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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was the father of the wife Aethewulf brought home from Rome?
(a) Jason of the Argonauts.
(b) Charles the Bald.
(c) Louis the XVI.
(d) Charlemagne.

2. How did Asser meet Alfred the Great?
(a) Asser was assigned to aid him in negotiations.
(b) Alfred summoned him.
(c) Asser petitioned him.
(d) They were childhood friends.

3. What annals were put together during and following Alfred's reign?
(a) The Journals of Alfred the Great.
(b) The England Annals.
(c) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
(d) The Wessex Annals.

4. What audience did Asser have in mind when he wrote his book?
(a) Alfred's family.
(b) Welsh people.
(c) English people.
(d) Other kings.

5. What did Alfred build in 878?
(a) A church.
(b) A university.
(c) An abbey.
(d) A fortress.

6. Where did Alfred have something built in 878?
(a) Wessex.
(b) London.
(c) Athelney.
(d) Canterbury.

7. What did King Aethewulf order his wife to do when he and Alfred returned to the kingdom?
(a) Seduce him.
(b) Sit with him on the throne until he died.
(c) Visit him often in order to keep him distracted.
(d) Live with him in order to report all his activities to King Aethewulf.

8. What career did Asser have?
(a) Writer.
(b) Artist.
(c) Professor.
(d) Monk.

9. Who combined forces with King Alfred after the Vikings left East Anglia?
(a) Asser.
(b) The local nobility.
(c) His brother.
(d) His cousin.

10. Where does Asser give some biographical details about himself?
(a) In the Life of King Alfred.
(b) In a letter about Life of King Alfred.
(c) In his autobiography.
(d) In his journals.

11. What was nearly destroyed by the Vikings?
(a) Canterbury.
(b) London.
(c) Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
(d) Wessex.

12. How did Asser learn of the various texts mentioned in his work?
(a) From his days at university.
(b) It is unclear.
(c) From Alfred himself.
(d) Through friends and family members of Alfred the Great.

13. When was the epithet "the Great" added to Alfred's name?
(a) Sometime during the seventeenth century.
(b) After the sixteenth century.
(c) Before the fifteenth century.
(d) Not until the last fifty years or so.

14. When did Burgred, the new king of the Mercians, ask Aethewulf for help against the Vikings?
(a) 865.
(b) 851.
(c) 864.
(d) 853.

15. What did the pope do to Alfred?
(a) Anointed him as king.
(b) Blessed his military activities.
(c) Ex-communicate him.
(d) Ordained him as a priest.

Short Answer Questions

1. What time period is not recorded in Asser's book?

2. How long did Asser probably stay with Alfred?

3. Where did the Vikings go in 873?

4. When was Alfred the Great born?

5. Asser probably divided his time between Alfred's kingdom and ______.

(see the answer keys)

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