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2000 series: York

York Mega-Quiz

By the end of the Middle Ages, York was a city full of churches and other ecclesiastical establishments. As well as eight monasteries and friaries, 31 hospitals or 'maisons dieu', two ecclesiastical colleges and dozens of chapels and chantries, it had at least 40 parish churches. Here then is a special end-of-series Time Team Mega-Quiz, with one question for every church. Can you answer all 40?

1. In 1066, around 10-15,000 people lived in Jorvic (York). What was the population in 1801?

 

2. What punishment did York receive for the deaths in 1190 of 150 Jews who were besieged in York Castle by a mob?

 

3. What was said to have flowed from Archbishop William's tomb in York Minster in 1223, four years before he was canonised as a saint?

 

4. The Roman 9th Legion marched from Lincoln in 71 AD and established a defensive settlement between the rivers Foss and Ouse on the site of present-day York. What was their name for it?

 

5. Medieval medics, such as those who worked at the hospital site investigated by Time Team, believed that our health depended on the balance of the four bodily humours, which corresponded to the four elements (fire, water, earth and air). Which humour corresponded to the hot and dry symptoms associated with fire?

 

6. Which humour corresponded with the cold and wet symptoms associated with water?

 

7. Which humour corresponded with the cold and dry symptoms associated with earth?

 

8. And which humour corresponded with the hot and wet symptoms associated with air?

 

9. Who was proclaimed as Roman emperor at York in 306?

 

10. What, in the Middle Ages, was an 'obit'?

 

11. What is a 'baldric'?

 

12. In 1586, York butcher's wife, Margaret Clitherow, of The Shambles, was crushed to death for what offence?

 

13. The Vikings brought 'hnefatafl' to York. What was it?

 

14. At the Roman cemetery excavated by Time Team in York, the remains were found of picnics consumed by Roman visitors – the equivalent of modern-day 'fast food' takeaways. Which of these was a popular Roman snack found here?

 

15. If you had been a 'thrall' in Viking York, what would you have been?

 

16. Which famous villain is buried in St George's Churchyard, Fishergate?

 

17. What was revived in York in 1951 after an absence of four centuries?

 

18. Which of the following was not a past name for York?

 

19. With what did Vikings write?

 

20. Many streetnames in York carry the Viking word 'gata', as in Coppergate or Micklegate. What does it mean?

 

21. From which period do the virtually complete York city walls date?

 

22. In what year did the Vikings take York?

 

23. At its height during the Middle Ages, York was the second town in Britain, but in the later Middle Ages, it suffered a severe decline. What revived its fortunes in the 19th century?

 

24. Following a discovery in 1972 at a development site owned by the Equitable Debenture and Assets Co Ltd, a manhole was built in the street to provide access to what feature of Roman York?

 

25. In 1984, three days after the controversial David Jenkins was annointed as Bishop of Durham at York Minister, a fire destroyed the Minster's rose window and south transept. What caused the fire?

 

26. When did a Viking go to 'Valhalla'?

 

27. When did building work first start on the current York Minster?

 

28. Guest presenter Paul Thompson underwent a medieval treatment by having his blood let with a leech. The leech remained attached to his arm for 45 minutes. How long would it be able to live on Paul's blood afterwards?

 

29. What was the meaning of 'berserk' in Old Norse?

 

30. Robert Aske, leader of the 'Pilgrimage of Grace' uprising, was executed at York in 1537. What was the uprising in protest against?

 

31. Among the finds made by Time Team at York was a quite rare coin bearing the head of Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine. To what is she said to have introduced her son?

 

32. What is Helena, the mother of Constantine, said to have found in the Holy Land?

 

33. When Constantine discovered that his second wife had framed his son by his first marriage with false charges of treason, how did he respond?

 

34. Who opened his first cocoa factory in York in 1869?

 

35. What is the most remarkable thing about horned helmets and the Vikings?

 

36. In 1828, local linen-draper George Hudson invested a legacy of £30,000 in what new industry, so making a crucial contribution to the future of York?

 

37. With the help of members of the Young Archaeologists' Club (whose headquarters are in York), Stewart Ainsworth measured 30-odd property frontages in one street in York to see if property boundaries have remained the same through the ages. The significant measure is the 'perch', which was used as far back as Anglo-Scandinavian time. How long is a perch?

 

38. What are 'strakes'?

 

39. What did Pope Gregory choose York as in 601?

 

40. The Romans made York a 'colonia' in 237. What was a 'colonia'?

 

out of 40 correct on first try

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