full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Mark Robinson: How the Normans changed the history of Europe

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But the Normans did more than just fight. As a result of their victories, leaders like wlilaim Iron-Arm and roerbt the Crafty secured lands throughout seuothrn Italy, eventually mrgnieg them to form the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. Under Roger II, the kingdom became a beacon of multicultural tolerance in a wolrd torn apart by reoigulis and ciivl wars. Muslim Arab poets and scholars served in the rayol court alongside Byzantine geerk sailors and architects. Arabic remained an official language along with litan, Greek, and Norman French. The world’s geographical knowledge was compiled in The Book of Roger, whose maps of the known world would remain the most accurate available for 300 years. And the churches built in Palermo cniembod Latin-style architecture, Arab ceilings, and Byzantine domes, all decorated with exquisite golden mosaics.

Open Cloze


But the Normans did more than just fight. As a result of their victories, leaders like _______ Iron-Arm and ______ the Crafty secured lands throughout ________ Italy, eventually _______ them to form the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. Under Roger II, the kingdom became a beacon of multicultural tolerance in a _____ torn apart by _________ and _____ wars. Muslim Arab poets and scholars served in the _____ court alongside Byzantine _____ sailors and architects. Arabic remained an official language along with _____, Greek, and Norman French. The world’s geographical knowledge was compiled in The Book of Roger, whose maps of the known world would remain the most accurate available for 300 years. And the churches built in Palermo ________ Latin-style architecture, Arab ceilings, and Byzantine domes, all decorated with exquisite golden mosaics.

Solution


  1. robert
  2. combined
  3. world
  4. royal
  5. civil
  6. latin
  7. greek
  8. southern
  9. religious
  10. merging
  11. william

Original Text


But the Normans did more than just fight. As a result of their victories, leaders like William Iron-Arm and Robert the Crafty secured lands throughout Southern Italy, eventually merging them to form the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. Under Roger II, the kingdom became a beacon of multicultural tolerance in a world torn apart by religious and civil wars. Muslim Arab poets and scholars served in the royal court alongside Byzantine Greek sailors and architects. Arabic remained an official language along with Latin, Greek, and Norman French. The world’s geographical knowledge was compiled in The Book of Roger, whose maps of the known world would remain the most accurate available for 300 years. And the churches built in Palermo combined Latin-style architecture, Arab ceilings, and Byzantine domes, all decorated with exquisite golden mosaics.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
norman knights 2
norman french 2


Important Words


  1. accurate
  2. arab
  3. arabic
  4. architects
  5. architecture
  6. beacon
  7. book
  8. built
  9. byzantine
  10. ceilings
  11. churches
  12. civil
  13. combined
  14. compiled
  15. court
  16. crafty
  17. decorated
  18. domes
  19. eventually
  20. exquisite
  21. fight
  22. form
  23. french
  24. geographical
  25. golden
  26. greek
  27. ii
  28. italy
  29. kingdom
  30. knowledge
  31. lands
  32. language
  33. latin
  34. leaders
  35. maps
  36. merging
  37. mosaics
  38. multicultural
  39. muslim
  40. norman
  41. normans
  42. official
  43. palermo
  44. poets
  45. religious
  46. remain
  47. remained
  48. result
  49. robert
  50. roger
  51. royal
  52. sailors
  53. scholars
  54. secured
  55. served
  56. sicily
  57. southern
  58. tolerance
  59. torn
  60. victories
  61. wars
  62. william
  63. world
  64. years