romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
Society throughout Europe was disturbed by the dislocations caused by the Black Death. Lands that had been marginally productive were abandoned, as the survivors were able to acquire more fertile areas. Although serfdom declined in Western Europe it became more common in Eastern Europe, as landlords imposed it on those of their tenants who had previously been free. Most peasants in Western Europe managed to change the work they had previously owed to their landlords into cash rents. The percentage of serfs amongst the peasantry declined from a high of 90 to closer to 50 per cent by the end of the period. Landlords also became more conscious of common interests with other landholders, and they joined together to extort privileges from their governments. Partly at the urging of landlords, governments attempted to legislate a return to the economic conditions that existed before the Black Death. Non-clergy became increasingly literate, and urban populations began to imitate the nobility's interest in chivalry.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: By the end of this period, about what percentage of Western Europeans were serfs?
A: 50', "
Q: At serfdom's greatest extent, what percentage of Western Europeans were serfs?
A: 90", '
Q: In what part of Europe did serfdom increase in this period?
A: Eastern', '
Q: Instead of work, how did most Western European peasants pay their landlords in this period?
A: cash rents', '
Q: What noble interest did city-dwellers start to mimic in this period?
A: chivalry']
Jewish communities were expelled from England in 1290 and from France in 1306. Although some were allowed back into France, most were not, and many Jews emigrated eastwards, settling in Poland and Hungary. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and dispersed to Turkey, France, Italy, and Holland. The rise of banking in Italy during the 13th century continued throughout the 14th century, fuelled partly by the increasing warfare of the period and the needs of the papacy to move money between kingdoms. Many banking firms loaned money to royalty, at great risk, as some were bankrupted when kings defaulted on their loans.[AE]

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In what year were the Jews expelled from England?
A: 1290', '
Q: What year saw the expulsion of the French Jewish community?
A: 1306', '
Q: Along with Hungary, where did many expelled French Jews relocate to?
A: Poland', '
Q: In what year were Jews kicked out of Spain?
A: 1492', '
Q: Along with Turkey, France and Italy, where did expelled Spanish Jews travel to?
A: Holland']
Strong, royalty-based nation states rose throughout Europe in the Late Middle Ages, particularly in England, France, and the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula: Aragon, Castile, and Portugal. The long conflicts of the period strengthened royal control over their kingdoms and were extremely hard on the peasantry. Kings profited from warfare that extended royal legislation and increased the lands they directly controlled. Paying for the wars required that methods of taxation become more effective and efficient, and the rate of taxation often increased. The requirement to obtain the consent of taxpayers allowed representative bodies such as the English Parliament and the French Estates General to gain power and authority.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with Aragon and Castile, what Christian kingdom was present on the Iberian Peninsula?
A: Portugal', '
Q: Why did kings increase the tax rate during this period?
A: Paying for the wars', '
Q: What English representative body provided consent for royal taxation?
A: Parliament', '
Q: What French body was similar in purpose to the English Parliament?
A: Estates General', '
Q: What social class was harmed by the lengthy wars of this era?
A: the peasantry']
Throughout the 14th century, French kings sought to expand their influence at the expense of the territorial holdings of the nobility. They ran into difficulties when attempting to confiscate the holdings of the English kings in southern France, leading to the Hundred Years' War, waged from 1337 to 1453. Early in the war the English under Edward III (r. 1327–77) and his son Edward, the Black Prince (d. 1376),[AF] won the battles of Crécy and Poitiers, captured the city of Calais, and won control of much of France.[AG] The resulting stresses almost caused the disintegration of the French kingdom during the early years of the war. In the early 15th century, France again came close to dissolving, but in the late 1420s the military successes of Joan of Arc (d. 1431) led to the victory of the French and the capture of the last English possessions in southern France in 1453. The price was high, as the population of France at the end of the Wars was likely half what it had been at the start of the conflict. Conversely, the Wars had a positive effect on English national identity, doing much to fuse the various local identities into a national English ideal. The conflict with France also helped create a national culture in England separate from French culture, which had previously been the dominant influence. The dominance of the English longbow began during early stages of the Hundred Years' War, and cannon appeared on the battlefield at Crécy in 1346.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: When did the Hundred Years' War begin?
