Divyanshu67/squad_v2 huggingface dataset:
High-definition_television

Standard 35mm photographic film used for cinema projection has a much higher image resolution than HDTV systems, and is exposed and projected at a rate of 24 frames per second (frame/s). To be shown on standard television, in PAL-system countries, cinema film is scanned at the TV rate of 25 frame/s, causing a speedup of 4.1 percent, which is generally considered acceptable. In NTSC-system countries, the TV scan rate of 30 frame/s would cause a perceptible speedup if the same were attempted, and the necessary correction is performed by a technique called 3:2 Pulldown: Over each successive pair of film frames, one is held for three video fields (1/20 of a second) and the next is held for two video fields (1/30 of a second), giving a total time for the two frames of 1/12 of a second and thus achieving the correct average film frame rate.

Question: At what rate is standard 35mm photographic film exposed and projected?
Answer: 24 frames per second

Question: To be shown on SDTV in PAL-system countries, at what rate is cinema film scanned?
Answer: 25 frame/s

Question: The technique in which with successive pair of film frames, one is held for three video fields, and the next is held for two, is called what?
Answer: 3:2 Pulldown

Question: The 3:2 Pulldown techniques gives what total time for two frames?
Answer: 1/12 of a second

Question: What is achieved by the 3:2 Pulldown technique producing a total time of 1/12 of a second for two frames?
Answer: the correct average film frame rate

Question: At what rate is standard 50mm photographic film exposed and projected?

Question: To be shown on SDTV in PAL-system countries, at what rate is cinema film not scanned?

Question: The technique in which with successive pair of film frames, one is held for three video fields, and the next is held for two, isn't called what?

Question:  The 3:2 Pulldown techniques gives what total time for five frames?

Question: What is achieved by the 3:2 Pulldown technique producing a total time of 1/15 of a second for two frames?
High-definition_television

Non-cinematic HDTV video recordings intended for broadcast are typically recorded either in 720p or 1080i format as determined by the broadcaster. 720p is commonly used for Internet distribution of high-definition video, because most computer monitors operate in progressive-scan mode. 720p also imposes less strenuous storage and decoding requirements compared to both 1080i and 1080p. 1080p/24, 1080i/30, 1080i/25, and 720p/30 is most often used on Blu-ray Disc.

Question: What two formats are typically used to recorde non-cinematic HDTV video intended for broadcast?
Answer: 720p or 1080i

Question: Which format is typically used for internet distribution of HD video?
Answer: 720p

Question: Most computer monitors operate in what mode?
Answer: progressive-scan

Question: 1080i, 1080p, and 720p are often used on what kind of disc. 
Answer: Blu-ray

Question: What two formats are typically used to record cinematic HDTV video intended for broadcast?

Question: Which format is typically used for internet distribution of SD video?

Question: No computer monitors operate in what mode?

Question:  1080i, 1080p, and 720p are never used on what kind of disc.
High-definition_television

In the US, residents in the line of sight of television station broadcast antennas can receive free, over the air programming with a television set with an ATSC tuner (most sets sold since 2009 have this). This is achieved with a TV aerial, just as it has been since the 1940s except now the major network signals are broadcast in high definition (ABC, Fox, and Ion Television broadcast at 720p resolution; CBS, My Network TV, NBC, PBS, and The CW at 1080i). As their digital signals more efficiently use the broadcast channel, many broadcasters are adding multiple channels to their signals. Laws about antennas were updated before the change to digital terrestrial broadcasts. These new laws prohibit home owners' associations and city government from banning the installation of antennas.

Question: In the US, what kind of tuner is needed for residents to receive free, over the air programming?
Answer: ATSC

Question: Laws regarding antennas were upated before what?
Answer: the change to digital terrestrial broadcasts

Question: Who do these laws prohibit from banning the installation of antennas?
Answer: home owners' associations and city government

Question: Laws about antennas keep home owners' associations and city government from banning what?
Answer: the installation of antennas

Question: Most television sets sold since what year have an ATSC tuner?
Answer: 2009

Question: In the UK, what kind of tuner is needed for residents to receive free, over the air programming?

Question:  Laws regarding antennas weren't updated before what?

Question: Who do these laws allow the installation of antennas?

Question: Laws about antennas keep home owners' associations and city government from allowing what?
High-definition_television

Additionally, cable-ready TV sets can display HD content without using an external box. They have a QAM tuner built-in and/or a card slot for inserting a CableCARD.

