Hard A Bradshaw Guide Quiz / Test | Authors

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1. The first novel in Gillian Bradshaw's "Arthurian" trilogy tells the story of Gwalchmai, son of Morgause and Lot, rulers of Orkney. The title of the novel is a translation of the name Gwalchmai, better known as Gawain. So, what is the title of this novel?

Answer: Hawk of May

Gwalchmai is not warrior material as a child and almost embraces the dark forces of his mother's religion in despair. He rescues himself when he awakens to the inhumanity of his evil mother and calls upon Lugh of the Long hand, representative of the Light.

He is carried by boat to the island of the Blessed, given a sword and an otherworldly horse and transported to the mainland Britain of Arthur Pendragon. He joins his brother in Arthur's service but finds it hard to gain Arthur's trust, due to his likeness to his evil mother, whom Arthur has good reason to mistrust.

This tremendously exciting book charts Gwalchmai's emotional journey from despised son to acclaimed knight.

2. The second book in Gillian Bradshaw's "Arthurian" Trilogy, "The Kingdom of Summer", takes place nine years after the first episode. Gwalchmai is on a quest to find Elidan, daughter of King Caw, whom he has wronged terribly. Gwalchmai's half-brother Medraut has embraced Darkness and plots against the peace of Camlann. What is the more commonly known name for Medraut, the nephew-son of Arthur?

Answer: Mordred

Merlin or Myrdden are the names of the magician in Arthurian legend, but not included in this trilogy. Morgan Le Fay is Morgause's and Arthur's sister.
The story of "The Kingdom of Summer" is told through the eyes of Gwalchmai's servant Rhys ap Sion. Gwalchmai finds Elidan, where she is Abbess of a convent, but is not reconciled with her and never learns that he has a son, Gwyn. In this story we feel the massing of the evil forces, which will breed disharmony in the shadows, and put an end to "The Kingdom of Summer" in the final episode, "In Winter's Shadow".

3. In the third book of Gillian Bradshaw's "Arthurian" Trilogy, "In Winter's Shadow", Gwyn, Gwalchmai's son, travels to Camlann, in ignorance of his parentage, to try to become a knight. He becomes secretary to the Queen. Who is Arthur's Queen who narrates this story of her betrayal of Arthur and his dream in this dark conclusion?

Answer: Guinevere

All the other women appear in Arthurian legends. Elaine was the lover of Lancelot and mother of Galahad, Linette and Leonesse were sisters courted by Gareth, a brother of Gawain not included in this trilogy.
The story continues: When Gwalchmai and Gwyn are re-united, it is a short happy period for Gwalchmai. This book examines the gathering darkness of the empire infected with Medraut's lies and the adultery of the two people Arthur most loved and trusted.

4. The heroine of this exciting novel by Gillian Bradshaw, "The Beacon at Alexandria", Charis, flees a hated arranged marriage to go to 4th century Alexandria where she learns medicine. She is very successful and, disguised as a eunuch, practises as an Army doctor. Who is the founder of the form of medicine that she would learn at this time?

Answer: Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460 BC- 380 BC) was a Greek physician, commonly called the father of medicine.
Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (131-201 AD), better known as Galen, was another ancient Greek physician and a follower of Hippocrates. His views dominated European medicine for a thousand years.
Avicenna, or, in Persian Ibn Sina (980 - 1037), was a Persian physician and scientist. He is considered by many to be "the father of modern medicine".
Rhazes or Abu Bakr al-Razi (born in Rayy, Iran ca. 864; died in Baghdad, Iraq, 930 AD) was a Persian philosopher, who contributed to the fields of medicine, chemistry and philosophy.
In this novel, Charis succeeds in maintaining her disguise until she is captured by the Goths, during their uprising against the Romans. Gillian Bradshaw has re-created the political and intellectual climate of the 4th century A.D. and its attitudes towards woman and medicine.

5. Gillian Bradshaw's "Render unto Caesar" is the story of Hermogenes of Alexandria, Egypt. Though Greek in descent, Hermogenes is a rich businessman and a Roman citizen, who travels to the capital in 16 BC in order to reclaim a debt inherited from his dead uncle. From the derivation of his Greek name would you expect him to succeed?

Answer: Yes

Yes, his name means 'Son of Hermes'. Hermes was the god of good luck, wealth, and clever negotiations. Though you might argue, like the Hermogenes of Plato's dialogue, when upbraided by Cratylus that he being poor and unsuccessful was wrongly named, that names are merely arbitrary. In the novel, though the debtor is a powerful Roman consul, Hermogenes is determined to collect.

He deploys his resources - "one fat timid businessman, one frightened slave, and one untried barbarian hireling" - against a trio of the rich and powerful, friends of the Emperor Augustus.

