Who's that Lady? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was only nineteen at the time of her death.

Despite her immortalization in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, the incident of Barbara Fritchie's waving a Union flag in front of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson of the Confederacy probably never happened. Deborah Sampson managed to conceal her sex and served (and was wounded--she treated it herself) during the American Revolution. Brunhilde is a mythical character, one of the Valkyries of Norse legend, who were said to escort the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla.

Answer: Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Her two royal husbands were Louis VII of France and Henry II of England.

Catherine of Braganza was the Portuguese princess who married Charles II of England; the cities of Tangiers and Bombay were a portion of her dowry. Maria Teresa was Empress of Austria; one of her daughters was the unlucky French queen known as Marie Antoinette. Anne of Bohemia was the first wife of Richard II of England, grandson of Edward III and son of the Black Prince, also named Edward. The marriage produced no heirs.

Answer: Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette had a terrible reputation, largely undeserved.

Catherine of Aragon's mother was the famous Isabella of Castile, who also underwrote Columbus' first voyage to the New World. Mary, Queen of Scots, was Queen of France for a short period during her marriage to King Francis II (who died of an ear infection). Mary II was invited to take the English throne (along with her husband, William III) following the overthrow of her father, James II.

Answer: Katharine von Bora

Katharine von Bora left her convent and married Martin Luther, the reformer and a former monk.

Catherine of Siena was pronounced a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, along with Teresa of Avila, the first two women so recognized. Katherine Parr was the final wife of Henry VIII, and managed to keep her head firmly attached to the rest of her body despite her Protestant leanings. Katharine Hepburn won the Academy Award for Best Actress four times, in 1933 for "Morning Glory," in 1968 for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," in 1969 for "The Lion in Winter," and in 1981 for "On Golden Pond." She was also nominated for Best Actress another eight times.

Answer: Anne Hutchinson

Along with her husband and children, Anne Hutchinson was part of a group of Puritans who followed the minister John Cotton to New England.

Anne Bradstreet was the first American woman to have a book published; it was a volume of poetry entitled "The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America." Not bad for a wife and mother of eight in the seventeenth century!

Mary Dyer was a friend of Anne Hutchinson who embraced the Quaker faith and returned to the Bay Colony; she was expelled and warned to not come back on pain of death. She did and achieved martyrdom by being hanged.

Anne of Austria figures prominently in the novel "The Three Musketeers". She was a French queen, the mother of Louis XIV.

Answer: Letitia Penn

Letitia Penn was the daughter of William Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania (and parts of New Jersey as well!). Elizabeth Callowhill was William Penn's second wife. Betsy Ross, according to legend, designed and made the first American flag.

Temperance Wyck made a 40-mile ride one winter's night to warn the New Jersey militia of a British advance. Unlike her more famous male counterpart, Paul Revere, she was NOT captured and finished her ride.

Answer: Sarah and Angelina Grimke

Sarah and Angelina grew up in South Carolina; their father was a slaveholder and they probably saw a lot of the abuses inherent in the slave system at first hand.

Charlotte and Emily Bronte were, along with their sister Anne, famous for their novels in nineteenth-century England.

Anne and Mary Boleyn were both involved with Henry VIII, Mary as his mistress and Anne as his second wife.

Louisa and May (yes, you read correctly) were two of the daughters of Bronson Alcott, one of the members of the New England Trancendentalist movement. Louisa is best known for her novels, particularly those chronicling the March family, and her younger sister May (who was an artist) was the prototype for Amy March.

Answer: Lady Bird Johnson

Lady Bird Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor, but in her childhood a nurse gave her the nickname "Lady Bird" because, in the nurse's opinion, she was "as pretty as lady bird." While her husband was in office in the 1960's, she urged highway cleanups, flower planting, and eliminating billboards.

Dolley Madison was not merely a legendary hostess, but left her personal possessions as she fled the White House in the War of 1812 in order to save the papers of her husband, James Madison, and to rescue a prtrait of George Washington.

Following Woodrow Wilson's stroke while in office, Edith Wilson became the closest thing the U.S. has ever had to a woman president! She fiercely guarded her husband during his convalescence; I don't think anyone will ever know the full extent of her involvement in government mattters during this time.

Lucy Hayes was an ardent Prohibitionist. While her husband, Rutherford Hays, was in office, no alcohol was served at White House functions and she became known as "Lemonade Lucy."

Answer: Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Mother Teresa devoted her life to caring for the poorest of the poor--I once heard a fundamentalist minister give her the accolade, "I can argue with her theology but I can't argue with her lifestyle."

Mary Dyer was a Puritan who became a Quaker and tried to spread her adopted faith's message of peace in Massachusetts. She was thrown out of the colony with orders to not come back on pain of death. She did so anyway and ended her life at the end of a hangman's rope.

St Cecilia is the patron saint of music. Anne Hutchinson's initial gatherings of women in her home for the purpose of discussing the previous Sunday's sermons was, at first, felt to be completely harmless and in keeping with the scripture that enjoins older women to teach younger women.

Answer: Agnes Sorel

Agnes Sorel was the mistress of Charles VII of France, the same Dauphin who didn't do a thing for Joan of Arc after her capture.

Louise de Keroualle is widely considered to have been planted in Charles' bed by his cousin, Louis XIV of France. Nell Gwyn is probably the best-known (and popular, at least among Londoners)of Charles' mistresses, especially for her lack of pretension. Not as well-known as Nell Gwyn, Moll Davis was also originally an entertainer, noted for her singing.