Question: HD content can be displayed by cable-ready TVs without using what?
Answer: an external box

Question: Without using an external box, cable-ready TVs can display what?
Answer: HD content

Question: What features allow the cable-ready TVs to display HD content without an external box?
Answer: a QAM tuner built-in and/or a card slot for inserting a CableCARD

Question: What kind of built-in tuner will allow a cable-ready TV to display HD content without an external box?
Answer: QAM

Question: What kind of card will allow a cable-ready TV to display HD content without an external box?
Answer: CableCARD

Question: SD content can be displayed by cable-ready TVs without using what?

Question:  Without using an internal box, cable-ready TVs can display what?

Question:  What features allow the cable-ready TVs to display HD content without an internal box?

Question: What kind of built-in tuner will allow a cable-ready TV to display HD content without an intenal box?

Question: What kind of card will allow a cable-ready TV to display HD content without an external box?
High-definition_television

High-definition image sources include terrestrial broadcast, direct broadcast satellite, digital cable, IPTV (including GoogleTV Roku boxes and AppleTV or built into "Smart Televisions"), Blu-ray video disc (BD), and internet downloads.

Question: Roku and AppleTV are examples of what?
Answer: IPTV

Question: Internet downloads, Blu-ray videos, and Apple TV are examples of what?
Answer: High-definition image sources

Question: Terrestrial broadcast and direct broadcast satellite are examples of what?
Answer: High-definition image sources

Question: Digital cable and Roku are examples of what?
Answer: High-definition image sources

Question:  Roku and AppleTV aren't examples of what?

Question: Internet downloads, Blu-ray videos, and Apple TV aren't examples of what?

Question: Digital cable and Roku aren't examples of what?
High-definition_television

Sony's PlayStation 3 has extensive HD compatibility because of its built in Blu-ray disc based player, so does Microsoft's Xbox 360 with the addition of Netflix and Windows Media Center HTPC streaming capabilities, and the Zune marketplace where users can rent or purchase digital HD content. Recently, Nintendo released a next generation high definition gaming platform, The Wii U, which includes TV remote control features in addition to IPTV streaming features like Netflix. The HD capabilities of the consoles has influenced some developers to port games from past consoles onto the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U, often with remastered or upscaled graphics.

Question: Why does the PlayStation 3 have extensive HD compatibility?
Answer: because of its built in Blu-ray disc based player

Question: In addition to having a Blu-ray player the Xbox 360 also features what?
Answer: Netflix and Windows Media Center HTPC streaming capabilities, and the Zune marketplace

Question: What high definition gaming platform did Nintendo recently release?
Answer: The Wii U

Question: The HD capabilities of modern gaming systems has inspired developers to do what?
Answer: port games from past consoles onto the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U, often with remastered or upscaled graphics

Question: Why does the PlayStation 3 have extensive SD compatibility?

Question: In addition to having a Blu-ray player the Xbox One also features what?

Question: What low definition gaming platform did Nintendo recently release?

Question: The HD capabilities of modern gaming systems has not inspired developers to do what?
High-definition_television

HDTV can be recorded to D-VHS (Digital-VHS or Data-VHS), W-VHS (analog only), to an HDTV-capable digital video recorder (for example DirecTV's high-definition Digital video recorder, Sky HD's set-top box, Dish Network's VIP 622 or VIP 722 high-definition Digital video recorder receivers, or TiVo's Series 3 or HD recorders), or an HDTV-ready HTPC. Some cable boxes are capable of receiving or recording two or more broadcasts at a time in HDTV format, and HDTV programming, some included in the monthly cable service subscription price, some for an additional fee, can be played back with the cable company's on-demand feature.

Question: Sky HD's set-top box, TiVo's Series 3, and Dish Network's VIP 622 are examples of what?
Answer: an HDTV-capable digital video recorder

Question: Some cable boxes are capable of doing what?
Answer: receiving or recording two or more broadcasts at a time in HDTV format

Question: What restriction does W-VHS recordings have?
Answer: analog only

Question: What does D-VHS stand for?
Answer: Digital-VHS or Data-VHS

Question: Sky HD's set-top box, TiVo's Series 3, and Dish Network's VIP 622 aren't examples of what?

Question:  Some cable boxes can't be capable of doing what?

Question:  What restriction does W-VHS recordings not have?

Question:  What does DVD stand for?
High-definition_television

The massive amount of data storage required to archive uncompressed streams meant that inexpensive uncompressed storage options were not available to the consumer. In 2008, the Hauppauge 1212 Personal Video Recorder was introduced. This device accepts HD content through component video inputs and stores the content in MPEG-2 format in a .ts file or in a Blu-ray compatible format .m2ts file on the hard drive or DVD burner of a computer connected to the PVR through a USB 2.0 interface. More recent systems are able to record a broadcast high definition program in its 'as broadcast' format or transcode to a format more compatible with Blu-ray.