A: 1337", "
Q: What was the nickname of Edward III's son Edward?
A: the Black Prince", '
Q: When did the reign of Edward III begin?
A: 1327', "
Q: Along with Poitiers, what was the site of a notable victory by Edward III's England over the French?
A: Crécy", '
Q: What decade saw the victories of Joan of Arc?
A: 1420s']
In modern-day Germany, the Holy Roman Empire continued to rule, but the elective nature of the imperial crown meant there was no enduring dynasty around which a strong state could form. Further east, the kingdoms of Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia grew powerful. In Iberia, the Christian kingdoms continued to gain land from the Muslim kingdoms of the peninsula; Portugal concentrated on expanding overseas during the 15th century, while the other kingdoms were riven by difficulties over royal succession and other concerns. After losing the Hundred Years' War, England went on to suffer a long civil war known as the Wars of the Roses, which lasted into the 1490s and only ended when Henry Tudor (r. 1485–1509 as Henry VII) became king and consolidated power with his victory over Richard III (r. 1483–85) at Bosworth in 1485. In Scandinavia, Margaret I of Denmark (r. in Denmark 1387–1412) consolidated Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in the Union of Kalmar, which continued until 1523. The major power around the Baltic Sea was the Hanseatic League, a commercial confederation of city states that traded from Western Europe to Russia. Scotland emerged from English domination under Robert the Bruce (r. 1306–29), who secured papal recognition of his kingship in 1328.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with Poland and Hungary, what Eastern European state grew in power?
A: Bohemia', '
Q: During what century did Portugal devote itself to overseas expansion?
A: 15th', "
Q: What nation lost the Hundred Years' War?
A: England", '
Q: What was the regnal name of Henry Tudor?
A: Henry VII', '
Q: Along with Denmark and Sweden, what country was part of the Union of Kalmar?
A: Norway']
Although the Palaeologi emperors recaptured Constantinople from the Western Europeans in 1261, they were never able to regain control of much of the former imperial lands. They usually controlled only a small section of the Balkan Peninsula near Constantinople, the city itself, and some coastal lands on the Black Sea and around the Aegean Sea. The former Byzantine lands in the Balkans were divided between the new Kingdom of Serbia, the Second Bulgarian Empire and the city-state of Venice. The power of the Byzantine emperors was threatened by a new Turkish tribe, the Ottomans, who established themselves in Anatolia in the 13th century and steadily expanded throughout the 14th century. The Ottomans expanded into Europe, reducing Bulgaria to a vassal state by 1366 and taking over Serbia after its defeat at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Western Europeans rallied to the plight of the Christians in the Balkans and declared a new crusade in 1396; a great army was sent to the Balkans, where it was defeated at the Battle of Nicopolis. Constantinople was finally captured by the Ottomans in 1453.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Emperors from what dynasty recaptured Constantinople in 1261?
A: Palaeologi', '
Q: Along with the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia, what polity controlled the former Byzantine Balkan lands?
A: Venice', '
Q: What tribe of Turks emerged in 13th century Anatolia?
A: Ottomans', '
Q: In what year did Bulgaria become a vassal of the Ottomans?
A: 1366', '
Q: Who was defeated at the Battle of Kosovo?
A: Serbia']
During the tumultuous 14th century, disputes within the leadership of the Church led to the Avignon Papacy of 1305–78, also called the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy" (a reference to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews), and then to the Great Schism, lasting from 1378 to 1418, when there were two and later three rival popes, each supported by several states. Ecclesiastical officials convened at the Council of Constance in 1414, and in the following year the council deposed one of the rival popes, leaving only two claimants. Further depositions followed, and in November 1417 the council elected Martin V (pope 1417–31) as pope.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: During what years did the Avignon Papacy occur?
