Royalty & Monarchs Trivia

1. How did the infamous Roman emperor Nero ultimately die?

From Quiz Little Black Project: Raven Rulers

Answer: He was killed by his secretary at his own request

Emperor Nero (a name meaning "black", although it is not known why it was chosen as a regnal name for him) was the last of the five Julio-Claudean emperors, the line that had started with Augustus. His reign was characterised by an iron fist and a lavish lifestyle, anecdotally documented by the claim that he played the fiddle while Rome burned in the Great Fire of 64 AD. While this is likely untrue, Nero exploited the fire to claim prime real estate upon which to build a lavish palace. When he was declared an enemy and condemned to death in 68 AD, he chose to suicide but could not actually manage to do the deed himself, so he commanded his secretary to kill him. (Question provided by WesleyCrusher)

From Quiz Monarchs

Answer: Puyi

Puyi was born in 1906 in Beijing. He was crowned emperor at the age of three, and cried most of the way through the ceremony. Although he could not rule at such an early age he was treated very much as an emperor with servants bowing to him and obeying his commands.

From Quiz Forgotten Royalty

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

Had Henry, Duke of Cornwall been a healthy child, his father might never have sought a divorce from Catherine; never fathered Mary, Elizabeth and Edward; never established the Church of England. How different might British history have been if the boy had not died before he was two months old? He did, however, die after just 52 days, and history unfolded without him, with each of his younger surviving siblings ruling in their turn, as his father married and discarded his various wives. Amongst all of the turmoil that followed, the infant Henry is often forgotten.

From Quiz Why Me? Kings Who Died In Unfortunate Accidents

Answer: Qin Shi Huang

As he aged, Qin Shi Huang became desperate to prevent his death, trying various elixirs to make himself immortal. One of these elixirs contained mercury, which is toxic to the human body. After overdosing on these pills, the king died.

From Quiz Give An Inch, You're a Ruler!

Answer: Cardinal

Armand Jean du Plesis de Richelieu or Cardinal Richelieu (1555-1642) was a French clergyman and statesman who was the chief advisor of Louis XIII, the King of France from 1624 through 1642. Thomas Wolsey (or Woolsey) was an English political figure and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church after Henry VIII became King of England in 1509. Wolsey served as Henry's chief minister from 1515 to 1529.

From Quiz They Came From The East

Answer: Byzantine

Leo was the second Byzantine Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty. The Byzantine Empire emerged from the eastern portion of the Roman Empire in the mid-5th century and existed for over one thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The capital of the empire was the city of Byzantium, which is now known as Istanbul and is located in modern day Turkey. Leo's parentage is unclear, with both Emperor Basil I and Emperor Michael III being named as potential fathers. Whatever the truth was, he succeeded Basil as emperor and reigned with mixed success in both his domestic and foreign policy. One particularly controversial issue during Leo's reign was the fact he had a total of four wives, in a place and a time when marrying for a third time was considered illegal!

From Quiz Royal Recreation

Answer: Charlemagne

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was a skilled military strategist. He spent much of his reign engaged in warfare in order to accomplish his goal: unite all Germanic peoples into one kingdom, and convert his subjects to Christianity. When he died in 814, Charlemagne's empire encompassed much of Western Europe, and he had also ensured the survival of Christianity in the west. Aachen was originally a Roman spa called Aquisgranum. Charlemagne, interested in athletic pursuits, was known to be highly energetic. Because of his love of hunting, horseback riding and swimming Aachen held particular appeal for him due to its therapeutic warm springs. The chapel holds the remains of Charlemagne and as part of Aachen Cathedral, is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Quiz Good Night, Sweet Prince

Answer: Louis XVI

The people of France, struggling to make ends meet each day, were definitely not impressed by the incredible spending of the French aristocracy on lavish palaces, luxury goods, and foreign wars. With ideas of the Enlightenment hovering across the European political scene, it was only a matter of time before someone got the idea to start rebelling against their kings. Beginning with the Tennis Court Oath, the revolution would see the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the executions of Louis XVI, his wife, Marie Antoinette, and countless others.

From Quiz That's Nasty!

Answer: Cleopatra VII

Cleopatra became joint monarch with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII upon the death of their father in 51BC. Their political (and, no doubt, personal) relationship soon soured and Cleopatra went into exile. Julius Caesar, her lover and the father of her son Caesarion, defeated Ptolemy XIII at the battle of the Nile. With Ptolemy dead, Cleopatra returned to the throne with a new husband and co-ruler, also a younger brother, Ptolemy XIV.

From Quiz Murder Most Royal

Answer: Nero

Nero's mother, Agrippina, had helped him to assume the throne after the suspicious death of his step-father, Claudius. When Nero tired of her influence over him he first tried to kill her in a supposed accident, but when this did not work he had his soldiers kill her. Although he was involved in other murders, at the least that of his half-brother, Claudius's true heir, and two of his wives it was the crime of matricide that the Romans found truly repugnant.

From Quiz My Nickname, please...

Answer: Barbarossa

He was the Holy Roman Emperor for over 30 years and is most famous for his many wars, including taking part in the Third Crusade, until his famous death in the river of Saleph. Barbarossa means 'red beard' (or 'red bearded').

From Quiz Modern Royal Families

Answer: The United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II is a member of the House of Windsor. In addition to being the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, she is also the Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The House of Windsor is a branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and was renamed the more "English sounding" House of Windsor during World War I due to the Germanic origins of the dynasty. Although the dynasty has only ruled the UK since 1901, Queen Elizabeth II is a descendant of English kings and queens going back well over 1000 years.

From Quiz 20th Century Monarchs

Answer: He was found dead by the Geman police.

He was wandering the streets of Hamburg alone when he collapsed and died.

From Quiz Pretender to the Throne

Answer: the Duke of Angouleme

Duke Louis de Bourbon of Angouleme was born on 6 Aug 1775 in Versailles, France as the son of the Count of Artois. He married on 10 Jun 1799 in Mittau, Courland to his first cousin, Princess Royale Marie Therese Charlotte de Bourbon of France, the daughter of King Louis XVI de Bourbon of France. Upon his father's abdication, Louis technically ruled for twenty minutes and took the nominal title of Louis XIX; before he renounced his rights to the throne, in favour of his nephew, the Count of Chamboard. He died childless on 3 Jun 1844 in Gorz, Austria.

From Quiz Famous Royalty Quotes

Answer: Alexandra of Denmark

Alexandra ('Alix') was born in 1844, the daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and his wife, Louise of Hesse-Kassel. She married Albert Edward ('Bertie'), Prince of Wales, in 1863, and 38 years later became Queen Consort when he succeeded his mother Queen Victoria. The marriage was reasonably happy, despite Bertie's many love affairs - hence Alix's comment after his death.

From Quiz Royal Kissing Cousins

Answer: first cousins, once removed

Arthur's father was HRH (His Royal Highness) the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria's third son. Alexandra's mother HRH Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, was the daughter of the Queen's eldest son the Prince of Wales. As such, Arthur and Alexandra were second cousins. Alexandra's father, the Duke of Fife, had died in 1912. Queen Victoria had issued him with a special creation of the Fife dukedom which allowed it to pass to Alexandra in the absence of any male heirs. In 1905, when he made Louise Princess Royal, Alexandra's grandfather had made her a princess with the title of 'Her Highness. After her marriage, she was known as HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught. Arthur died of stomach cancer in 1938. Alexandra lived on until 1959, outliving the couple's only son, Alastair.

From Quiz Well Established Royal Epithets

Answer: Henry

Henry, the Duke of Saxony, was elected by the German dukes to act as king of Germany, beginning the Saxon line of kings. He reigned from 919 till 936, when his son, Otto, took over. How he got his title "the Fowler" is uncertain. Some sources say that he was setting bird snares when the news reached him that he had been elected king, but this story may be a legend. His German name is "Heinrich der Vogler".

From Quiz Famous Monarchs

Answer: Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great is arguably the most famous conqueror of all time, and possibly the most successful. He ruled many lands, including Persia, and Persepolis was burned on his orders.

From Quiz King Again

Answer: Denmark and Norway

Canute (or Knud II as he is known in Denmark and Knut in Norway) won the English crown by a mixture of conquest and diplomacy in 1016. In 1018 he inherited the throne of Denmark from his brother and then gained Norway by conquest in 1028. He ruled all three kingdoms until his death in 1035. Canute married Emma of Normandy who had previously been the wife of the English king, Ethelred II (Ethelred the Unready), making her the only woman to have been married to two English kings. Two of her sons, Harthacanute (her son by Canute) and Edward (the Confessor, the son of Ethelred), went on to become kings of England.