Question: When was the Hauppauge 1212 Personal Video Recorder introduced?
Answer: 2008

Question: How does the Personal Video Recorder store content?
Answer: in MPEG-2 format in a .ts file or in a Blu-ray compatible format .m2ts file

Question: Recent systems can record a broadcast HD program in what format?
Answer: 'as broadcast' format or transcode to a format more compatible with Blu-ray

Question: What uncompressed storage option was introduced in 2008?
Answer: the Hauppauge 1212 Personal Video Recorder

Question: When was the Hauppauge 1212 NonPersonal Video Recorder introduced?

Question:  How doesn't the Personal Video Recorder store content?

Question: Recent systems can record a broadcast SD program in what format?

Question:  What uncompressed storage option wasn't introduced in 2008?
High-definition_television

Analog tape recorders with bandwidth capable of recording analog HD signals, such as W-VHS recorders, are no longer produced for the consumer market and are both expensive and scarce in the secondary market.

Question: W-VHS recorders are capable of recording what kinds of signals?
Answer: analog HD

Question: What kind of recorder is no longer produced for the consumer market?
Answer: Analog tape

Question: In the secondary market, analog tape recorders are considered what?
Answer: expensive and scarce

Question: W-VHS recorders aren't capable of recording what kinds of signals?

Question: What kind of recorder is still produced for the consumer market?

Question:  In the secondary market, analog tape recorders arent considered what?
High-definition_television

In the United States, as part of the FCC's plug and play agreement, cable companies are required to provide customers who rent HD set-top boxes with a set-top box with "functional" FireWire (IEEE 1394) on request. None of the direct broadcast satellite providers have offered this feature on any of their supported boxes, but some cable TV companies have. As of July 2004[update], boxes are not included in the FCC mandate. This content is protected by encryption known as 5C. This encryption can prevent duplication of content or simply limit the number of copies permitted, thus effectively denying most if not all fair use of the content.

Question: Prior to 2004, what were US cable companies required to provide customers who rent HD set-top boxes?
Answer: a set-top box with "functional" FireWire (IEEE 1394) on request

Question: When were boxes with "functional" FireWire no longer included in the FCC mandate?
Answer: July 2004

Question: Content is now protected by what encryption?
Answer: 5C

Question: What can 5c encryption prevent?
Answer: duplication of content or simply limit the number of copies permitted

Question: Prior to 2006, what were US cable companies required to provide customers who rent HD set-top boxes?

Question: When were boxes with "functional" FireWire included in the FCC mandate?

Question:  Content is not protected by what encryption?

Question:  What can 5c encryption not prevent?
Middle_Ages

In European history, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: Antiquity, Medieval period, and Modern period. The Medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, the High, and the Late Middle Ages.

Question: In what century did the Middle Ages begin?
Answer: 5th

Question: What century saw the end of the Middle Ages?
Answer: 15th

Question: What event marked the beginning of the Middle Ages?
Answer: the collapse of the Western Roman Empire

Question: Along with the Renaissance, what era occurred at the end of the Middle Ages?
Answer: Age of Discovery

Question: What is the first period of the three that Western history is traditionally divided into?
Answer: Antiquity
Middle_Ages

Depopulation, deurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, which had begun in Late Antiquity, continued in the Early Middle Ages. The barbarian invaders, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Eastern Roman Empire—came under the rule of the Caliphate, an Islamic empire, after conquest by Muhammad's successors. Although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with Antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power. The empire's law code, the Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions. Monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th and early 9th century. It covered much of Western Europe, but later succumbed to the pressures of internal civil wars combined with external invasions—Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, and Saracens from the south.

Question: Along with the movement of peoples, invasion and depopulation, what event started in Late Antiquity and continued into the Middle Ages?
Answer: deurbanisation

Question: In what state did barbarian invaders establish kingdoms?
Answer: the Western Roman Empire

Question: What empire was North Africa previously a part of?
Answer: the Eastern Roman Empire

Question: In what century did the Caliphate conquer North Africa?
Answer: 7th

Question: In what year did Italians discover the Code of Justinian?
Answer: 1070
Middle_Ages

During the High Middle Ages, which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as technological and agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish and the Medieval Warm Period climate change allowed crop yields to increase. Manorialism, the organisation of peasants into villages that owed rent and labour services to the nobles, and feudalism, the political structure whereby knights and lower-status nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and manors, were two of the ways society was organised in the High Middle Ages. The Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from the Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence but making the ideal of a unified Christendom more distant. Intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. The theology of Thomas Aquinas, the paintings of Giotto, the poetry of Dante and Chaucer, the travels of Marco Polo, and the architecture of Gothic cathedrals such as Chartres are among the outstanding achievements toward the end of this period, and into the Late Middle Ages.

