeins were essentially peasant farmers who worked the land for a lord. Villeins weren’t exactly slaves ... but they weren’t what you’d call "free," either.

1. true
2. false

The lords who owned the land where the villeins farmed had control over the villeins, who were basically bonded tenants. They definitely couldn’t just leave if they felt like it.

1. toes
   laces
2. tongues

Rich people had some weird fashion tastes in the 14th century. Some wealthy men wore shoes with laughably long toes — so long, in fact, that the toes had to be secured to garters.

1. an English princess
   a tenant-in-chief
2. a king

Lords of the manor were often tenants-in-chief, men who controlled land by the grace of a king. The lords of the manor, then, had peasant serfs and villeins who farmed and cared for livestock in exchange for a place to live.

1. slavery
   witchcraft
2. beer brewing

Slavery was mostly gone by 1000, in part because the Catholic Church frowned on the practice. However, serfdom was exceedingly prevalent and, in some cases, nearly as awful as slavery.

1. true
2. false

Movies love to portray witch burnings as a common event ... but it’s not true. Witch burnings weren’t a priority for religious types in the Middle Ages, but they did happen from time to time.

1. spread the word of God to South America
   capture the New World
2. expel Muslims from the Holy Land

The Crusades were a holy war in which Christians tried to expel Muslims from the Holy Land in the Middle East. Many common people were dragged into this long-running feud.

1. exactly like country living
   monuments to human aspirations
2. crowded and filthy

Medieval cities were often disgusting places. There was no indoor plumbing, so urban environments were dirty, gross, and crowded.

1. women
   males
2. children

The stereotype is that women were servants. In Medieval Europe, though, males were far more common as servants.

1. one room, maybe two
   equipped with "knight" lights
2. pretty fancy, actually

Peasants lived in one- to two-room homes and families typically slept in the same room. In many cases, smoke from the hearth often filled the home day and night.

1. to stop commoners from dressing above their class
   to burn witches
2. to standardize beer production

By the late Middle Ages, many commoners actually had a bit of money and could afford to dress like wealthier folks. But the rich passed sumtuary laws to stop commoners from doing just that — after all, you have to keep "regular" people where they belong.

1. a one-piece garment
   a spear-like weapon
2. a special drink

Kirtles were large garments without a waist seam that both men and women wore in the Middle Ages. They were very common for many centuries.

1. true
2. false

Not all servants were peasants. Rich people had high-end servants who actually did well for themselves.

1. true
2. false

Movies and novels would have you believe that medieval people were borderline savages, throwing food and bones all over the place. In reality, they definitely had more table manners than your toddler.

1. late spring
   fall
2. summer

By late spring, crops had not yet started growing and winter food stockpiles were often depleted. Unlucky peasants might starve to death.

1. fish for food
   kill peasants all day
2. fight when needed

Knights were the warrior class. They received bits of land from lords in exchange for their fighting services.

1. cannons
   archers
2. tanks

At the end of the 14th century, the English developed an affinity for archers. Well-trained archers could repel enemy infantry from long distances.

1. true
2. false

False. It’s a persistent myth that Medieval commoners had to drink ale because drinking water would make them sick. But, you know, beer is still good for you.

1. Few kids attended school.
   Public schools were widespread.
2. Church was school.

Very few kids went to school in the Middle Ages. Your parents taught you to survive.

1. drinking straws
   leeches
2. machetes

Bloodletting was recommended for many ailments during the Middle Ages. Physicians would use leeches to suck blood from patients.

1. a huge war
   a Catholic ceremony
2. a terrible epidemic

Around 1350, a terrible plague called the Black Death swept much of the world. By some estimates, an incredible 60 percent of Europe’s people died in just a few years.

1. It contained bits of millstone.
   It had peasant bones in it.
2. It was made of mud.

Rough millstones created grit that wound up in the bread of commoners. One result? Peoples’ teeth wore down quickly as they munched bread throughout their lives.

1. Iran
   France
2. America

From 1337 to 1453, England and France fought the Hundred Years War. Eventually, France won, and England lost control of many of its lands across the English Channel.