From Quiz The History of European Royalty VI

Answer: the Count of Artois

King Charles X de Bourbon of France, the third son of Dauphin Louis de Bourbon of France and Princess Maria Josepha Wettin of Poland, was born on 9 Oct 1757 in Versailles, France. At birth he was created the Count of Artois. He married Princess Maria Theresa de Savoie of Sardinia on 16 Nov 1773 in Versailles, France. He become King after the death of his brother, Louis XVIII and was exiled and deposed in 1830. He had abdicated in favour of his grandson, the Count of Chamboard; however the French rejected this and proclaimed Louis Philippe I as the King of the French. Charles X died in exile on 6 Nov 1836 in Switzerland.

From Quiz Royal Relativity

Answer: brothers-in-law

William the Conqueror and Tostig of Northumbria each married a daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders. Tostig married the elder daughter, Judith, whereas William married the younger daughter, Matilda. Tostig sided with Harald Hardrada of Norway against his brother, Harold II of England, and was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Harald of Norway was also slain. A few weeks later, on October 14, 1066, William and Harold clashed at Hastings, where Harold II was killed.

From Quiz The History of European Royalty IV

Answer: Protestant

King James II Stuart of Great Britain's first wife, Lady Anne Hyde of Clarendon, was of the right religion for the royal family - Protestant. Lady Anne was born on 22 March 1637 at Cranbourne Lodge, Windsor, England, to Earl Edward Hyde of Clarendon and Lady Frances Aylesbury. She married the Duke of York on 24 November 1659 in Breda, Holland. She was the mother of two Queens, Mary II and Queen Anne. The Duchess of York died on 31 March 1671 in Saint James' Palace, London, England.

From Quiz The History of European Royalty III

Answer: de Savoie

Long before the de Savoie's came to the throne of Italy, they were medieval counts from a long established dynasty. With the unification of Italy, they were created as its new royal family.

From Quiz The History of European Royalty II

Answer: First cousins

Their common ancestors were King Charles I Stuart of Britain and Princess Henrietta Marie de Bourbon of France. Queen Mary II Stuart of Britain was the daughter of King James II Stuart of Britain, whereas King William III of Britain was the son of Princess Mary Henrietta Stuart of Britain.

From Quiz The History of European Royalty I

Answer: The French Bourbons

The Head of the Austrian Hapsburg's at the time was Archduke Charles Hapsburg, who claimed the Spanish throne through his grandmother, Infanta Princess Maria Anna, the daughter of King Phillip III Hapsburg of Spain. However, when Archduke Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor, he abandoned his claim. Therefore, the crown passed to the second grandson of King Louis XIV de Bourbon of France; through Infanta Princess Maria Theresa Hapsburg of Spain, the daughter of King Phillip IV Hapsburg of Spain; Duke Philippe de Bourbon of Anjou. He became King Felipe V de Bourbon of Spain.

From Quiz The Character Beneath the Crown

Answer: Napoleon I

Napoleon Buona Parte was born in Corsica in 1769, and in later life dubbed the "Little Corporal" (he was only 5 feet 6 inches tall), perhaps in retaliation for referring to the English as "a nation of shopkeepers". After his death in 1821, his head was shaved for souvenirs, and his heart and stomach put in a silver vase and pepperpot respectively.

From Quiz Oh, Henry! O, Henri! Ach, Heinrich!

Answer: 'Henry VI'

The three parts of 'Henry VI' were among his first plays. 'Henry IV' (parts one and two) and 'Henry V' followed within the next ten years. Henry VII appears as a character in 'Richard III,' but Shakespeare did not write a play bearing his name.

From Quiz World Royal Families

Answer: Queen Paola

On July 2, 1959, Albert married Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria from an Italian family with royal connections. They have three children: Prince Philippe, Princess Astrid, Prince Laurent.

From Quiz Pharaohs, Tsars, Emperors, Kings and Queens

Answer: England

Henry VIII is world renowned for taking six wives, dissolving the monasteries and making himself the Surpreme Head of the Church of England.

From Quiz European Royalty

Answer: Greece

She is the sister of ex-King Constantine of Greece.

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