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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For what does Abelard ask Heloise at the end of Letter 7?
(a) Forgiveness.
(b) A sketch of the rule she requested from him.
(c) Her prayers.
(d) Details of her life in the convent.

2. Who was Peter the Venerable?
(a) Abelard.
(b) Heloise.
(c) The pope.
(d) The Abbott of Cluny.

3. How had Abelard handled the sender of Letter 9's recommendation?
(a) He had not responded.
(b) He refused it.
(c) He already acted on it.
(d) He said he would take it.

4. In Letter 8, what does Abelard say women tend to stray toward?
(a) Men.
(b) Society.
(c) Earthly distractions.
(d) Sensual pleasures.

5. How does Abelard say women acted in the early church?
(a) He says that women doubted Christ's divinity.
(b) He says that women were the first to ask for rules of worship.
(c) He says that women were devoted to Christ early on.
(d) He says that women were among the first to persecute the apostles.

6. What does Peter the Venerable say is his estimation of Abelard?
(a) Truly a great man.
(b) A brilliant religious thinker.
(c) A skilled manager.
(d) An effective bureaucrat.

7. What does Abelard say nuns should study?
(a) History.
(b) Religion.
(c) Government.
(d) Scripture.

8. What does Heloise ask Abelard in Letter 6?
(a) To tell her how nuns should conduct themselves.
(b) To tell her how the order of nuns began.
(c) To describe the reasons for her to go on being a nun.
(d) To forgive her.

9. What does Abelard mean to indicate by the example of the Sibyl's prophecies?
(a) Honored women in antiquity.
(b) Women who paid a price for falling away from priesthood.
(c) Women who implemented church doctrine.
(d) Women honored among Gentiles.

10. To what does Abelard respond at first in Letter 7?
(a) Heloise's demand for information.
(b) Heloise's request for leniency.
(c) Heloise's request for patience.
(d) Heloise's initial quotes about nuns' practices.

11. What was the thing based on that Heloise asked Abelard to give her?
(a) The devout acts of Christ.
(b) The rule of St. Benedict.
(c) The freedom she enjoyed before becoming a nun.
(d) The story of Mary Magdalene.

12. Where does Heloise find justification for what she asks Abelard in Letter 6?
(a) The Rule of the Saints.
(b) Papal dispensations.
(c) Scripture.
(d) Convent practice.

13. Who were monks and nuns imitating, according to Abelard?
(a) Christ.
(b) The pope.
(c) The sun and moon.
(d) The oldest gods.

14. For what is Heloise arguing in Letter 6?
(a) A case-by-case standard for burdens.
(b) An absolute rule for burdens.
(c) Rules that respect gender differences.
(d) Contextual application of burdens.

15. What provision does Heloise ask Abelard to include in what he makes for her?
(a) Special standards for the more devout nuns.
(b) Exclusions for nuns who do not follow the rules.
(c) Rewards for nuns who are the most devout.
(d) Exceptions for the old, young, and weak.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is weakness taken into account, according to Heloise?

2. Which role is not mentioned by Abelard when he describes the roles necessary to run a convent?

3. What else does Peter the Venerable say he is impressed by?

4. What did the sender of Letter 9 ask from his correspondent?

5. What does Abelard say life becomes in poverty?

(see the answer keys)

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