Question: What year marked the beginning of the High Middle Ages?
Answer: 1000

Question: What event led to larger crop yields in the High Middle Ages?
Answer: the Medieval Warm Period

Question: What was the name of the economic system that organized peasants into villages owing labor and rent to nobles?
Answer: Manorialism

Question: What was the name of the political system that gave rents to knights in return for military service?
Answer: feudalism

Question: In what year did the Crusades begin?
Answer: 1095
Middle_Ages

The Late Middle Ages was marked by difficulties and calamities including famine, plague, and war, which significantly diminished the population of Europe; between 1347 and 1350, the Black Death killed about a third of Europeans. Controversy, heresy, and schism within the Church paralleled the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages and beginning the early modern period.

Question: When did the Black Death end?
Answer: 1350

Question: In what period of the Middle Ages did the Black Death occur?
Answer: Late

Question: What portion of the European population died in the Black Death?
Answer: a third

Question: What era occurred after the Late Middle Ages?
Answer: the early modern period

Question: Along with controversy and schism, what upset the peace of the Church during the Late Middle Ages?
Answer: heresy
Middle_Ages

The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history: classical civilisation, or Antiquity; the Middle Ages; and the Modern Period.

Question: Along with Antiquity and the Middle Ages, what is the other major division of European history?
Answer: the Modern Period

Question: How many major periods is European history divided into?
Answer: three

Question: What is another name for Antiquity?
Answer: classical civilisation
Middle_Ages

Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the "Six Ages" or the "Four Empires", and considered their time to be the last before the end of the world. When referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being "modern". In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (or "ancient") and to the Christian period as nova (or "new"). Leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People (1442). Bruni and later historians argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarch's time, and therefore added a third period to Petrarch's two. The "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or "middle season". In early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or "middle age", first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or "middle ages", first recorded in 1625. The alternative term "medieval" (or occasionally "mediaeval") derives from medium aevum. Tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.

Question: Along with the Six Ages, what other scheme did writers in the Middle Ages use to divide history?
Answer: Four Empires

Question: What writer referred to the Christian period as new?
Answer: Petrarch

Question: Who wrote the History of the Florentine People?
Answer: Leonardo Bruni

Question: When was the History of the Florentine People published?
Answer: 1442

Question: Who first divided history into the ancient, medieval and modern periods?
Answer: Christoph Cellarius
Middle_Ages

The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, first used by Bruni.[A] For Europe as a whole, 1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. Depending on the context, events such as Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are sometimes used. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period. For Spain, dates commonly used are the death of King Ferdinand II in 1516, the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1504, or the conquest of Granada in 1492. Historians from Romance-speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late". In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages",[B] but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians.

Question: What date is usually given as the beginning of the Middle Ages?
Answer: 476

Question: Who was the first writer to date the Middle Ages from 476?
Answer: Bruni

Question: When is the Middle Ages generally considered to have ended?
Answer: 1500

Question: In what year did the Turks conquer Constantinople?
Answer: 1453

Question: When did Ferdinand II die?
Answer: 1516
Middle_Ages

The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century AD; the following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressure on the frontiers combined to make the 3rd century politically unstable, with emperors coming to the throne only to be rapidly replaced by new usurpers. Military expenses increased steadily during the 3rd century, mainly in response to the war with Sassanid Persia, which revived in the middle of the 3rd century. The army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the legion as the main tactical unit. The need for revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the curial, or landowning, class, and decreasing numbers of them willing to shoulder the burdens of holding office in their native towns. More bureaucrats were needed in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army, which led to complaints from civilians that there were more tax-collectors in the empire than tax-payers.

Question: In what century did the Roman Empire achieve its greatest extent?
Answer: the 2nd century AD

Question: In what century did the revival of Persia occur under the Sassanids?
Answer: 3rd century

Question: How much did the size of the Roman army increase in the 3rd century?
Answer: doubled

Question: What did the need for increased revenue to pay for the Roman army lead to an increase in?
Answer: taxes

Question: What is another term for the Roman landowning class?
Answer: curial
Middle_Ages

The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286; the empire was not considered divided by its inhabitants or rulers, as legal and administrative promulgations in one division were considered valid in the other.[C] In 330, after a period of civil war, Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) refounded the city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople. Diocletian's reforms strengthened the governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army, which bought the empire time but did not resolve the problems it was facing: excessive taxation, a declining birthrate, and pressures on its frontiers, among others. Civil war between rival emperors became common in the middle of the 4th century, diverting soldiers from the empire's frontier forces and allowing invaders to encroach. For much of the 4th century, Roman society stabilised in a new form that differed from the earlier classical period, with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, and a decline in the vitality of the smaller towns. Another change was the Christianisation, or conversion of the empire to Christianity, a gradual process that lasted from the 2nd to the 5th centuries.

