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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the manners of the time, how should bread be consumed?
(a) The pinkie finger must not touch the bread.
(b) Bread is reserved as the very last food item consumed.
(c) It is polite to make loud noises when eating bread.
(d) It should be broken rather than bitten off.

2. Who lives in the attic of a home?
(a) The burgher and his wife.
(b) Servants and apprentices.
(c) The children.
(d) The attic is a guest room for customers.

3. According to medieval medicine, how many "humors" are there in the body?
(a) Fourteen.
(b) Three.
(c) One.
(d) Four.

4. Approximately how many doctors are there in the Troyes of 1250?
(a) 1.
(b) 6.
(c) 0.
(d) 100.

5. When is a child baptized ideally?
(a) At one year of age.
(b) On the first day of birth.
(c) At two weeks' of age.
(d) On their fifth birthday.

6. Which of the following is NOT a step taken in the preparation of a typical dinner?
(a) Meats must be roasted in a communal oven.
(b) The wife must visit the butcher's to select a meat.
(c) Food must be taken to the cathedral to be blessed.
(d) Servants chop and blanch vegetables.

7. What is the church's position on most games and entertainments?
(a) These activities are sinful and forbidden.
(b) These activities are sinful, but permitted on Tuesdays.
(c) These activities are necessary to overall emotional health.
(d) The church states no opinion on these activities.

8. Which of the following is an ideal quality of a wet nurse?
(a) The ability to play the lute.
(b) A strictly regimented diet.
(c) A thorough understanding of Latin and Greek.
(d) Intense powers of concentration.

9. Which might be a restriction against two people being married?
(a) They are too closely related by blood.
(b) They are too old.
(c) Either one is a former criminal.
(d) Differences in education level.

10. How many people share a wine cup during dining?
(a) The entire table drinks from the same cup.
(b) Three.
(c) Two.
(d) Just one.

11. What are common maladies in the 13th century?
(a) AIDS.
(b) Bird flu.
(c) Skin diseases.
(d) Smallpox.

12. Which of the following is a typical play activity for young children?
(a) Hunting.
(b) Bear baiting.
(c) Cock fighting.
(d) Recitation of epic poetry.

13. How did doctors describe the cause of illnesses in the 13th century?
(a) Disease is the result of contact with unhealthy metals.
(b) Disease might arise from an imbalance in the fluids of the body.
(c) Disease is an act of God, and requires no rational explanation.
(d) Disease is a result of viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.

14. Who is a wet nurse?
(a) A woman who nurses another woman's baby.
(b) A woman who attends to drowning victims.
(c) A magician who lives in the swamp.
(d) A doctor specializing in the fluids of the body.

15. What kind of detergent is used for laundry time?
(a) Lard.
(b) Soap and ashes.
(c) Crushed rose petals and cream.
(d) Soap only.

Short Answer Questions

1. How might a pregnant woman influence the sex of her infant child, according to the prevailing wisdom?

2. What is the difference between Jewish money lenders and Christian money lenders?

3. How is mental illness treated by medieval doctors?

4. What does a fuller do?

5. Why must the housewife be especially careful in selecting food from the market?

(see the answer keys)

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