Something About Mary Trivia Quiz

Answer: She had hundreds of people sentenced to death

When she came to the throne in 1553, Mary I was determined to restore the Roman Catholic Church to its former pre-eminence in England. The business of finding the thirty-something Mary a husband occupied the first year of her five-year reign, and Philip II of Spain was ultimately persuaded to take her on.

They were married in 1554, and Mary fell madly in love with her husband. She was devastated when, after 11 months of marriage, Philip upped stakes and returned to Spain. It seems that he found his older (she was seven years his senior) wife physically unattractive (if you've seen portraits of Philip, with the long Hapsburg chin and that jutting lower lip, you'll agree that he was no prize, either!) Disappointed in love, and unable to have a child, Mary spent the last three-and-a-half years of her reign in a bitter vendetta with England's Protestants, who resisted any effort to restore England to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome.

She had 300 or so Protestants beheaded, hanged, or burned at the stake.

It's interesting to note that poor old Mary, who had led a life of rejection - first by her father Henry VIII, then by her husband Philip II of Spain, and finally by her people - was ultimately betrayed by the Pope, who sided with France in a war against Spain, which brought about the loss of Calais, England's last foothold on continental Europe. While Mary earned the soubriquet of 'Bloody', her little brother Edward is remembered as 'The Boy King' (he was 16 when he died), yet he was guilty of allowing a rampant persecution of Roman Catholics during his reign, in which an equal number of Roman Catholics were sentenced to death! It took Edward's and Mary's sister Elizabeth to restore some sort of balance to matters religious in England. Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 and died in 1603. Mary and Elizabeth are interred side by side in the same tomb in Westminster Abbey. The tomb bears a plaque, affixed there during the reign of James I. It reads "Partners in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection." (The plaque's in Latin, and that's the English translation.)

Answer: In honour of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I

In 1631, King Charles I granted George Calvert, Lord Baltimore a charter giving him feudal rights over the area north of the Potomac (the boundaries of the area were never firmly defined, which led to some acrid disputes and hostilities between Virginia and Maryland). Charles was increasingly perturbed by the presence of the Dutch in North America, and wanted a buffer zone between Virginia and the New Netherlands colonies. Calvert, a convert to Roman Catholicism, showed his appreciation by naming his land grant Maryland, declaring it to be in honour of the Queen (so why didn't he name it Henriettaland? Maybe there wasn't enough room on the official seal for such an unwieldy name.) Lord Baltimore's first wife was named Anne (he divorced her), and his second wife was Joanne. William Claiborne, who was something of a thorn in the side of the Calverts, was married to Elizabeth.

Answer: Companions of Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Beaton (or Bethune), Mary Fleming (Flemyng), Mary Livingstone (Leuson), and Mary Seton (Seyton) were sent with Mary,Queen of Scots, to France when the Queen was betrothed to the Dauphin, to serve as the Queen's companions. They were raised in the French court. Mary Seton was the only one of the four who never married, and she spent her life in the service of the Queen, and shared her imprisonment with her.

Answer: The guillotine

Marianne, of course, was the symbol of revolutionary France. She's the handsome woman in the Phrygian cap, carrying the tricouleur and leading the revolutionary forces in the painting by David. One can almost hear the stirring strains of 'The Marseillaise' when looking at that painting. That other symbol of revolutionary France, the guillotine, was also nicknamed Marianne.

Answer: Marigolds

In 'Cymbeline' Act 2, Scene 3, we read "...and winking marybuds begin to ope their golden eyes.' Marigolds , you see, open at daybreak and close their petals at sunset. My grandfather, a fervent gardener, called marigolds 'marybuds', too, and he hated them. He cursed them as weeds!

Answer: John

Who knows where these stories come from? According to the tradition, John called off the wedding when Jesus called him to follow. Another tradition has it that, after the Ascension of Christ, Mary moved to Ephesus with Jesus' mother Mary and John, and she died and was buried there.

However, Provencal tradition has it that Mary Magdalene is actually Mary of Bethany, and after the Ascension, Mary and her sister Martha and brother Lazarus moved to the south of France, and that's where Mary Magdalene is buried. If you've read either 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' or 'The DaVinci Code' (neither of which should be taken seriously), you'll be more familiar with the second legend.

Answer: Beloved

While some etymologists reason that Mary is a derivative of the Hebrew name Mariam (or Miriam) which, depending on who you talk to, means 'sea of bitterness' or 'rebelliousness' or 'wished for child', others will tell you that it is derived from a much more ancient Egyptian name Mry, meaning 'beloved'. I like that better than 'sea of bitterness'!

Answer: Hard to tell

In Chapter 19, verse 25 of the Gospel of John we read: "Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene." In the Gospel of Luke, it's "All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee..." (Ch.23, v.49), and in Mark we read, "Some women were there...among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joseph, and Salome." (Ch.15,v.40) And just to confuse us further, in Matthew's account, we get "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee." (Ch.27,v.56). So who really knows? Is Mary the wife of Clopas the same Mary as the mother of James and Joseph? And is 'his mother's sister', mentioned in John, an unnamed person or is she Mary the wife of Clopas, and why would there be two Marys who are sisters? Why don't Matthew and Mark list Mary, the mother of Jesus? Why doesn't Luke give any of the names? Why are Matthew and Mark the only two who are in total agreement (Salome, mentioned in Mark, is the wife of Zebedee mentioned in Matthew)? Oh, it's all so confusing! My head hurts. And I still don't know how many Marys were at the cross.

Answer: Just Mary

Mary Grannan was a New Brunswick schoolteacher who started a CBC program in Fredericton in 1938. The 15-minute daily program featured Ms Grannan reading stories to children. The show became wildly popular and was soon heard across Canada via the CBC radio network.

In 1940, Ms Grannan moved to Toronto, and continued to delight children for 20 more years with her story-telling. In 1960, the show moved to television, which proved to be a mistake. 'Just Mary' spawned a series of storybooks which became standard birthday and Christmas gifts for children. Ms Grannan was also the producer of the popular 'Maggie Muggins', a children's program on CBC-TV.

Answer: His favourite sister Mary

Mary Rose was the fifth child of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and was very close to her brother Henry, who was five years older. In 1514, when Mary was 18, her dearly loved brother Henry (who was by now Henry VIII) married her off to 52 year old King Louis XII of France, over her objections (she was in love with Henry's friend Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk).

Despite two previous marriages, Louis had no sons, and his marriage to Mary didn't produce any, either...perhaps because he died within three months of the wedding (wags of the day put his death down to too much honeymooning). Mary was confined to the Chateau of Cluny for six weeks after Louis' death while all of France waited to find out if she was pregnant, but eventually Henry sent a party of gentlemen to escort her home to England. One of the gentlemen was Charles Brandon, and Mary suggested to Charles that they should marry, so that Henry could not use her as a political pawn again. Charles, knowing that the king would not be pleased, demurred, but Mary threatened to enter a convent if he wouldn't marry her.

He gave in and they were married secretly in France before returning to England. Charles was right; Henry was furious! However, after levying a heavy fine on the couple, Henry forgave them, and their marriage was a happy one and produced three children. One of them -Frances - was the mother of the tragic Lady Jane Grey. Mary and her brother had another royal spat over his intention to divorce Catherine of Aragon (whom Mary loved) and marry Anne Boleyn (whom Mary loathed). Mary died in June, 1533, and is buried at St. Mary's in Bury St. Edmund's. Henry did indeed have an affair with Anne Boleyn's older sister Mary, but years after the building of the 'Mary Rose', and neither of his grandmothers was named Mary; his paternal grandmother was Margaret Beaufort, and his maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV.