Historie enow t' Inspire the Bard Quiz

Answer: Henry V

Henry's victory in France at Agincourt set him up to eventually unify France and England, but it was not to be. He died in France unexpectedly on August 31, 1422, just two months before Charles VI. Henry's son and Charles' grandson, who became Henry VI, was declared king of both France and England, but Charles VI's son, who was also declared King of France, became the actual French monarch, as Henry VI was still a one-year-old infant at the time.

It is in the third act of "Henry V" that Shakespeare has the king refer to his victorious forces at Agincourt as "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..."

Answer: He "fell on his sword" and died in Cleopatra's arms.

The Second Triumvirate was made up of Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus. After taking Lepidus out of the equation, Octavian turned his attention to Antony, his brother-in-law, who was nonetheless also involved with Cleopatra. The fate of Antony as well as Rome came to a head in the Battle of Actium, where, facing defeat, Antony fled back to Egypt. Believing Cleopatra to be dead, he stabbed himself in traditional Roman suicide, with his own sword. Finding that his lover was still alive, however, Antony had his friends take him to the Egyptian queen, in whose arms he died. Antony was in two of Shakespeare's "Roman" plays, "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra."

Answer: Alba

On August 15, 1040, Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaich) defeated and killed Duncan, who had invaded Macbeth's Kingdom of Moray, located in northeastern Scotland, and which had been under MacBeth's rule since 1032. As a result, Macbeth became King of Alba and became known as "the Red King" until his death in 1057.

In 1057 Duncan's son, Malcolm (Mael Coluim mac Donnchada), avenged his father's death by killing Macbeth in battle. Malcolm then became King of Alba as Malcolm III.

Answer: King John

John was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and the youngest of five brothers. His brother Richard the Lionhearted, the fourth of the five, became king in 1189, but died in France a decade later, when John became King, reigning until 1216. Shakespeare's play, "King John" focuses on a challenge to John's inheritance by Arthur, Richard's son, whose claim is supported by Philip II.

The play includes John's excommunication (which was later lifted), as well as the deaths of both Arthur and John.

Answer: Gaius Marcius

After defeating the Volscians, Coriolanus fell into disfavor with Rome's plebeians and was exiled. He then became a Volscian leader and led a force on Rome, only to be dissuaded by a delegation of Roman matrons and other citizens, including his mother, wife, and children.

After returning to the Volscian city of Antium, Coriolanus is put on trial and assassinated. Recently some doubt has been cast on the historical status of Gaius Marcius (or Martius), and some scholars believe his story is merely a legend. Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" is classified both as a tragedy, and as one of his "Roman" plays.

Answer: Battle of Bosworth Field

Shakespeare portrays Richard as a great villain in "Richard III," but his defenders see that as a portrait painted by the Tudors, as Henry Tudor defeated Richard at Bosworth Field and founded the Tudor dynasty. Richard's remains were discovered in 2012 and showed 10 wounds delivered at his death, including massive skull damage.

Answer: Thomas Wolsey

Of the four Thomases, Cranmer no doubt fared best, living to the age of 66. Even he, however, who managed to outlive Henry VIII, was a victim of the English monarchy, being executed by order of Mary I in 1555, one day after the 22nd anniversary of his enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury.

It is also interesting that the other three Thomases all fell afoul of Henrys, the VIIIth for Wolsey and More, and the IInd for Becket. Wolsey's fall from grace came about in 1529, a little over 80 years before Shakespeare dramatized it in "Henry VIII."

Answer: Sir John Falstaff

The second inspiration for Falstaff was the Lollard Sir John Fastolf, who fought on the losing English side in the Battle of Patay in June of 1429. Whereas Falstaff is a boastful, but cowardly, knight in "Henry IV, Part I," neither Oldcastle nor Fastolf were cowardly in real life.

A character named Sir John Fastolf appears also in "Henry VI, Part I," as a cowardly soldier, as well. Could these two historical soldiers have been the inspirations for cowardly knights in Shakespeare's plays because of their heretical religious beliefs? One can only wonder.

Answer: "The Tempest"

"The Tempest" appeared within two years of the shipwreck, and is considered to be the last play written as a solo effort by the Bard. Aboard the "Sea Venture" was Sir Thomas Gates, newly-appointed governor of the Jamestown colony. The survivors of the shipwreck were stranded in Bermuda about nine months and eventually were able to leave the island by building two other ships, "Deliverance" and "Patience."

Answer: Richard II

The Black Prince is credited with two victories over the French in the Hundred Years' War, at Crecy and Poitiers. He was a co-founder of the Order of the Knights of the Garter and was the first knight to be so designated. He was the eldest son of Edward III and elder brother of John of Gaunt, whose eldest son was Henry Bolingbroke, who would succeed his cousin Richard as King Henry IV. Since the Black Prince had died before the ascension of his son to the throne, he does not appear in "Richard II," although both John of Gaunt and Henry Bolingbroke do.