Back to the Fifteenth Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: Westminster Abbey

Chaucer had an interesting life, with connections to the English throne. His wife, Philippa, was the sister of John of Gaunt's third wife, Katherine. Chaucer is best remembered as a writer, and is credited with the development of the English language.

His best known work is 'The Canterbury Tales', a series of short stories told in rhyming couplets. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey as he lived in the close. It was not until 1556 that his remains were reburied and the area now called Poets' Corner was established.

Answer: Agincourt

Agincourt was a major battle and turning point in the long running war. The English army, which included a large number of skilled Welsh archers, defeated a French army which consisted of a significantly larger number of men. Estimates of actual numbers vary widely, but the longbowmen made the vital difference. Shakespeare used the battle in his play about Henry V, the leader of the English army, and some of the phrases put into the king's mouth remain familiar: 'once more unto the breach' and 'we happy few, we band of brothers' are among them.

Answer: Kingmaker

Warwick was a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses, initially supporting the Yorkist faction, before transferring his allegiance to the Lancastrians. His support led to the crowning of the Yorkist Edward IV in 1461, before he and the king had various disagreements. Warwick then arranged for Henry VI, who had been deposed by Edward, to return to the throne in 1470.

This success was short lived, as Edward IV reclaimed the throne the following year at the Battle of Barnet, where Warwick met his death.

The epithet of 'kingmaker' became associated with Warwick's name for his success in placing two different men on the English throne.

Answer: Burning

The Hundred Years' War was still ongoing and Joan of Arc became a rallying figure for the French. She claimed to have received divine messages to support the French monarchy and to drive the English from France. Joan's intervention gave the French new inspiration and victories, which led to the coronation of the dauphin, as Charles VII, in 1429.

It had taken seven years from his accession to reach this point. Joan was captured in 1430, and burned at the stake the following year. She was canonised in 1920.

Answer: Eton

All the options are well known public schools in the United Kingdom, but Eton is the only one to date from the reign of Henry VI. Winchester can claim the longest history, dating from 1382. Harrow and Charterhouse are relative newcomers, dating from 1572 and 1611 respectively. Apart from the Prime Ministers mentioned in the question as having been educated at Eton, I can add Sir Robert Walpole, Arthur Balfour and Harold Macmillan - by 2015, there have been nineteen in total.

The list of well known Old Etonians could go on for ever; Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston and Damian Lewis are just three of the actors to have been educated there, and other old boys can be found in most walks of life.

Answer: Richard, Duke of Gloucester

All of the options I gave you were sons of Richard of York and Cecily Neville. Edward was the oldest son to reach adulthood, and therefore inherited the title of Duke of York, before becoming King Edward IV. George was executed in 1478 after trying to overthrow Edward. Edmund died in 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield, at the age of seventeen. Richard went on to become Richard III, having seized the throne in 1483 from his young nephew, Edward V, only to die in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. The victor was Henry Tudor, Henry VII, the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

Answer: Woodville

The marriage was one of the causes of the rift between the king and the Earl of Warwick, who had been negotiating with the French for Edward to marry a French princess. The privileges given to the Woodville family also caused problems for Warwick, since he lost much of his influence at court. Edward and Elizabeth had numerous children together, including the Princes in the Tower, who are believed by many to have died on the orders of Richard III.

Their eldest child, Elizabeth of York, married Henry VII, a strategic move by the new king to link the warring houses of Lancaster and York.

Answer: William Caxton

Caxton was born in England, possibly in Kent, and moved to Bruges by the mid fifteenth century. He saw the new printing industry in Cologne, Germany, and set up his own business in Bruges where he began printing books in English, often from his own translations. In 1476, Caxton came back to England and set up in business in Westminster, London. Among the early books to be produced was a copy of Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'.

William Tyndale was a Protestant reformer, who was born around 1490. Wilberforce was a politician in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, who was a prime mover in the abolition of slavery. William Blake was a painter and poet, who lived from 1757 until 1827.

Answer: Yeomen of the Guard

Their official title is 'The Queen's (or King's) Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard', and they were created by the new King Henry VII to act as his personal bodyguards. The uniform worn in the twenty-first century is still styled on that of Tudor times.

The role of the Yeomen of the Guard is ceremonial, and includes a search of the cellars at the Houses of Parliament, in case a modern day Guy Fawkes is around. The Yeomen of the Guard are not the same corps as the Yeomen Warders, or beefeaters, seen at the Tower of London.

Answer: Perkin Warbeck

Warbeck claimed to be the younger of the two Princes in the Tower, who were believed to have died in 1483. As no proof of death, or bodies, had been found, it was a believable claim, although Warbeck later confessed that he came from Tournai (now in Belgium). The impostor was initially imprisoned, but was executed, by hanging at Tyburn, following two escape attempts.

Lambert Simnel claimed, in 1487, to be the Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of Clarence, and nephew to King Edward IV. He was treated leniently by Henry VII, as he was a child being manipulated by adults. Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie, was a pretender from the eighteenth century. Owain Glyndwr fought for Welsh independence from England, but died in the early fifteenth century.