Affair Deal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was only married to Henry VIII for three years, and produced an heir - but not the boy Henry was hoping for. Henry, up to his usual tricks, was soon chasing the lovely Jane Seymour and looking a reason to remove Anne. She was convicted of high treason in 1536 and executed four days after her trial.

Answer: Charles Dickens

Dickens saw Nelly in a play when she was 18 and he was in his mid-forties. The following year he separated from his wife after she opened a package sent from the jeweller - unfortunately the trinket was meant for Nelly and not for her. Ooops. Ternan was left a legacy of £1,000 when Dickens died.

Answer: Ireland

Lola's mother (who claimed to have Spanish royal blood) was just 14 when she gave birth to Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, in Ireland. Eliza eloped at the age of 19 but when her husband, Thomas James himself eloped with another woman, she took to the stage as Lola Montez.

Her performances were described as 'suggestive' and caught the eye of many a European personality. Ludwig I of Bavaria was especially smitten, buying her a large house and settling an annuity on her. Her 'career' took her to Spain, Germany, Australia and the USA.

The biography of this woman is intriguing and worth a read - it's hard to believe she stuffed so much drama into a relatively short life. She died of the effects of syphilis.

Answer: George Sand

Novelist George Sand was born Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, and was generous with her affections, having affairs with a number of personalities of the time. While the relationship between Sand and Chopin was instrumental in enabling Chopin to compose the music for which he is rightly famous, their affair was an odd one. Chopin was accused of having 'unsuitable affection' for Sand's daughter Solange. Sand also made an unflattering caricature of Chopin in the person of Karol Lucrezia Floriani.

Answer: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III, had a long term, though adulterous, relationship with Katherine Swynford. She bore him four children and they married in January 1396, when Katherine was in her mid-forties. Their relationship led eventually to the foundation of the house of Tudor.

Henry VII came from the marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster through his father, and from his mother, Margaret Beaufort, through John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. In addition, 3 other descendants of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford became English sovereigns; Edward IV, Richard III and Edward V.

Answer: Hagar, handmaiden of Sarah

Sarah and Abraham didn't believe God when he said she would become pregnant so they decided to fix things themselves. Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, became the concubine of Abraham and thus the mother of Ishmael, the founder of the Arab people (Genesis 16:1,2).

The Bible tells us that despite their lack of faith, Sarah gave birth to the child Isaac, the son of promise, when Abraham was 100 and she was 90 years old.

Answer: Catherine Alekseyevna (the Great)

In common with many of the royal relationships in the 16th - 18th centuries, things were somewhat fluid. Catherine had a succession of lovers.

When the Empress Elizabeth died in 1762, Catherine saw a chance and had her husband Czar Peter III arrested; he was later killed, in a plot widely assumed to be of Catherine's making.

Ukrainian-born Potemkin was useful to Catherine as he was quick-witted and politically astute. They were lovers for many years, though in the longer term, Catherine replaced him with younger men.

Answer: He was her brother

Cleopatra was useful to her brother as his marriage to her assisted his claim to the Egyptian throne, but was also a shrewd and intelligent ruler in her own right. While they were definitely co-rulers, it is uncertain whether they actually consummated the marriage.

Answer: Twenty-six years

The real-life chemistry between these two showed on the silver screen. Though their affair started early on in their movie collaboration, they kept it secret, out of respect for Tracey's wife (they never divorced).

Answer: Franz Liszt

Marie d'Agoult was an historian and author, whose pen name was Daniel Stern. Liszt and d'Agoult had a five year affair which started while d'Agoult was married to Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult, Comte d'Agoult. Her affair with Liszt produced three children.