2000 Years of British History: I Quiz

Answer: The Antonine Wall

Hadrian's Wall was built to defend the northern border of the Roman Empire, but they built another one even further north. This was an earthen as opposed to a stone wall and was built across the Scottish lowlands between, roughly, the Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Construction started in 142AD on the orders of Emperor Antoninus Pius in response to attacks from Caledonians.

Initial manning of the wall lasted just 20 years, but in 208AD it was repaired and manned again. This lasted just a few years and the wall was abandoned and the legions were withdrawn south.

Answer: False

The next people to arrive were Angles and Saxons from northern Germany. Initially they were invited to help defend towns from raids by the Picts, but they soon realised that they were a stronger force than their employers and began to spread over large areas of the country. Eventually, three major kingdoms emerged: Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria.

Answer: Stephen and Matilda

Stephen and Matilda were cousins, both being grandchildren of William I. Matilda had been named heir by her father, Henry I, but Stephen seized the throne upon Henry's death whilst Matilda was in France. The barons of England were not too happy about being ruled by a woman, so Stephen was crowned King on December 22nd 1135. Matilda eventually invaded England in 1139, supported by Robert, Earl of Gloucester.

The civil war lasted until Stephen's death in 1154 when he was succeeded by the first Plantagenet, King Henry II.

The period is seen as one of appalling oppression for ordinary people.

Answer: Longbow

Falkirk was the beginning of the end for Wallace. The Scottish army was decimated by English longbowmen firing clouds of arrows over long distances. The longbow was one of the principal weapons for over 200 years, until around 1450, but continued in use until 1642, the last recorded use of the bow in a military action.

The trebuchet was a siege weapon that was primarily used against town defences and the flintlock would not appear until the 17th century.

Answer: False

In 1337/8 the French throne became vacant due to the extinction of the ruling House of Capet after no male heir was produced. The throne was disputed between the French House of Valois and the English Plantagenets, also known as the House of Anjou because of their descent through the lines of Anjou and Normandy.

Despite its name, the Hundred Years' War saw several periods of peace. It eventually ended in 1453 with the House of Valois being victorious and the English being driven out of France, except for the area around Calais which remained in English hands until 1558.

The two best remembered battles during this period are, probably, Crecy and Agincourt.

Answer: 5

At the start of the wars England and Wales were ruled by Henry VI. Over the next 45 years the crown changed hands several times. Edward IV (1461-1470), Henry VI again (1470-1471), Edward IV again (1471-1483), Edward V (1483), Richard III (1483-1485) and finally Henry VII (1485-1509).

This change in the crown followed the fortunes of the York and Lancaster families until Henry Tudor, who had a very tentative claim, defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field due to the treachery of some of Richard's supporters.

Answer: Oxford

The three churchmen were opposed to Mary's plans. Latimer and Ridley were executed, by burning at the stake, on October 16, 1555 at a site that is now part of central Oxford. Cranmer was executed, in the same way, at the same spot, six months later. There are two memorials to the Oxford Martyrs, one on the site of their execution in Broad Street, outside Balliol College and the Martyr's Memorial just around the corner in St Giles.

Answer: Jews

The fire was discovered at around 2.00am on Sunday September 2nd, 1666 in the house of the Kings baker, Thomas Farynor. The fire raged for four days and destroyed much of London. In the aftermath of the blaze people began to look for someone to blame. During a Parliamentary investigation a French watchmaker, Robert Hubert confessed to having deliberately starting the fire.

Despite several people attesting to the fact of mental instability Hubert was hanged at Tyburn. In 1678 Titus Oates said that Jesuit priests had planned to set fire to the City and this prompted a Parliamentary resolution that the fire of 1666 had been started by Popish plotters.

In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth accused the Catholic King James II of starting the fire. When the Monument was erected it was inscribed blaming " the treachery and malice of the Popish faction".

This part of the inscription was finally removed in 1831 and it is now believed that the fire started because Farynor didn't fully extinguish his ovens as he had originally claimed.

Answer: The Glorious Revolution

In 1688, at the invitation of several influential Protestants, William, James IIs son in law, landed with an army at Torbay in Devon. James fled to France. Scotland was undecided until a tactless letter was received from James. Scotland came down on the side of William. This would change in the years to come, however, and eventually lead to the Jacobite Rebellion.

Answer: Queen Anne

Anne came to the throne in 1702 following the death of her brother in law, William III. She was a fervent Protestant and a supporter of the Glorious Revolution which saw William take the throne from her father. She was also the last of the Stuart monarchs as none of her eighteen children survived her. On her death in 1714 the crown passed to the House of Hanover because of the Act of Settlement passed in 1701 which forbade Catholics to occupy the throne. George I was her nearest living Protestant relative.