Question: In what year did Diocletian begin his reign?
Answer: 284

Question: When was the Roman Empire split into western and eastern administrative divisions?
Answer: 286

Question: What was the name of the city previously located on the site of Constantinople?
Answer: Byzantium

Question: During what century was the Roman conversion to Christianity considered complete?
Answer: 5th

Question: When did the rule of Constantine end?
Answer: 337
Middle_Ages

In 376, the Ostrogoths, fleeing from the Huns, received permission from Emperor Valens (r. 364–378) to settle in the Roman province of Thracia in the Balkans. The settlement did not go smoothly, and when Roman officials mishandled the situation, the Ostrogoths began to raid and plunder.[D] Valens, attempting to put down the disorder, was killed fighting the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Adrianople on 9 August 378. As well as the threat from such tribal confederacies from the north, internal divisions within the empire, especially within the Christian Church, caused problems. In 400, the Visigoths invaded the Western Roman Empire and, although briefly forced back from Italy, in 410 sacked the city of Rome. In 406 the Alans, Vandals, and Suevi crossed into Gaul; over the next three years they spread across Gaul and in 409 crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into modern-day Spain. The Migration Period began, where various people, initially largely Germanic peoples, moved across Europe. The Franks, Alemanni, and the Burgundians all ended up in northern Gaul while the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes settled in Britain. In the 430s the Huns began invading the empire; their king Attila (r. 434–453) led invasions into the Balkans in 442 and 447, Gaul in 451, and Italy in 452. The Hunnic threat remained until Attila's death in 453, when the Hunnic confederation he led fell apart. These invasions by the tribes completely changed the political and demographic nature of what had been the Western Roman Empire.

Question: In what year did the Ostrogoths settle in the Roman Empire?
Answer: 376

Question: Who invited the Ostrogoths to settle in the Roman Empire?
Answer: Valens

Question: In what province did the Ostrogoths settle?
Answer: Thracia

Question: At what battle was the Emperor Valens killed?
Answer: the Battle of Adrianople

Question: When did the Battle of Adrianople occur?
Answer: 9 August 378
Middle_Ages

By the end of the 5th century the western section of the empire was divided into smaller political units, ruled by the tribes that had invaded in the early part of the century. The deposition of the last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustus, in 476 has traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.[E] The Eastern Roman Empire, often referred to as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of its western counterpart, had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. The Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory, but none of the new kings in the west dared to elevate himself to the position of emperor of the west, Byzantine control of most of the Western Empire could not be sustained; the reconquest of the Italian peninsula and Mediterranean periphery by Justinian (r. 527–565) was the sole, and temporary, exception.

Question: Who was the last Western Roman Emperor?
Answer: Romulus Augustus

Question: When did the reign of the last Western Roman Emperor end?
Answer: 476

Question: What is another name for the Eastern Roman Empire?
Answer: Byzantine Empire

Question: What Eastern Roman Emperor reconquered Italy?
Answer: Justinian

Question: When did Justinian's reign end?
Answer: 565
Middle_Ages

The political structure of Western Europe changed with the end of the united Roman Empire. Although the movements of peoples during this period are usually described as "invasions", they were not just military expeditions but migrations of entire peoples into the empire. Such movements were aided by the refusal of the western Roman elites to support the army or pay the taxes that would have allowed the military to suppress the migration. The emperors of the 5th century were often controlled by military strongmen such as Stilicho (d. 408), Aspar (d. 471), Ricimer (d. 472), or Gundobad (d. 516), who were partly or fully of non-Roman background. When the line of western emperors ceased, many of the kings who replaced them were from the same background. Intermarriage between the new kings and the Roman elites was common. This led to a fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes, including the popular assemblies that allowed free male tribal members more say in political matters than was common in the Roman state. Material artefacts left by the Romans and the invaders are often similar, and tribal items were often modelled on Roman objects. Much of the scholarly and written culture of the new kingdoms was also based on Roman intellectual traditions. An important difference was the gradual loss of tax revenue by the new polities. Many of the new political entities no longer supported their armies through taxes, instead relying on granting them land or rents. This meant there was less need for large tax revenues and so the taxation systems decayed. Warfare was common between and within the kingdoms. Slavery declined as the supply weakened, and society became more rural.[F]

Question: When did Aspar die?
Answer: Aspar

Question: What year saw the death of Gundobad?
Answer: 516

Question: What notable Roman figure died in 408?
Answer: Stilicho

Question: The loss of what led to the differentiation between the Western Roman Empire and the new kingdoms?
Answer: tax revenue

