Henry, Eddie, Bill or George? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edward

Edward the Confessor was the seventh son of King Aethelred the Unready. As such he might not have expected to ever become king but when his half-brother King Harthacnut died without an heir, Edward was elected to the throne at the age of 39, relatively late in life for the time.

His nickname of "The Confessor" was bestowed upon him for his great piety and in 1161, Edward was made a saint by Pope Alexander III. He has no regnal number because when numbering was first introduced with Edward III (as the third consecutive Edward on the throne), they started counting from the Norman conquest, which occurred after Edward the Confessor's reign.

Answer: William

Also known by the less flattering sobriquet "The Bastard" owing to the unmarried status of his parents, William I was the first Norman king of England, having invaded and conquered the nation by overthrowing the reigning monarch, Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Edward the Confessor, William's first cousin once removed, had supposedly promised the throne to William upon his death. Harold Godwinson had apparently also sworn to honour that promise. However, when the childless Edward was in his death bed, he named Harold as his successor, leading to William deciding to take up arms to enforce Edward's original promise.

Answer: William

William II is commonly known as William Rufus, or William the Red, purportedly because of his red hair. He succeeded his father William the Conqueror as king and is probably best known for the manner of his death. He was killed by an arrow shot by one of his own men when hunting in the New Forest. Whether this arrow was fired deliberately at William or was an accident is a matter of great debate.

However it happened, William's body was abandoned in the forest, while his younger brother Henry raced first to Winchester and then to London in order to claim the throne.

Answer: Henry

Following the death of his brother William II in a hunting "accident" in the New Forest, Henry raced to Winchester to seize the royal treasury and thereby claim the throne. His claim was disputed by his elder brother, but as Robert was away at the crusades, Henry was able to get the barons onside to back his rule.

Henry's nickname of Beauclerc was not a contemporary one. It was bestowed upon him by historians to reflect his great education. His reign was complicated by the continuing battle with Robert, which lasted for several years but Henry was still able to implement significant changes to the governing of England, with the establishment of the Exchequer to collect taxes for the crown, and a system of judges that helped to introduce the concept of common law.

Answer: George

George came to the throne in 1820 at the age of 57, following the death of his father, George III. However, it was not the first time that George had sovereignty in the UK. Owing to his father's poor mental health, George was made Prince Regent in 1811 and stayed in this position of power until the end of his father's reign.

However, he didn't get too involved in matters of state, being more interested in living the high life with excessive drinking, partying and spending. As a consequence, the Prince Regent, who as the eldest son of the reigning monarch was also titled the Prince of Wales (without the h), became significantly overweight and received his rather unflattering nickname from a distinctly unimpressed public.

Answer: Henry

Henry VIII's near 40 year reign was, to put it mildly, quite eventful. He broke with the Catholic church in Rome after they refused to sanction the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He founded the Church of England, undertook the dissolution of the monastries and waged war on France and Scotland. Oh, and he married six times.

All of this meant that the royal treasury was stretched and new sources of funds had to be found and savings made. The dissolution of the monasteries meant that all coins were minted by the crown rather than the church and the proceeds went into the royal coffers. But this was not enough, so the Royal Mint reduced the amount of silver that was used to make the coins to little more than a veneer over a copper base. One consequence of this was that the silver would rub off easily, especially on the embossed portrait of the king, revealing the copper below and leading to the king's nickname of "Old Coppernose".

Answer: Henry

Henry II followed his cousin Stephen on to the throne in 1154. As well as being King of England, Henry was in control of vast swathes of land in France, Ireland and Wales. The conflict between his mother Mathilda and Stephen had left the crown weakened so Henry spent much of his reign consolidating and strengthening royal powers. However, his time on the throne was riven with conflict. Three of his children, Henry, Richard and John, rebelled against him, encouraged by their mother Eleanor of Aquitaine and her ex-husband King Louis VII of France. He also came into conflict with the church, leading to the murder of his former friend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Becket.

Henry's nickname came from his choice of clothing. The fashion at the time was for wearing long cloaks known as mantles but Henry had a preference for a shorter garment and was therefore known as "Curtmantle".

Answer: Edward

Owing to his great height, Edward I was also known as "Longshanks". His sobriquet of "Hammer of the Scots" came from a period when there was a vacancy on the Scottish throne. Edward was invited to administer a court of nobles that would choose the new king.

Their choice was to put John Balliol on the throne. Edward used his authority in the decision-making process to arrange matters such that Balliol was subjugated to the English throne and Scotland effectively became a vassal state of England.

Answer: Edward

Edward VII's mother Queen Victoria was known as the "grandmother of Europe" because her nine children married into royalty across the continent. As a consequence Edward, known unofficially as Bertie, was related to almost all the monarchs in Europe and was hence known as "the uncle of Europe".

These relationships allowed him to introduce a new style of diplomacy in the United Kingdom that introduced the Entente Cordiale, ending centuries of enmity between Britain and France.

Answer: George

George III was the first of the House of Hanover to be born in England. He ascended the throne in 1760 following the death of his grandfather George II and ruled for nearly 60 years, the longest reign of any British monarch at that time. His reign included some of the most momentous events in British history, including the loss of the American colonies after the War of Independence, victory in the Battle of Waterloo and the abolition of slavery in the UK.

George's nickname of "Farmer George" was mockingly bestowed upon him as a reflection upon his workaday interests and character. However, as his reign progressed the agricultural revolution grew apace, with George taking a very keen interest. Combined with the extravagant and self-indulgent personality of his son, George's steadiness became far more of an asset and the nickname took on a more friendly aspect.

Answer: William

The last king of the House of Hanover, William IV succeeded his brother George in 1830. At the age of 64 he was oldest person to ascend the throne until King Charles III in 2022.

William's nickname of "The Sailor King" came from his younger years when he had served in the Royal Navy. He was appointed Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1827.

William had ten children but as all were born out of wedlock, none were considered legitimate contenders for the throne, so upon his death the crown passed to his niece, Alexandrina who ruled for 64 years as Queen Victoria.

Answer: Henry

Henry VII was the last king of the second millennium to win the throne on the battlefield. His victory in the Wars of the Roses ended Plantagenet rule and began the Tudor dynasty. As such, Henry's reign was concerned with stability and conciliation. As a member of the Lancastrian nobility, his marriage to Elizabeth of York unified the two houses.

In terms of domestic policy, Henry was focused on strengthening the treasury. He raised taxes and curtailed spending in order to exploit and control the nobility, which led to him being daubed "The Huckster King".