The History of Madrid Trivia Quiz

Answer: Strawberry trees

The strawberry tree appears on Madrid's coat of arms, supporting a bear. Other possible origins of the name Madrid include "Magerit," a fortress on the river Manzanares and whose name means "place of abundant waters." It may also come from the Arabic "al-Majirit," which means "water source."

The city, at one point, may also have been called Ursaria, which means "land of the bears" and would explain the bear on the coat of arms.

Answer: King Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile

The Moors had built a castle in Madrid where the Spanish Royal Palace now stands. Later the Moors strengthened their hold by building a citadel around the castle. King Alfonso VI sought to banish the Moors from Toledo, near Madrid. On the way. Alfonso was forced to travel through Madrid. He defeated the Moors and turned their mosques into churches.

Answer: Castile and Aragon

Most scholars trace Spain's unification back to their marriage, but others claim that Spain was essentially still two kingdoms at this time. The houses operated somewhat independently until 1714. Together, Ferdinand and Isabella were among the most powerful and successful monarchs in history.

They led the Reconquista and banished the Moors from Spain, promoted Catholicism and funded Christopher Columbus' voyages to the New World, which led to Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Answer: Don Quixote

Cervantes' "Don Quixote Part One" was published on January 16, 1605 with the full novel published in 1613. Although the book was published in Madrid, the original editions were sent to the Americas for monetary purposes and because of this the book was so popular in Spain that it was being pirated and not selling well. Most of the original "Don Quixote" books were lost in a shipwreck while many of the surviving ones, if not all of them, are no longer in existence.

Answer: Philip V

Philip V was the first Spanish king to come from the French Bourbon house. His predecessor, Charles II, left the entire Spanish Empire to him. This was not received well in other places in Europe as the Bourbons now controlled all of Spain and France plus their overseas territories. Philip V and Louis XIV of France rejected any plan to partition Spain and the War of Spanish Succession broke out. It ended with the Spanish Netherlands, Naples and other territories being seceded from Spain to the Habsburgs in Austria.

Philip V later abdicated the throne in favor of his son Louis I, but retook it when his Louis died. It was during his second reign that he began building palaces around Madrid including the Royal Palace, still in use today.

Answer: Treaty of Fontainebleau

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was designed to allow France to enter Spain so the two powers could invade Portugal, a strong ally of Britain which had been violating international blockades. However, the French used the treaty to enter Spain via Catalonia, which they were not supposed to do, and occupied many Spanish cities along the way, including Madrid.

The Dos de Mayo Uprising occurred when Spanish citizens tried to prevent forced exile of the Infante Francisco de Paula and his daughter to the French city of Bayonne under the orders of Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law. The French opened fire on the crowd killing hundreds. Another 100 or so protestors were captured and later executed.

Answer: El Prado

El Prado was conceived by King Charles III and designed by Juan de Villanueva. It was intended to house the Royal Cabinet; however, Queen Isabel Maria believed it would be better as an art museum for the public. Las Meninas, Velazquez's most famous painting, is the most visited piece of art in the museum.

Other famous works of art include The Fall of Man by Titan, David and Goliath by Caravaggio and The Judgment of Paris by Peter Paul Rubens.

Answer: False

The pandemic is widely believed to have originated in France. It is called Spanish Flu because when the outbreak began towards the end of World War I it was only the Spanish press that reported it. Most nations had censorship on the press at the time to aid the war effort.

It was believed that morale would falter if word of the disease became public. Spain, however, had no such restrictions and the pandemic was widely reported there, giving the erroneous impression that Spain was worse affected than other countries.

The then-King Alfonso XIII went down with the disease, which also helped contribute to the name Spanish Flu.

Answer: Francisco Franco

Franco unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Republican government in 1936 and his actions began the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish government remained in control of most of Spain in 1936, but Franco and his allies, which included Nazi Germany, managed to gain territory. Franco's power steadily increased as more and more places fell to him. Madrid was among the last cities to fall and had successfully repelled him continuously for three years until 1939 when Franco gained control, essentially ending the war.

Answer: A general election

The aftermath of the train bombings was chaotic and marked by political strife. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the Partido Popular, Spain's largest political parties, accused each other of mishandling the situation in what was described as a last minute attempt to gain votes and smear the other side.

In total, 191 people were killed and over 2,000 injured. Jamal Zougam was believed to be the main perpetrator and was sentenced to at least 45,000 years in prison. Five other people were convicted including the mineworkers who sold the explosives.