Who Art Thou? Medieval Personalities Quiz

Answer: Regiomontanus

Born Johann Muller, Regiomontanus took his name from the Latinized form of his home town, Konigsberg, 'King's Mountain.' In 1461 he completed the re-translation begun by Peuerbach of Ptolemy's 'Almagest' from Arabic to Latin. This improved translation sparked new interest in mathematics and ultimately led to Ptolemy's successful refutation by Copernicus.In English this book was translated as Five Books on Triangles of All Kinds, published posthumously in 1533.

Answer: Henry II

He was also known as Henry of Anjou, Henry Fitzempress,Henry Curtmantle (Shortmantle) and Henry Plantagenet. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine increased his holdings and would produce eight children, two of whom (Richard and John) would become kings of England.

His chancellor and friend, Becket, was persuaded to become archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, in the hope that he would help the king curb the power of the ecclesiastical courts. However,once consecrated, Becket felt bound to defend church privileges, and he was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 by four knights of the king's household.

Answer: Girolamo Savonarola

He preached prophetic speeches,made enemies of Pope Alexander VI and the Duke of Milan. Savonarola was viciously persecuted, tried, tortured, and sentenced to death by papal commissioners on apparently fabricated evidence. He was killed on 23 May 1498.

Answer: Albrecht Durer

Generally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern European Renaissance, Durer was a painter, printmaker, and author of theoretical treatises on art. He was influenced by both Gothic art and the Italian Renaissance, and his own prolific work had a significant influence on artists of his age. Highly skilled in drawing and a keen student of nature, he perfected the technique of woodcut and engraving, producing woodcut series such as the Apocalypse 1498 and copperplate engravings such as The Knight, Death,and the Devil 1513 and Melancholia 1514.

Answer: Ibn Khaldun

Generally considered the greatest Arab historian and the father of Sociology and the sciences of History, Ibn Khaldun developed one of the earliest nonreligious philosophies of history in his masterwork, the 'Muqaddimah'.

Answer: Erik Bloodaxe

He killed seven of his eight half-brothers who had rebelled against him, hence his nickname. He was deposed by his youngest half-brother Haakon 947 and fled to England, where he became ruler of the Norse kingdom of Northumbria in 948. He was expelled 954 and killed in battle at Stainmore, Yorkshire (now in Cumbria).

Answer: Conradin

Son of Conrad IV, recognized as king of the Germans, Sicily, and Jerusalem by German supporters of the Hohenstaufens 1254. This battle was fought in 1266 where he was captured and executed. He was popularly known as Conrad V.

Answer: Louis VII

King of France of 1137 who annulled his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, whereupon Eleanor married Henry of Anjou, later Henry II of England. Louis was involved in a bitter struggle with Henry 1152-74.

Answer: Roger II

King of Sicily from 1130, the second son of Count Roger I of Sicily (1031-1101). He used his navy to conquer Malta and territories in north Africa, and to harrass Byzantine possessions in the eastern Mediterranean. His Palermo court was a cultural centre where Latin, Greek, and Arab scholars mixed freely.

Answer: Ivan III the Great

Grand duke of Muscovy from 1462. He claimed the title of tsar and adopted the double-headed eagle as the Russian state emblem.