He ultimately has to bait a trap for two of them to engineer his success. There's a thrilling denouement and a historical background that's so real you could step into it, fleas and all.

6. In Gillian Bradshaw's "Cleopatra's Heir", we follow the fate of Cleopatra's son, Caesarion, as he learns to adapt to a less privileged existence as a fugitive in his own country, after the defeat of Anthony and Cleopatra by the Roman forces. Arion, as he now calls himself, has also to cope with epilepsy, inherited from his father. Who historically was reputed to be Caesarion's father?

Answer: Julius Caesar

Caesarion, left for dead on his funeral pyre after a fit, comes to in time and manages to get away. However, he is badly wounded, and, near death, is found by a benevolent Egyptian caravan master. Ani, son of Petosuchos from Coptos, is the aspiring merchant, who with the assistance of Arion's worldly Alexandrian subtlety, succeeds in all he wishes, but not without superb adventures along the way.

7. Gillian Bradshaw's "The Sand Reckoner" is the story of Archimedes, one of the most brilliant mathematicians and inventors of all time. This book tells the story of the young Archimedes, obsessed with ideas. He comes back to his home in Syracuse and engineers machines of war, which defend the city against the might of Rome. Like many mathematicians Archimedes was also musical. In this story he is an accomplished aulete (player of the aulos). What was an aulos?

Answer: double flute

As stated in "The Aulos and Drama" by Philip Neuman, "The combination of double reed and cylindrical bore of the aulos is also found in its descendants the doucaine (appearing in the 13th century), the crumhorn (15th century), and the sordun and rackett (16th century), but did not survive in any of the modern orchestral woodwinds."
Archimedes was fortunate to live in the city of a wise king, Hieron. Hieron works out how to motivate Archimedes to stay in Syracuse, building for them, rather than going back to his fellow scholars at the great library of Alexandria.
When Syracuse was eventually defeated after the action of this novel, Archimedes didn't notice until a Roman messed up his notes. Archimedes shouted at the man to leave his circles alone, and was killed.

8. Gillian Bradshaw's "The Wolf Hunt" is a believable romance about a werewolf. In a note at the end, the author tells us that she took the story from "The Lay of the Werewolf", by Marie de France, written in the 12th century. What is the name for the process of changing from man to werewolf called?

Answer: Lycanthropy

Other answers were lycopersicon (the tomato genus), Lupercalia (Roman feast of Pan or Lupercus, one who wards off the wolf), Lycopodium (clubmoss genus, wolf's foot).

The hero of the tale is a Breton huntsman called Tiarnan. A fair lord to his serfs, and a crusader for the environment, he has just one flaw to his upright character: he likes to go into the forest at night, take off his clothes and change into a wolf. But his addiction has dire consequences when his scheming new bride and her ambitious former suitor discover Tiarnan's secret.

9. Gillian Bradshaw's "Island of Ghosts" examines the Roman legions in Britain, their internal make-up and the relationship between the Legions and the Britons. Written from the perspective of a Sarmatian prince in a Roman legion, Lord Ariantes, all things Roman and British are outlandish. But where or what is Sarmatia?

Answer: All of these

The Sarmatians, who until about 200 B.C. lived east of the Don, spoke an Indo-Iranian language and were a nomadic pastoral people related to the Scythians, whom they displaced in the Don region. They then settled between the Vistula and the Caspian before being driven out by the Huns.

They came into conflict with the Romans but later allied themselves with Rome, acting as buffers against the Germans.

10. The main character in Gillian Bradshaw's "The Bearkeeper's Daughter" is John, illegitimate son of the Byzantine Empress Theodora. Gillian Bradshaw bases his figure on the writings of the historian Procopius, whose Secret History contains material about the Emperor Justinian and his time. According to Procopius, John was ordered killed by the empress, but this fictional account leaves him alive and successful at the end of the novel. Who was "The Bearkeeper's Daughter"?

Answer: Theodora herself

Theodora was in her youth a courtesan and circus performer. She was raised to Empress through the adoration of Justinian, who married her. Different levels of command in the complicated structure of the Byzantine empire are illustrated by characters in this novel.

The emperor Justinian is the originator of one of the world's most important documents on law and justice. The military leader Belisarius is a brilliant strategist, as well as a married man with ordinary concerns. Artabanes is an ambitious Armenian politician whose daring schemes sometimes backfire.

The most individual of these characters is the chamberlain, Narses. This quiet man is a eunuch, but his stature at court raises him above that usually lowly position. He is skilled in politics, finances, and diplomacy, and proves a genuine friend to John, whom he hires as his personal secretary.

Source: Author jeremyb

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A Bradshaw Guide Trivia Quiz

Gillian Bradshaw writes some of the best historical fiction. Here is a quiz introducing some of her novels. You don't need to have read the novels to answer this quiz.

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