A: 1305–78', '
Q: What is another term for the Avignon Papacy?
A: Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy', '
Q: When did the Great Schism end?
A: 1418', '
Q: How many popes existed simultaneously after the Council of Constance?
A: two', '
Q: Who was made pope in 1417?
A: Martin V']
Besides the schism, the western church was riven by theological controversies, some of which turned into heresies. John Wycliffe (d. 1384), an English theologian, was condemned as a heretic in 1415 for teaching that the laity should have access to the text of the Bible as well as for holding views on the Eucharist that were contrary to church doctrine. Wycliffe's teachings influenced two of the major heretical movements of the later Middle Ages: Lollardy in England and Hussitism in Bohemia. The Bohemian movement initiated with the teaching of Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in 1415 after being condemned as a heretic by the Council of Constance. The Hussite church, although the target of a crusade, survived beyond the Middle Ages. Other heresies were manufactured, such as the accusations against the Knights Templar that resulted in their suppression in 1312 and the division of their great wealth between the French King Philip IV (r. 1285–1314) and the Hospitallers.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Of what nationality was John Wycliffe?
A: English', '
Q: In what year was Wycliffe declared a heretic?
A: 1415', '
Q: Who did Wycliffe believe should read the Bible?
A: the laity', '
Q: What Bohemian movement was influenced by Wycliffe?
A: Hussitism', '
Q: How did Jan Hus die?
A: burned at the stake']
The papacy further refined the practice in the Mass in the Late Middle Ages, holding that the clergy alone was allowed to partake of the wine in the Eucharist. This further distanced the secular laity from the clergy. The laity continued the practices of pilgrimages, veneration of relics, and belief in the power of the Devil. Mystics such as Meister Eckhart (d. 1327) and Thomas à Kempis (d. 1471) wrote works that taught the laity to focus on their inner spiritual life, which laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. Besides mysticism, belief in witches and witchcraft became widespread, and by the late 15th century the Church had begun to lend credence to populist fears of witchcraft with its condemnation of witches in 1484 and the publication in 1486 of the Malleus Maleficarum, the most popular handbook for witch-hunters.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: In the Late Middle Ages, who was allowed to drink wine at Mass?
A: the clergy', '
Q: When did Thomas à Kempis die?
A: 1471', '
Q: In what year did the Church condemn witches?
A: 1484', '
Q: In what year was the Malleus Maleficarum published?
A: 1486', '
Q: What was the Malleus Maleficarum?
A: handbook for witch-hunters']
During the Later Middle Ages, theologians such as John Duns Scotus (d. 1308)[AH] and William of Ockham (d. c. 1348), led a reaction against scholasticism, objecting to the application of reason to faith. Their efforts undermined the prevailing Platonic idea of "universals". Ockham's insistence that reason operates independently of faith allowed science to be separated from theology and philosophy. Legal studies were marked by the steady advance of Roman law into areas of jurisprudence previously governed by customary law. The lone exception to this trend was in England, where the common law remained pre-eminent. Other countries codified their laws; legal codes were promulgated in Castile, Poland, and Lithuania.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What school of thought was Duns Scotus opposed to?
A: scholasticism', '
Q: Before Roman law, what were areas of jurisprudence traditionally decided by?
A: customary law', '
Q: What country did not see the increasing influence of Roman law?
A: England', '
Q: Along with Castile and Poland, what country developed a law code in the Later Middle Ages?
A: Lithuania', '
Q: What Platonic idea lost influence as a result of the work of Ockham and Duns Scotus?
A: universals']
Education remained mostly focused on the training of future clergy. The basic learning of the letters and numbers remained the province of the family or a village priest, but the secondary subjects of the trivium—grammar, rhetoric, logic—were studied in cathedral schools or in schools provided by cities. Commercial secondary schools spread, and some Italian towns had more than one such enterprise. Universities also spread throughout Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. Lay literacy rates rose, but were still low; one estimate gave a literacy rate of ten per cent of males and one per cent of females in 1500.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was the main purpose of education in this period?
