It's Not that Easy, Being Queen Quiz

The Brigantes were a tribe of Celtic Britons residing in what is now northern England, especially Yorkshire.

Around the year 43 CE, Cartimandua reigned (under Roman suzerainty) as co-monarch with her husband Venutius, until she divorced him. Then she ruled as co-monarch again with her second husband Vellocatus, who had been Venutius's arm-bearer. Venutius rebelled against his ex-wife and his former-arm-bearer in 57 CE, but Queen Cartimandua, with help from Rome, kept him at bay. During the Year of Four Emperors in 69 CE, Venutius, who had formed alliances with other peoples, attacked the Brigantes a second time, and Rome failed to protect Cartimandua. Venutius won his coup d'etat, though now he was at war with the Roman Empire, and no one is quite sure what happened to Queen Carimandua.

Although the historian Tacitus inexplicably maligned her character, despite her loyalty to Rome, he used the term "regina" (queen) only with her and with Boudicca.

The Iceni were a Celtic people of southeastern Great Britain who thrived during the Iron Age.

In 43 CE, after the Roman Empire subjugated most of Great Britain's Celtic tribes, one king, Prasutagus, was permitted to rule the Iceni under Roman suzerainty. When Prasutagus died in 60 CE, his consort Boudicca became queen regnant, which the Empire couldn't abide. Boudicca raised an army to defend her territory and drive the Romans from the island. They fought valiantly, and at one point they massacred 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons and decimated the Roman 9th Legion. In the end, however, Rome was too powerful.

In modern times, Boudicca has become a national heroine in the United Kingdom, especially in England, but also in Wales, particularly among Celtic nationalists. The warrior queen has been a favorite subject of both academic and popular histories and works of historical fiction. When I was in school, the Latinate form Boadicea was preferred, but in the 21st century, either Boudicca or Boudica appears to prevail in English. In Welsh, the heroic queen is called Buddug.

The Gewisse or the West Saxons were the people that dominated Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southern Great Britain. Little is known of the parentage of Seaxburh, also spelled Sexburga.

King Cenwalh, who promoted Christianity throughout Wessex, cast away his wife who was the sister of King Penda of Mercia -- though the marriage may not have been annulled in the Church. He married Seaxburh, who upon the death of her husband in 672, made herself queen regnant of Wessex. It was a daring move when rulership by women was rarely accepted, yet possible because of the political instability of the time. Queen Seaxburh lived for only another year or so, and King Æscwine, a descendant of Cenwalh's great uncle, succeeded her in 674.

The Kingdom of Mercia was an independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southern England from 527 until 879, when it became a client state of neighboring Wessex. Æthelflæd was the eldest child of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, and his queen Ealhswith. She married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, and sometime before his death became the de facto ruler of Mercia.

Lady Æthelflæd helped her brother Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, defeat the Danish armies that were occupying eastern England. While Edward fortified the southeast Midlands, Æthelflæd fortified Mercia. She gained power in Wales and Northumbria, and she seized Derby and Leicester. Then suddenly, she died on 12 June 918. Unlike many women rulers of the time, Æthelflæd received a lot of praise from historians and contemporaries, to the point that some historians expressed concern that she might overshadow her brother!

This is the only example of a queen regnant succeeding another queen regnant on the British Isles druing the Early Middle Ages. Unfortunately it was short-lived, a matter of weeks. It is not clear why Ælfwynn did not receive the same kind of support as her mother did as Lady of the Mercians. Even though Edward the Elder would not have vanquished the occupying Danes nor controlled Wales and Northumbria so easily without his late sister's help, he deposed her daughter, his niece, and exiled her to Wessex. Edward took direct control of her kingdom until his death in 924.

Matilda/Maud was the daughter of King Henry I. As such, the issue of her sex aside, she had a stronger claim to the throne than did her cousin Stephen of Blois, grandson of William I. But in those days that issue would not be set aside, and even though Henry had specifically named his daughter his heir and made the barons swear to honor his wish, civil war ensued before Matilda could be crowned.

Empress Matilda's first husband was Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. Her second husband was Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, also called Geoffrey the Handsome and Geoffrey the Fair. Matilda would have exercised power in her own right as Lady of the English, had she and her husband vanquished Stephen. It is also possible she would have regarded herself as a regent until her son Henry Fitzempress came of age.