Question: Rather than taxes, what did the new kingdoms use to support their armies?
Answer: land or rents
Middle_Ages

Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralised government. The Ostrogoths settled in Italy in the late 5th century under Theoderic (d. 526) and set up a kingdom marked by its co-operation between the Italians and the Ostrogoths, at least until the last years of Theodoric's reign. The Burgundians settled in Gaul, and after an earlier realm was destroyed by the Huns in 436 formed a new kingdom in the 440s. Between today's Geneva and Lyon, it grew to become the realm of Burgundy in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. In northern Gaul, the Franks and Britons set up small polities. The Frankish Kingdom was centred in north-eastern Gaul, and the first king of whom much is known is Childeric (d. 481).[G] Under Childeric's son Clovis (r. 509–511), the Frankish kingdom expanded and converted to Christianity. Britons, related to the natives of Britannia — modern-day Great Britain — settled in what is now Brittany.[H] Other monarchies were established by the Visigoths in Iberia, the Suevi in north-western Iberia, and the Vandals in North Africa. In the 6th century, the Lombards settled in northern Italy, replacing the Ostrogothic kingdom with a grouping of duchies that occasionally selected a king to rule over them all. By the late 6th century this arrangement had been replaced by a permanent monarchy.

Question: In what century did the Ostrogoths arrive in Italy?
Answer: 5th

Question: What Ostrogothic leader led his people into Italy?
Answer: Theoderic

Question: Who destroyed the Burgundian kingdom in 436?
Answer: the Huns

Question: In what part of Europe did the Burgundians settle?
Answer: Gaul

Question: Who was the first notable king of the Franks?
Answer: Childeric
Middle_Ages

The invasions brought new ethnic groups to Europe, although some regions received a larger influx of new peoples than others. In Gaul for instance, the invaders settled much more extensively in the north-east than in the south-west. Slavic peoples settled in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula. The settlement of peoples was accompanied by changes in languages. The Latin of the Western Roman Empire was gradually replaced by languages based on, but distinct from, Latin, collectively known as Romance languages. These changes from Latin to the new languages took many centuries. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but the migrations of the Slavs added Slavonic languages to Eastern Europe.

Question: People of what ethnicity settled in the Balkan Peninsula?
Answer: Slavic

Question: In what geographic region did most of the invaders settle in Gaul?
Answer: north-east

Question: What is the collective name for languages derived from Latin?
Answer: Romance languages

Question: What language was spoken in the Byzantine Empire?
Answer: Greek

Question: What languages were spoken by the Slavs?
Answer: Slavonic
Middle_Ages

As Western Europe witnessed the formation of new kingdoms, the Eastern Roman Empire remained intact and experienced an economic revival that lasted into the early 7th century. There were fewer invasions of the eastern section of the empire; most occurred in the Balkans. Peace with Persia, the traditional enemy of Rome, lasted throughout most of the 5th century. The Eastern Empire was marked by closer relations between the political state and Christian Church, with doctrinal matters assuming an importance in eastern politics that they did not have in Western Europe. Legal developments included the codification of Roman law; the first effort—the Theodosian Code—was completed in 438. Under Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), another compilation took place—the Corpus Juris Civilis. Justinian also oversaw the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and the reconquest of North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Ostrogoths, under Belisarius (d. 565). The conquest of Italy was not complete, as a deadly outbreak of plague in 542 led to the rest of Justinian's reign concentrating on defensive measures rather than further conquests. At the emperor's death, the Byzantines had control of most of Italy, North Africa, and a small foothold in southern Spain. Justinian's reconquests have been criticised by historians for overextending his realm and setting the stage for the Muslim conquests, but many of the difficulties faced by Justinian's successors were due not just to over-taxation to pay for his wars but to the essentially civilian nature of the empire, which made raising troops difficult.

Question: In what century did the economic revival in the Eastern Roman Empire end?
Answer: 7th

Question: In what century was there peace with one of Rome's traditional enemies?
Answer: 5th

Question: Where did most of the invasion in the Eastern Roman Empire take place?
Answer: the Balkans

Question: What year saw the completion of the Theodosian Code?
Answer: 438

Question: Who was Emperor when the Corpus Juris Civilis was compiled?
Answer: Justinian
Middle_Ages

In the Eastern Empire the slow infiltration of the Balkans by the Slavs added a further difficulty for Justinian's successors. It began gradually, but by the late 540s Slavic tribes were in Thrace and Illyrium, and had defeated an imperial army near Adrianople in 551. In the 560s the Avars began to expand from their base on the north bank of the Danube; by the end of the 6th century they were the dominant power in Central Europe and routinely able to force the eastern emperors to pay tribute. They remained a strong power until 796. An additional problem to face the empire came as a result of the involvement of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in Persian politics when he intervened in a succession dispute. This led to a period of peace, but when Maurice was overthrown, the Persians invaded and during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) controlled large chunks of the empire, including Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, until Heraclius' successful counterattack. In 628 the empire secured a peace treaty and recovered all of its lost territories.

