Belgium in the XVIth Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charles V

Emperor Charles was known as Charles I in Spain but as Charles V in Belgium. He abdicated in 1555 and died in the Spanish convent near Yuste in 1558. The fact that Charles ruled Spain and its colonies is the origin of the saying that "in his empire the sun never sets". Spain possessed most of Latin and Central America, and also some coastal areas in Africa and Asia. The Philippines were not an official colony yet, but Spanish people had settled there.
The Philip II (1527-1598) mentioned in this question was his son, who ruled Spain and the 'Benelux' but never was elected Emperor of Germany. He is also well known as the king of Spain whose attempt to invade England in 1588 ended in complete disaster for Spain.

Maximilian I of Austria (1459-1519) was Charles' paternal grandfather. He never ruled Spain.

Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) was Charles' maternal grandfather. He was married to Isabella of Castile, and the couple ruled Spain together.

Answer: Adrian VI

All the Popes that I've mentioned reigned in the XVIth Century.
Alexander VI (born as Rodrigo Borgia) was Pope from 1492 till 1503, Adrian VI from 1522 till 1523. Clement VII (born as Giulio de Medici) was Adrian's successor and died in 1534. Finally, Pius V (born as Antonio Ghislieri) was Pope from 1566 till 1572.

Answer: Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus is a pseudonym: his real name was Gerrit Gerritszoons (which means "Gerard, son of Gerard"). His birthday is not certain: sources indicate that he was born between 1466 and 1469.
Thomas More (1478-1533) was a friend of his. He wrote "Utopia".
René Descartes (1596 - 1650) was a philosopher and a mathematician. He is mostly known for modern geometry. As a philosopher, we know him of the phrase "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therfore I am").
Baruch Spinoza (1638-1677) tried to apply the mathematical procedures to moral questions. His main publication is "Ethica More Geometrico Demonstrata" ("Ethics Demonstrated in Geometric Form").

Answer: Olen

The story of the peasants of Olen continues with another problem: the mayor held the cup with the opposite handles, while the third handle was pointing to his own chest. According to the label of the Belgian beer "Keizer Karel" ("Emperor Charles"), the Walloon village of Walcourt is in the same position. In Walcourt the mayor finally got hold of a cup with four handles according to this story.
The nickname of the inhabitants of Ghent is also related to Emperor Charles V. In 1540, he punished the City Council for refusing to pay taxes. The City Magistrates had to ask for pardon while wearing a noose. Hence their nickname as "Stroppendragers" ("noose bearers").
Another story tells that some years before 1425, two cities had the choice between a cattle market and a university college to be established. The inhabitants of Lier chose the cattle market and have been nicknamed "Schapenkoppen" ("Sheep's Heads") ever since.
In Mechlin, on a foggy night, a drunk and disorderly person noticed a reddish glow at the top of the Saint Romuald's Tower. He raised the alarm, telling the whole city that the tower was on fire. But as soon as the fire-fighting started, the inhabitants found that the "fire" was an optical illusion caused by the fog, the moonglow and the early sunrise. Since then the inhabitants of Mechlin are called "Maneblussers" ("Moon extinguishers").

Answer: Andreas Vesalius

Dodoens (1517-1585) was a botanist who wrote a famous "Cruydeboeck" (herbarium) in 1554.

Nicolaes Tulp (1593-1674) was a physician who practised medicine in Amsterdam from 1614 onwards. Rembrandt depicted one of his anatomy classes.

Paracelsus (1493-1541) is perhaps the founding father of pharmacology. He was the first to grasp the idea that it isn't the case that all diseases could be cured by the same medication. He was the first to apply substances as mercury in a medicinal way, and he knew that the dose of any genuine, potent of medicine can make the difference between possible cure and certain poisoning.

Answer: Granvelle

Antoine de Perrenot dit Granvelle was born in 1517 and died in 1586. He was an important champion of the Roman Catholic Church.

Macropedius (1487-1558) is the Latin name of Joris van Lanckvelt. This Dutch priest wrote a dozen plays in Latin, as well as some Latin and Greek schoolbooks.

Thomas Cranmer (1485-1556) was Archbishop of Canterbury. He compiled the first two versions of the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer", which remained largely in tact when re-adopted in the 1662 version.

Pedro da Gante (1500-1572) was born in Ghent. He took on a mission assignment in Mexico, where his main occupation was to teach the native tribes to read and write.

Answer: Don Alvarez de Toledo

In 1568 a group of Dutch noblemen started an uprising that is now known as the Eighty Years' War. Some of the main causes of this rebellion are intimately connected with the policy of Don Alvarez (better known as the Duke of Alva). The Duke of Alva (1507-1582) resigned from the office of Governor of the Netherlands in 1573. Requesens (1528-1576) succeeded him.

When Requesens died, the new Governor was Don Juan (1547-1578). Upon the death of Don Juan, Farnese (1545-1592) was appointed Governor of the Netherlands. Farnese also died in office. Perhaps we have to conclude that the job of Governor of the Netherlands was very exhausting in the second half of the XVIth century.

Answer: Because these dates didn't exist

Why would the non-existence of the profession of obstetrician prevent any birth at all during ten days? If there are no complications, a healthy young woman can deliver a child without the help of an obstetrician.

The fact that there were no official birth registers in Antwerp in 1583 cannot have prevented the birth of any baby either. Besides, most parishes had some kind of birth register.

The city of Antwerp was founded in the Second or Third Century AD. The first official document mentioning the city of Antwerp is dated 726 AD.

So the only reason left is that the dates of October 5th until October 14th didn't exist in 1583 - at least in Antwerp. It seems quite bizarre, but Pope Gregorius XIII decided that in the year 1583 AD one would skip the dates of October 5th until October 14th. October 4th was directly followed by October 15th. This is one of the complications related to the change of calendar: as the Julian calendar was behind by ten days, the Pope just skipped ten days to set things right. He decreed also that the century years would no longer be leap years, except if divisible by 400 without remainder. year. So 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, 2000 was a leap year and 2100 will not be a leap year.

The reform of the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1583 in all Roman Catholic areas. In the Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox countries the introduction of the Gregorian calendar took place rather later.

Answer: Orlandus Lassus

Orlandus Lassus (1531-1594) wrote at least 2000 works for three to twelve voices (of which some are only played by instruments). His contemporaries thought of him as the greatest composer ever.
Philippus de Monte (1521-1603) was another Belgian polyphonic composer. He wrote at least 1,600 works.

Another Belgian composer of polyphonic music, Cypriano de Rore (1516-1565), wrote about 200 works.

Adrian Willaert (1490-1562), yet another Belgian polyphonic composer, lived almost all his active life in Venice.

Answer: Gerardus Mercator

Ortelius (1527-1598) published in 1570 the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" ("Theatre of the World Globe"), that was considered as one of the first modern atlases. However, Mercator was the first to use the term "atlas".

Plantin (1520-1589) was not a cartographer, but a famous Antwerp based printer and editor. He printed the "Biblia Polyglotta" ("Polyglot Bible"). His printing office was taken over by his son-in-law Jan Moerentorff (1543-1610), better known under his Latinised name Moretus. The house of the family Plantin is now a museum devoted to the history of printing and editing.