"Bloody" Queen Mary Tudor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lady Margaret Salisbury

Margaret Salisbury had a particularly bloody execution - both she and the executioner panicked and she ended up being hacked to death.

Jane Rochford was the wife of Anne Boleyn's brother, a scheming woman largely responsible for the most damning evidence against both her husband and Anne. Lady Margaret Shelton was a cousin of Anne Boleyn's, and she was rumored to be a mistress of Henry VIII's, though recent evidence has shown that it was her sister in bed with the king. Katherine 'Kat' Ashley was a beloved Tudor governess, it is true, but she was Elizabeth's governess and thusly hated by Mary.

Answer: John Dudley

John Dudley became King Edward's regent and persuaded him to change the succession to Lady Jane Grey in an illegal action. He then married his son (Guildford) to Jane and hoped to be the power behind the British throne. Unfortunately for him, neither Jane nor the English people felt like cooperating.

Robert Dudley was the name of John's other son; he is thought to be the lover of Elizabeth I. Edward Dudley is not real, that I am aware of. Or, at least, I made him up.

Answer: Truth is the daughter of time

It makes sense if you know that 'filia' means daughter. It is rather interesting that her motto is 'Truth is the daughter of time,' because she was largely reviled after her death; it is only recently that historians are seeing her good points, and not just her religious fanaticism.

Answer: Juan of Aragon

Mary's maternal grandparents were Ferdinand or Fernando of Aragon, not Juan, as well as Isabel or Isabella of Castille. Both fervent Catholics, it is not difficult to see where she got her religious fanaticism from. Her paternal grandparents were Henry VII, regarded to be a miserly king, and Elizabeth of York, a famed beauty.

Answer: Convert to Catholicism

Jane was a strong Protestant and refused to comply with Mary's condition. She was therefore beheaded, and revered as almost a martyr in the Protestant community.

Answer: War with France

Philip was never popular in England; 'his' French war only made things worse.

Answer: Publicly testify that the Pope was the devil

Mary was forced to be a maid to Elizabeth by Anne Boleyn. Henry was the one who insisted that she declare her illegitimacy, and he was the one who stripped her of the title 'Princess', though, to be fair, at the urging of Anne. She had to acknowledge that her father was the head of the church, but did not have to make public testimony to the falseness of her true religion.

Answer: William, Prince of Orange

William of Orange was the husband of the second Queen Mary of England, who overthrew her Catholic father.

Mary Tudor was engaged to Francis, Dauphin of France, when she was two, and Charles when she was about six years old. Interestingly enough, she ended up marrying his son, Philip II. Edward Courtenay was a popular choice for her domestically, because he was English, but his lack of Catholicism was a sticking point for Mary, and she refused the match.

Answer: 2

Mary's court got all ready for royal babies two times; she even went into seclusion in the birthing chamber. However, no baby ever was produced, even after twelve-month pregnancies, and the court just moved on, awkwardly avoiding any mention of the infants that never were.

Answer: Cardinal Reginald Pole

Reginald Pole was the son of Lady Salisbury, Mary's governess, and at one point a candidate for marriage with the queen. However, after her mother's persecution, he fled to Rome and became a cardinal. Upon his return, he became one of Mary's closest advisors.

Thomas Wolsey was perhaps the most influential man in the early court of Henry VIII; Thomas Cramner and John Foxe were both Protestant bishops that Mary had burned for heresy.

Answer: Jane Dormer

Jane Dormer was the woman Mary entrusted with the task of visiting Elizabeth to tell her of her accession and was perhaps her dearest friend.

Amy Robsart was the wife of Robert Dudley; Margaret Bryan was the first governess to both Elizabeth and Edward; and Hannah Verde was a character in a Philippa Gregory book entitled 'The Queen's Fool,' which was set largely during the reign of Mary.

Answer: 1558

Mary died after a five-year reign, the third in a series of Tudor monarchs (Edward, Jane Grey, and Mary) who had a very short reign. This was a vast contrast to her sister's rule, which lasted over forty years. Her closest advisor, Reginald Pole, died only a few hours after she did.

Answer: Mary, Queen of Scots

All of these monarchs were at some point Catholic; Mary of Scots was her first choice. Cousins, the pair shared an extremely strong conviction in their faith and were both persecuted for it. Mary of Scotland was eventually overthrown, largely for her Catholic faith.

Philip was Mary's husband; Henry was Mary of Scots father-in-law; and Christina of Sweden came a little bit later. She was an interesting figure - she was technically 'king' of Sweden. She later abdicated in order to convert to Catholicism, something not permitted of the leader of Sweden.

Answer: Calais

Calais was captured by the French during the ill-fated war. The city was the last English stronghold on the Continent, and its loss only added to the unpopularity of the war. Ireland had been granted independence during Henry VIII's reign, but the Catholic monarchs did not recognize this autonomy, and Mary was called Queen of Ireland as well as of England.

Answer: Thomas Wyatt, Sr

Thomas Wyatt, Sr, was a court poet who courted Elizabeth's mother, Lady Anne Boleyn. Wyatt Jr was typically thought to be a merely average poet, but he was besotted with Elizabeth's cause.

Answer: Mark Smeaton

All of these men were executed for adultery with the queen; an act of treason. However, history tends to regard these charges as trumped up and merely an excuse to get rid of her. Mary asserted that Mark Smeaton was Elizabeth's father, a double insult, because he was only a low-born lute player.

Answer: False

While Philip was given the title of king, Mary knew that the English people would never accept a Spaniard as their head of state. While there were coins printed with his visage, his powers were really quite limited, and they were NOT joint sovereigns, a la William and Mary over 100 years later.

Answer: False

Catholics at this time tended to dress much more sumptuously than their stern Protestant counterparts. Mary got very irritated with Elizabeth; the latter's simple, sober dress not only flaunted her Protestant faith, it also looked beautiful on her young, slender body.

Answer: Charles abdicated

Charles abdicated in 1556, and so Philip acceded to the Spanish throne. After Mary's death, Philip began courting Elizabeth in hopes of retaining his title of King of England, but, of course, he was rebuffed. While he continued to support English policies for a number of years, after Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed on the orders of Elizabeth, he attacked with the Spanish Armada and was soundly defeated.

Answer: Elizabeth, her sister

While Mary indicated in her will that she wanted to be buried next to her mother, this request was denied and she rests next to Elizabeth. Their epitaph reads, "Consorts in realm and in tomb, here we sleep, Elizabeth and Mary, sisters, in hope of resurrection".