Even though Stephen defeated the Lady of the English and was crowned King of England, Matilda's son did indeed become King Henry II after Stephen died. So in one sense she was victorious, as the royal succession continued from Empress Matilda (and not her upstart cousin!) through the House of Plantagenet, a dynasty which lasted 300 years until the death of Richard III.

"Maud" is an Anglo-Norman derivation of the name Matilda, and for a long time the name Maud was preferred to distinguish the Empress from other Matlida's of history, but in the 21st century "Matilda" seems to have gained favor among newer historians.

Although she was never queen regnant of any realm, Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) was absolutely one of the most powerful and influential figures of the Middle Ages. Her first husband was Louis VII, King of France. Her second was Henry II, King of England, and son of the Empress Matilda. In that second marriage, Eleanor played a large role in the administration of their extensive domains, including vast territories in France. She was quite a diplomat and ensured the loyalty of the barons. But then she led a rebellion of her sons against their father, and she was imprisoned until Henry II died in 1189 and her son Richard the Lionheart took the throne (and promptly freed his mother).

Eleanor of Aquitaine was officially regent of England twice. The first time was from 1154 to 1156, while King Henry II was consolidating territories in Normandy. The second time was when her son, King Richard I, went on the Third Crusade (1189-1194) and was taken prisoner. Eleanor's leadership preserved the continuity of Richard's rule and the stability of the kingdom during the Lionheart's prolonged absence. She wielded influence even after Richard's return, and she helped secure the throne for another of her sons, John Lackland, when Richard died in 1199. Though she retired to an abbey, Eleanor continued to advise King John until her death in 1204.

Margaret's father was King Eric II of Norway, where she was born and where she died. Her mother was Margaret of Scotland, who was the daughter of Margaret of England (and Queen of Scots), who in turn was the daughter of King Henry III of England -- and there lies the Maid of Norway's claim to the throne of Scotland.

This great-granddaughter of Henry III was never crowned, so Margaret gets listed (when she gets listed) as "queen-designate" of the Kingdom of Scotland. And she was so designated from 19 March 1286 to her death, which fell sometime between 26 and 29 September 1290. Her successor was the much-derided John Balliol, who abdicated after King Edward I "Longshanks" of England defeated him during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

As the only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary Stuart became Queen of Scots on 14 December 1542, when she was just six days old. This necessitated a series of regents until Mary I of Scotland (not to be confused with Mary I of England) came of age. Mary I of Scotland ruled with moderation and tolerance as a Catholic queen of a Protestant nation. Alas, marrying the man suspected of murdering her first husband was one strike too many for the Scots. She was forced to abdicate to her son, who would become James VI of Scotland and eventually James I of England.

As great-granddaughter of Henry VII, many English Catholics felt Mary, Queen of Scots, should be Queen of England, too, rather than Protestant Elizabeth I, whom they also regarded as illegitimate since Henry VIII's marriage to Katherine of Aragon had never been annulled in the Catholic Church. Ultimately, of course, Elizabeth kept her crown, and Mary lost her head, but gained a popular, romantic role in history.

Lady Jane Grey was King Edward VI's first cousin once removed and the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. Lady Jane married Lord Guildford Dudley, the son of the Duke of Northumberland, but almost invariably in historiography the surname Grey rather than Dudley is used. As the young Protestant King lay dying, he named Lady Jane Grey his successor, as he did not want his Catholic half-sister Mary Tudor to succeed him. In his "Devise for the Succession", Edward also excluded his other half-sister Elizabeth, even though she was Protestant because she might marry a Catholic royal. Controversy over the legitimacy of Henry VIII's daughters because of the king's, shall we say, complex marital history was a factor as well.

This was a time of political instability, religious persecution, economic challenges, and military conflicts. Jane Grey ascended to the throne on 10 July 1553. Just nine days later, on 19 July, Jane was deposed and Mary I was restored to the throne. Jane's father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, joined a rebellion, but it failed. Lady Jane Grey was beheaded on 12 February 1554; she was just 17 years old. And with that, Mary I secured her position as the first queen regnant of England and Ireland. Her turbulent reign, with the goal of re-establishing Catholicism, has been called the Marian Restoration (1553-58).