Question: Who defeated the Eastern Roman Empire near Adrianople in 551?
Answer: Slavic tribes

Question: What tribe received tribute from the Eastern Roman emperors in the 6th century?
Answer: the Avars

Question: Near what river were the Avars originally based?
Answer: the Danube

Question: During the reign of what Emperor did the Persians occupy Egypt?
Answer: Heraclius

Question: In what year did the reign of Maurice end?
Answer: 602
Middle_Ages

In Western Europe, some of the older Roman elite families died out while others became more involved with Church than secular affairs. Values attached to Latin scholarship and education mostly disappeared, and while literacy remained important, it became a practical skill rather than a sign of elite status. In the 4th century, Jerome (d. 420) dreamed that God rebuked him for spending more time reading Cicero than the Bible. By the 6th century, Gregory of Tours (d. 594) had a similar dream, but instead of being chastised for reading Cicero, he was chastised for learning shorthand. By the late 6th century, the principal means of religious instruction in the Church had become music and art rather than the book. Most intellectual efforts went towards imitating classical scholarship, but some original works were created, along with now-lost oral compositions. The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (d. 489), Cassiodorus (d. c. 585), and Boethius (d. c. 525) were typical of the age.

Question: What author would Jerome rather read than the Bible?
Answer: Cicero

Question: In what year did Jerome die?
Answer: 420

Question: In what century did Gregory of Tours live?
Answer: 6th

Question: Along with art, how was religious instruction commonly received in the late 6th century?
Answer: music

Question: When was the death of Sidonius Apollinaris?
Answer: 489
Middle_Ages

Changes also took place among laymen, as aristocratic culture focused on great feasts held in halls rather than on literary pursuits. Clothing for the elites was richly embellished with jewels and gold. Lords and kings supported entourages of fighters who formed the backbone of the military forces.[I] Family ties within the elites were important, as were the virtues of loyalty, courage, and honour. These ties led to the prevalence of the feud in aristocratic society, examples of which included those related by Gregory of Tours that took place in Merovingian Gaul. Most feuds seem to have ended quickly with the payment of some sort of compensation. Women took part in aristocratic society mainly in their roles as wives and mothers of men, with the role of mother of a ruler being especially prominent in Merovingian Gaul. In Anglo-Saxon society the lack of many child rulers meant a lesser role for women as queen mothers, but this was compensated for by the increased role played by abbesses of monasteries. Only in Italy does it appear that women were always considered under the protection and control of a male relative.

Question: What was the focus of aristocratic culture during this period?
Answer: great feasts

Question: Along with gold, what luxury was present on the clothes of the elite?
Answer: jewels

Question: Along with loyalty and honor, what virtue did the elite value?
Answer: courage

Question: In what society did women have status as abbesses?
Answer: Anglo-Saxon

Question: In what country did Gregory of Tours live?
Answer: Merovingian Gaul
Middle_Ages

Peasant society is much less documented than the nobility. Most of the surviving information available to historians comes from archaeology; few detailed written records documenting peasant life remain from before the 9th century. Most the descriptions of the lower classes come from either law codes or writers from the upper classes. Landholding patterns in the West were not uniform; some areas had greatly fragmented landholding patterns, but in other areas large contiguous blocks of land were the norm. These differences allowed for a wide variety of peasant societies, some dominated by aristocratic landholders and others having a great deal of autonomy. Land settlement also varied greatly. Some peasants lived in large settlements that numbered as many as 700 inhabitants. Others lived in small groups of a few families and still others lived on isolated farms spread over the countryside. There were also areas where the pattern was a mix of two or more of those systems. Unlike in the late Roman period, there was no sharp break between the legal status of the free peasant and the aristocrat, and it was possible for a free peasant's family to rise into the aristocracy over several generations through military service to a powerful lord.

Question: How many people might live in a large peasant settlement?
Answer: 700

Question: What was a way in which a free peasant might become an aristocrat?
Answer: military service

Question: In what century did written records of peasant life begin to appear?
Answer: 9th

Question: Along with aristocratic writers, where do contemporary written descriptions of peasants come from?
Answer: law codes

Question: What field produces most of the finding about peasants from this era?
Answer: archaeology
Middle_Ages

Roman city life and culture changed greatly in the early Middle Ages. Although Italian cities remained inhabited, they contracted significantly in size. Rome, for instance, shrank from a population of hundreds of thousands to around 30,000 by the end of the 6th century. Roman temples were converted into Christian churches and city walls remained in use. In Northern Europe, cities also shrank, while civic monuments and other public buildings were raided for building materials. The establishment of new kingdoms often meant some growth for the towns chosen as capitals. Although there had been Jewish communities in many Roman cities, the Jews suffered periods of persecution after the conversion of the empire to Christianity. Officially they were tolerated, if subject to conversion efforts, and at times were even encouraged to settle in new areas.

