Early Medieval Britain

According to traditional British history, who was invited by the British chieftain Vortigern to fight against the barbarian Scots and Picts during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of the sixth century?

• The Vikings

• The Jutes

• The Romans

• The Picts

What reward did Vortigern grant to Hengest and his warriors for their successful campaign against the Picts and Scots?

• The region of Kent

• A share of the British throne

• Gold and treasure "Danegeld"

• Freedom from taxation

What happened to the native Celtic language and Christian religion in the region that is now called England between 450 and 600 A.D.?

• They remained dominant.

• They vanished completely.

• They were adopted by the Anglo-Saxons.

• They were preserved in Brittany.

Where did many Britons retreat to as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, retaining Celtic languages and culture?

• East Anglia

• France

• England's southwest (Wales and Cornwall)

• Scotland

From which region did the Germanic invaders, including the Frisians, Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, originate?

• France and Italy

• Denmark and northern Germany

• Scotland and Ireland

• Spain and Portugal

What religion did the Anglo-Saxons practice by the time they invaded Britania?

• Christianity

• Polytheism

• Buddhism

• Islam

By what year did the proto-German spoken by the Anglo-Saxons transform into the language known as Old English?

• 500 A.D.

• 600 A.D.

• 700 A.D.

• 800 A.D.

Answer explanation

It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century.

What is a notable characteristic of Old English that shares with modern German?

• It is unintelligible to modern English speakers.

• It uses long, complex words.

• It lacks compound words.

• It resembles Latin in structure.

Answer explanation

Old English grammar resembles that of modern German. The OE noun was inflected for four cases in the singular and four other cases in the plural, with some non-distinctive forms. The adjective was similarly inflected, with the addition of separate forms for each of the three genders – masculine, feminine, and neuter.

What was Pope Gregory the Great's famous response when he saw a group of blond-haired, blue-eyed boys from the slave market in Rome who were identified as Angles?

• "Not Angles, but angels."

• "Angli, not angels."

• "Angeli, not Angles."

• "Angels, not Angles."

How did Edwin, the King of Northumbria, contribute to the spread of Christianity in his kingdom?

• He forced his subjects to convert.

• He sought the help of missionaries from Ireland.

• He organized large-scale Christian festivals.

• He married a Christian princess.

Answer explanation

He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627