My Beloved Traitor... Trivia Quiz

Answer: James I

Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators were ardent Catholics and opposed King James' policies that favored the Protestants. They planned to put Princess Elizabeth, a Catholic, to the throne. Their conspiracy was revealed when an anonymous letter reached William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle warning him to stay away from the Parliament. Monteagle gave the letter to King James, who ordered an investigation.

Answer: Ferdinand Esterhazy

Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was born on 16 December, 1847. He served in the French Foreign Legion. He was quick in climbing the ranks of the French Army, being commissioned as a major in 1892. The Dreyfus affair erupted in 1894 when a memorandum written by a French officer was discovered in the German Embassy in Paris. Dreyfus was suspected because we was a Jew and Alsatian.

In 1896, Lt. Col. Georges Picquart, chief of the French Intelligence Service, found that a letter had been sent to Esterhazy from a German official. Furthermore, a former mistress of Esterhazy revealed that he had hatred for France.

The evidence were given to Dreyfus' lawyers. Esterhazy was tried by a secret court martial, but was found not guilty. He retired from his rank in 1898 and fled to the UK, where he lived for the rest of his life, dying in 1923.

Answer: Michel Ney

Michel Ney was born on January 10, 1769. He saw action in several battles during the French Revolutionary Wars, including Valmy and Neerwinden. Napoleon made him a marshal in early 1804. Ney played a key role in battles such as Jena, Eylau and Friedland.

In August 1808, Ney was transferred to Spain, where he proved less successful, being defeated at Bacao and at the Torres Vedras before being removed from that theater. He served in many battles during Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 and commanded the rearguard during his retreat. Ney was wounded in the Battle of Leipzig in November 1813 and fought alongside Napoleon in the French Campaign of 1814. Convinced that the game was lost for Napoleon, he persuaded him to abdicate in April, 1814.

Afterwards, he swore allegiance to the Bourbons. Yet, when Napoleon returned from Elba in 1815, he again sided with his old patron. Ney's assault at Waterloo is today controversial, as are all of his actions in the Hundred Days. After Napoleon was defeated, Ney was convicted of treason and executed.

Answer: Executed by firing squad.

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssřn Quisling was born on July 18, 1887. His maternal grandfather was one of the richest men in southern Norway. He was an expert in the Russian military affairs and member of the General Staff of Norway from 1911. He served as a Minister of Defense in two governments, Peter Kolstad's and Jens Hundseid's throughout the early 1930s. Quisling supported Adolf Hitler's policies in regard to the extermination of Jews and socialists.

After the Nazi invasion and conquest of Norway, Quisling was appointed leader of the puppet government installed there.

He took part in the Final Solution. After the liberation of Norway by the Allies, Quisling was tried, found guilty of treason and was executed. His house is today a Holocaust museum.

Answer: Battles of Saratoga

Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1740. When the American Revolution began, Arnold at first enlisted in the Connecticut militia as a captain. He took part in many important battles in the American side, including the pivotal battles of Quebec and Saratoga. Yet, Arnold didn't believe that the Colonists had hopes of defeating Britain and from 1779 he started plotting his defection to the British Army. Unfortunately for him, his connection, John Andre, was captured by the Americans carrying documents that revealed Arnold's role in a conspiracy to give the position of West Point to the British. Arnold managed to escape to the British lines, where he was given a commission as a brigadier in the British Army.

After the end of the American Revolution, Arnold settled permanently in England, where he died on June 14, 1801.

Answer: Philippe Pétain

Pierre Laval was born on June 28, 1883. Early in his political career, he identified himself as a socialist and leftist. During World War One, Laval had pacifist beliefs and thought that if socialists in Europe were united in their opposition to the war, peace would have been achieved sooner.

He supported mutinies in the French Army. After the war, Laval's relationships with French socialists were strained and he withdrew from the socialist party. Laval's first appointment as a member of the French Government was as Minister of Public Works.

He rose rapidly in government ranks and was elected as the 101st Prime Minister of France in 1931. During World War Two, after France collapsed, Pétain included Laval to serve as a minister. Later, Pétain elevated Laval to the position of vice president of the council.

In 1942, he became the Prime Minister of the Vichy government, a position he kept until the liberation of France. After the defeat of the Nazis, Laval was tried, convicted of treason and executed by firing squad.

Answer: Utopia

Sir Thomas More was born on February 7, 1478. More was one of the most notable humanists of the Renaissance era. He was also an ardent Catholic, who opposed the Reformation and was involved in the persecution of Protestants in England. In 1529, King Henry VIII appointed him as Lord Chancellor.

Initially, More and the King cooperated to prevent the spread of the Reformation, adopting measures such as the banning of the Tyndale Bible. More was opposed to Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and tensions between them grew when Henry denied the Papal authority over him.

In 1532, Henry relieved More of his position. Subsequently, More refused to attend Anne Boleyn's coronation as Queen in 1533 and was accused of treason. In 1534, More's critics claimed that he conspired against the King, and Henry had him arrested.

More was executed in the following year.

Answer: Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, was born around 1485. He was a staunch supporter of the Reformation in England. In 1532, King Henry VIII appointed him as his Chief Minister. Cromwell declared Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon null and void and thus Henry was able to marry Anne Boleyn.

In 1536, Parliament, under the influence of Cromwell, passed the Act of Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries, which was the source of friction between him and Anne Boleyn. Meanwhile, with Anne's failure to give Henry a son and the fact that the King was enamored of Jane Seymour made the situation difficult for the Queen. Soon, Anne Boleyn was accused of having sexual relationships with Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, Francis Weston, William Bereton and her own brother, George Boleyn, and was executed. Cromwell's role in the Queen's overthrow has been hotly debated by historians.

After Anne Boleyn's death, Cromwell was more powerful than ever. After Jane Seymour's death, Henry was persuaded by Cromwell to marry Anne of Cleves.

But their marriage was never declared consummated and this was the beginning of Cromwell's downfall. Since Cromwell did not want Catherine Howard to become the Queen of England, he revealed to Anne of Cleves information on how to make herself attractive to the King. Enraged by Cromwell's behavior, Henry ordered him imprisoned. On July 28, 1540, Thomas Cromwell was executed for treason and heresy.

Answer: The Immortals

Since the Immortals had outflanked the Spartan position, King Leonidas let all the troops from allied Greek city-states to leave, keeping only the 300 Spartans under his direct command and 700 Thespians. The Spartans fought heroically until they were all killed.

Although it can be argued that Xerxes' army won the Battle of Thermopylae because his army advanced, yet the sacrifice of the Greeks bought precious time for the reorganization of the Greek forces that resulted in the defeat of the Persians in the Battle of Salamis, later in 480 BC.

Answer: God is praised

Judas is the Greek word for the common Hebrew name Judah, who was one of the Sons of Jacob. In English versions of the Holy Bible, the spelling was altered in order to distinguish him from other people with the same name. There are also many theories concerning the meaning of his surname, Iscariot, with one of them claiming that it means "the liar" or "the false one".