Question: About how many people lived in Rome at the end of the 500s?
Answer: 30,000

Question: What new use was found for Roman temples?
Answer: Christian churches

Question: What group was notably persecuted after the Roman Empire converted to Christianity?
Answer: Jews
Middle_Ages

Religious beliefs in the Eastern Empire and Persia were in flux during the late 6th and early 7th centuries. Judaism was an active proselytising faith, and at least one Arab political leader converted to it.[J] Christianity had active missions competing with the Persians' Zoroastrianism in seeking converts, especially among residents of the Arabian Peninsula. All these strands came together with the emergence of Islam in Arabia during the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 632). After his death, Islamic forces conquered much of the Eastern Empire and Persia, starting with Syria in 634–635 and reaching Egypt in 640–641, Persia between 637 and 642, North Africa in the later 7th century, and the Iberian Peninsula in 711. By 714, Islamic forces controlled much of the peninsula in a region they called Al-Andalus.

Question: What was the ethnicity of a leader who converted to Judaism in this era?
Answer: Arab

Question: What was the dominant religion of Persia before Islam?
Answer: Zoroastrianism

Question: In what yer did Muhammad die?
Answer: 632

Question: In what period did Islamic armies conquer Syria?
Answer: 634–635

Question: In what century did Muslims conquer North Africa?
Answer: 7th
Middle_Ages

The Islamic conquests reached their peak in the mid-8th century. The defeat of Muslim forces at the Battle of Poitiers in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty and its replacement by the Abbasid dynasty. The Abbasids moved their capital to Baghdad and were more concerned with the Middle East than Europe, losing control of sections of the Muslim lands. Umayyad descendants took over the Iberian Peninsula, the Aghlabids controlled North Africa, and the Tulunids became rulers of Egypt. By the middle of the 8th century, new trading patterns were emerging in the Mediterranean; trade between the Franks and the Arabs replaced the old Roman patterns of trade. Franks traded timber, furs, swords and slaves in return for silks and other fabrics, spices, and precious metals from the Arabs.

Question: In what year did the Battle of Poitiers take place?
Answer: 732

Question: What Islamic dynasty followed the Umayyad?
Answer: Abbasid

Question: What was the capital of the Abbasid state?
Answer: Baghdad

Question: What dynasty ruled Egypt in this period?
Answer: Tulunids

Question: What group conquered southern France from Muslim forces?
Answer: the Franks
Middle_Ages

The migrations and invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries disrupted trade networks around the Mediterranean. African goods stopped being imported into Europe, first disappearing from the interior and by the 7th century found only in a few cities such as Rome or Naples. By the end of the 7th century, under the impact of the Muslim conquests, African products were no longer found in Western Europe. The replacement of goods from long-range trade with local products was a trend throughout the old Roman lands that happened in the Early Middle Ages. This was especially marked in the lands that did not lie on the Mediterranean, such as northern Gaul or Britain. Non-local goods appearing in the archaeological record are usually luxury goods. In the northern parts of Europe, not only were the trade networks local, but the goods carried were simple, with little pottery or other complex products. Around the Mediterranean, pottery remained prevalent and appears to have been traded over medium-range networks, not just produced locally.

Question: Along with Naples, what city still traded African goods in the 7th century?
Answer: Rome

Question: What event led to African goods no longer being traded in Western Europe by the end of the 7th century?
Answer: Muslim conquests

Question: What non-local goods have archaeologists typically found in Britain of this era?
Answer: luxury goods
Middle_Ages

The various Germanic states in the west all had coinages that imitated existing Roman and Byzantine forms. Gold continued to be minted until the end of the 7th century, when it was replaced by silver coins. The basic Frankish silver coin was the denarius or denier, while the Anglo-Saxon version was called a penny. From these areas, the denier or penny spread throughout Europe during the centuries from 700 to 1000. Copper or bronze coins were not struck, nor were gold except in Southern Europe. No silver coins denominated in multiple units were minted.

Question: During what century did gold coinage cease?
Answer: 7th

Question: Coinage from what metal replaced gold coinage?
Answer: silver

Question: What was the Anglo-Saxon silver coin called?
Answer: penny

Question: What was another name for the denarius?
Answer: denier

Question: In what part of Europe were gold coins still minted?
Answer: Southern Europe