A: training of future clergy', '
Q: Along with rhetoric and logic, what constituted the trivium?
A: grammar', '
Q: About what percentage of European men were literate in 1500?
A: ten', '
Q: In 1500, approximately what percent of European women could read?
A: one', '
Q: Along with their family, who typically taught a child letters and numbers?
A: a village priest']
The publication of vernacular literature increased, with Dante (d. 1321), Petrarch (d. 1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (d. 1375) in 14th-century Italy, Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) and William Langland (d. c. 1386) in England, and François Villon (d. 1464) and Christine de Pizan (d. c. 1430) in France. Much literature remained religious in character, and although a great deal of it continued to be written in Latin, a new demand developed for saints' lives and other devotional tracts in the vernacular languages. This was fed by the growth of the Devotio Moderna movement, most prominently in the formation of the Brethren of the Common Life, but also in the works of German mystics such as Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler (d. 1361). Theatre also developed in the guise of miracle plays put on by the Church. At the end of the period, the development of the printing press in about 1450 led to the establishment of publishing houses throughout Europe by 1500.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with Dante and Boccaccio, who was a notable Italian author of the 14th century?
A: Petrarch', '
Q: When did Chaucer die?
A: 1400', '
Q: Who was a notable female French author of this period?
A: Christine de Pizan', '
Q: In what language was most religious literature of this period written?
A: Latin', '
Q: Along with Johannes Tauler, who was a prominent German mystic of this period?
A: Meister Eckhart']
In the early 15th century, the countries of the Iberian peninsula began to sponsor exploration beyond the boundaries of Europe. Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (d. 1460) sent expeditions that discovered the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Cape Verde during his lifetime. After his death, exploration continued; Bartolomeu Dias (d. 1500) went around the Cape of Good Hope in 1486 and Vasco da Gama (d. 1524) sailed around Africa to India in 1498. The combined Spanish monarchies of Castile and Aragon sponsored the voyage of exploration by Christopher Columbus (d. 1506) in 1492 that discovered the Americas. The English crown under Henry VII sponsored the voyage of John Cabot (d. 1498) in 1497, which landed on Cape Breton Island.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Explorers in the employ of what nation discovered the Azores?
A: Portugal', '
Q: What leader sponsored the expedition that discovered Cape Verde?
A: Prince Henry the Navigator', '
Q: What Portuguese explorer visited India in 1498?
A: Vasco da Gama', '
Q: What did Christopher Columbus discover in 1492?
A: the Americas', '
Q: What English monarch financed John Cabot?
A: Henry VII']
One of the major developments in the military sphere during the Late Middle Ages was the increased use of infantry and light cavalry. The English also employed longbowmen, but other countries were unable to create similar forces with the same success. Armour continued to advance, spurred by the increasing power of crossbows, and plate armour was developed to protect soldiers from crossbows as well as the hand-held guns that were developed. Pole arms reached new prominence with the development of the Flemish and Swiss infantry armed with pikes and other long spears.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with light cavalry, what military arm was used with increasing frequency in the Late Middle Ages?
A: infantry', '
Q: What troops were uniquely successful in English service?
A: longbowmen', '
Q: What influenced the increasing development of armor?
A: the increasing power of crossbows', '
Q: What weapons were notably employed by the Swiss infantry?
A: pikes', '
Q: Along with crossbows, what was plate armor designed to defend against?
A: hand-held guns']
In agriculture, the increased usage of sheep with long-fibred wool allowed a stronger thread to be spun. In addition, the spinning wheel replaced the traditional distaff for spinning wool, tripling production.[AI] A less technological refinement that still greatly affected daily life was the use of buttons as closures for garments, which allowed for better fitting without having to lace clothing on the wearer. Windmills were refined with the creation of the tower mill, allowing the upper part of the windmill to be spun around to face the direction from which the wind was blowing. The blast furnace appeared around 1350 in Sweden, increasing the quantity of iron produced and improving its quality. The first patent law in 1447 in Venice protected the rights of inventors to their inventions.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was replaced by the spinning wheel?
