The History of Barcelona Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jason

The legend goes that Hercules joined Jason and the Argonauts on their quest to find the Golden Fleece. When one of their ships vanished - the ninth ship - they set out to locate it. Hercules and Jason were washed ashore and in the most beautiful area they founded a city and named it Barca Nona, which means Ninth Ship. By 14 AD during Roman rule, Barcelona was known as Barcino.

Answer: Wine

The land in and around Barcino was extremely fertile and perfect for growing wine. Even today, Spain is a leader in wine production. Because Barcino's wine was in demand all over the Roman Empire, the people living there at the time were extremely wealthy. Archeological evidence shows that even though relatively few people lived there (only a couple of thousand) Barcino's buildings and art were luxurious. Barcino, however, did not have major public buildings or entertainment like in Rome.

Answer: Saint Eulalia

Saint Eulalia was only 13 years old when Diocletian, the Roman emperor, ordered all Christians to be tortured and executed if they did not recant their faith. Eulalia was put into a barrel which was the stabbed with knives and rolled down the street. She was also crucified on an X-cross and decapitated after her death. It is said that after she was beheaded, a dove flew out of her neck. During the Moorish invasion of Spain during the 8th century, Christians hid her remains for over one hundred years. Her final resting place is the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia which was completed in the 4th century.

It is supposed that Saint Eulalia of Merida and Saint Eulalia of Barcelona are the same saint as both had similar stories and lived at about the same time. However, there is no definitive proof.

Answer: Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious was the son of Charlemagne. He became co-emperor in 813 and King of the Franks in 814. Under Moorish rule, religious freedom was respected, even though the Moors converted had many Christian and Jewish places of worship into mosques. This was in stark contrast before the Moorish invasion when Jews were highly discriminated against and many Jewish practices were abolished. Under Louis the Pious, the Franks conquered other regions of what we now know as Spain.

Historians give Louis the Pious mixed reviews as a ruler.

He was a competent ruler and soldier but seemed to be more concerned with building kingdoms for his sons.

Answer: Aragon

Petronilla was the future Queen of Aragon when she married Ramon Berenguer IV. Starting in the ninth century, rich counts became extremely powerful in Barcelona as they were able to centralize power amongst themselves and away from Carolingian kings. Alfonso II, son of Petronilla and the count, centralized the political power of Barcelona when he became King of Aragon in 1162, while simultaneously serving as a count. Aragon was united with its ally Castile with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469.

Answer: Catalan Revolt

The Catalan Revolt began in 1640 during the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659.) Catalans were unhappy because they were forced to quarter Castilian troops against France. France was briefly able to take partial control of Barcelona in 1642 but Spain reclaimed it in 1652 in large part because Spain crushed the French-backed rebellion of the city during the Siege of Barcelona.

The Franco-Spanish War stemmed from the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) as Spain was against French involvement in that war.

Answer: The Habsburgs

Upon the death of Charles II, a Habsburg, Spain went to Philip V of Anjou who aligned himself and Spain with France. Fear spread across Europe that France and Spain would unite into one kingdom as Philip V could potentially become king of both Spain and France.

The other European powers aligned themselves against France and Spain. Barcelona sided with the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire and their allies because Barcelona had thrived under Habsburg influence. Spain, however, was successful and Barcelona lost crucial economic benefits to Madrid, which had been gaining in power since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella centuries previous.

Answer: Antonio Gaudi

Gaudi worked on the cathedral from 1882 until he died in 1926. After his death, a series of unfortunate events prevented the cathedral from completion. The Spanish Civil War is probably the most notable, but also a lack of funding contributed to the problem. Even though it is not complete, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the building as a minor basilica in 2010.

Answer: Manufacturing

Barcelona had a history for being the hub of manufacturing in Spain since that country's industrial revolution in the 19th century. Even though Barcelona and Catalonia had a history of opposing Franco and he resented the region because it, manufacturing industry still prospered despite the various conflicts Spain was involved in at the time.

Other regions of Spain saw mass exoduses as their economy suffered greatly even in places Franco favored.

Answer: Unified Team

The Soviet Union had disbanded in 1991 but those new nations had not set up their own Olympic committees so they competed under a Unified Team. Unified Team went on to win 112 medals at the Games, finishing first in total medals.

The Olympics saw a boom in tourism for Barcelona. Unlike other Olympic host cities who went way over budget, the financial impact on Barcelona was positive as the city sought to redeem itself after the rule of Franco ended in 1975.