Quadrivial Quest
Quadrivial Quest
A long time ago, amongst the midst of a dying Empire, there was a scholar named Boethius, who had this bright idea of dividing the liberal arts into seven categories and writing a book about each one. This he did. The lesser subjects, which were rhetoric, logic, and grammar, became known as the "trivium" (Latin for "three ways": you'd never guess that a guy with a name like Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was Roman). The more difficult stuff, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, became the "quadrivium" (again, Latin for "four ways").
For a thousand years, Boethius' division of knowledge into a trivium and quadrivium reigned supreme. The trivium became considered easier, in fact, trivial. (Completion of the trivium is, very roughly, equivalent to earning a Bachelor's degree; completion of the quadrivium is, again, very roughly, equivalent to earning a Master's degree)
For Quadrivial Quest (the moniker "pursuit" being already taken...), the player attempts to collect tokens that prove his sufficiency in the various disciplines before moving on to the next level. Since there are only about five people on the planet today who could play Quadrivial Quest if the questions were limited to the actual trivium and quadrivium, I've modified (read: twisted beyond recognition) the categories.
As the game is still in progress, you might want to test your wits with some of the following questions:
Life: In the game primero, what is a primero? Answer
Grammar: What did Cato the Elder often end his speeches with? Answer
Rhetoric: What city did the Fourth Crusaders capture? Answer
Logic: What was unusual about Pope Adrian IV? Answer
Arithmetic: How many pennies was a noble worth before 1464? Answer
Geometry: Where is the city of the blind? Answer
Music: What German artist achieved his most lasting fame by his paintings of English royalty? Answer
Astronomy: What constellation is associated with a human body part? Answer
The game is still abuilding, but roughly the categories are:
Life: Questions about daily life before 1650
Grammar: Classical history and literature
Rhetoric: pre-1650 history and literature
Logic: Philosophy and Religion
Arithmetic: Number of things
Geometry: Includes geography (which it often did)
Music: Music and fine arts (which it never would)
Astronomy: Includes all branches of science
If you want to mail me a question, please provide the question, and a reference if possible. If I use your question, I'll give you no money whatsoever, and your name in smallprint on the back of the rules book...
A primero is a hand containing one card of each suit. See the rules elsewhere on my web page.
Cato often ended his speeches with "Carthago delenda est": Carthage must be destroyed.
The Crusaders captured (and sacked) the Christian city of Constantinople. They never made it to the Holy Land.
Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear) was the only English Pope.
A noble was worth 128 pennies before 1464.
Chalcedon (now in Turkey). The city got its name because right across the straits was an empty site that would eventually become Constantinople.
Hans Holbein.
Berenice's Hair, or Coma Berenice.