A: the traditional distaff', '
Q: What invention replaced laces on clothing?
A: buttons', '
Q: What new type of windmill was invented in this period?
A: the tower mill', '
Q: In what country did the blast furnace first appear?
A: Sweden', '
Q: Where did patent law originate?
A: Venice']
The Late Middle Ages in Europe as a whole correspond to the Trecento and Early Renaissance cultural periods in Italy. Northern Europe and Spain continued to use Gothic styles, which became increasingly elaborate in the 15th century, until almost the end of the period. International Gothic was a courtly style that reached much of Europe in the decades around 1400, producing masterpieces such as the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. All over Europe secular art continued to increase in quantity and quality, and in the 15th century the mercantile classes of Italy and Flanders became important patrons, commissioning small portraits of themselves in oils as well as a growing range of luxury items such as jewellery, ivory caskets, cassone chests, and maiolica pottery. These objects also included the Hispano-Moresque ware produced by mostly Mudéjar potters in Spain. Although royalty owned huge collections of plate, little survives except for the Royal Gold Cup. Italian silk manufacture developed, so that western churches and elites no longer needed to rely on imports from Byzantium or the Islamic world. In France and Flanders tapestry weaving of sets like The Lady and the Unicorn became a major luxury industry.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Around what year did the International Gothic style flourish?
A: 1400', '
Q: What is a notable masterpiece of the International Gothic style?
A: the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry', '
Q: Along with the Trecento, what period occurred in Italy during the Late Middle Ages?
A: Early Renaissance', '
Q: Who produced most of the Hispano-Moresque pottery?
A: Mudéjar potters', '
Q: What is a notable piece of surviving Late Middle Age royal plate?
A: the Royal Gold Cup']
The large external sculptural schemes of Early Gothic churches gave way to more sculpture inside the building, as tombs became more elaborate and other features such as pulpits were sometimes lavishly carved, as in the Pulpit by Giovanni Pisano in Sant'Andrea. Painted or carved wooden relief altarpieces became common, especially as churches created many side-chapels. Early Netherlandish painting by artists such as Jan van Eyck (d. 1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (d. 1464) rivalled that of Italy, as did northern illuminated manuscripts, which in the 15th century began to be collected on a large scale by secular elites, who also commissioned secular books, especially histories. From about 1450 printed books rapidly became popular, though still expensive. There were around 30,000 different editions of incunabula, or works printed before 1500, by which time illuminated manuscripts were commissioned only by royalty and a few others. Very small woodcuts, nearly all religious, were affordable even by peasants in parts of Northern Europe from the middle of the 15th century. More expensive engravings supplied a wealthier market with a variety of images.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: Who carved the Pulpit in Sant'Andrea?
A: Giovanni Pisano", '
Q: Along with being carved, how were altarpieces often decorated in this period?
A: Painted', '
Q: When did Rogier van der Weyden die?
A: 1464', '
Q: Of what nationality was Jan van Eyck?
A: Netherlandish', '
Q: What does incunabula refer to?
A: works printed before 1500']
The medieval period is frequently caricatured as a "time of ignorance and superstition" that placed "the word of religious authorities over personal experience and rational activity." This is a legacy from both the Renaissance and Enlightenment, when scholars contrasted their intellectual cultures with those of the medieval period, to the detriment of the Middle Ages. Renaissance scholars saw the Middle Ages as a period of decline from the high culture and civilisation of the Classical world; Enlightenment scholars saw reason as superior to faith, and thus viewed the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance and superstition.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Along with the Renaissance, during what period were the Middle Ages disparaged?
A: Enlightenment', '
Q: What era did Renaissance scholars negatively compare the Middle Ages to?
A: the Classical world', '
Q: How did scholars of the Enlightenment see the Middle Ages?
A: as a time of ignorance and superstition', '
Q: What did Enlightenment scholars consider to be inferior to reason?
A: faith']