British Royalty Part II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Henry II

Henry II's mother Empress Matilda escaped England for Normandy in November 1141. Twelve years later Henry invaded England and secured his right to the succession by means of the Treaty of Wallingford. This treaty secured the throne for Stephen during his lifetime but assured that Henry would be declared king on his death, rather than Stephen's son.

Answer: Eight

They had eight children; William, Count of Poitiers; Henry the Young King; Matilda, Duchess of Saxony; Richard I of England; Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany; Leonora, Queen of Castile; Joan, Queen of Sicily; and John of England.

Answer: Magna Carta

He met the barons at Runnymede on June 15, 1215 to seal the Great Charter or "Magna Carta" in Latin. The charter demanded that the king of England be bound by the rule of law and enshrined certain rights and protections for the people of England.

Strictly speaking, he affixed his seal to it and did not sign it. However, it is customary to talk about King John signing Magna Carta.

Answer: Lionheart

He was known as Coeur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart, even before his accession, because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. He had led a failed coup against his father Henry II along with his brothers.

Answer: Westminster Abbey

Henry was laid, temporarily, in the tomb of Edward the Confessor while his own sarcophagus was constructed in Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Eleanor of Castile

Edward married first wife Eleanor of Castile on November 1, 1254, in Castile. They would go on to have at least fifteen (possibly sixteen) children, and her death in 1290 affected Edward deeply, for he truly loved her. He erected the 12 Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night.

Some of the crosses, such as the Waltham cross, have survived into the 21st century.

Answer: Marguerite of France

His second marriage (at the age of 60) at Canterbury to Marguerite of France, aged 17, produced three children.

Edward had initially courted the hand of Margaret's sister Blanche and a marriage was agreed to. A condition of the marriage was that peace should be agreed between England and France. However, Blanche was already engaged and when Edward discovered this he declared war on France. Only after five years of fighting was a truce agreed, part of which was the agreement that Edward and Margaret should marry.

Answer: 1327

The ex-king was believed to be killed in Gloucestershire where on October 11, 1327 he was murdered, supposedly on the orders of his wife Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. There were rumors that he lived until 1330 or even 1341, despite Mortimer having been executed for the murder of Edward II in 1330, but no concrete evidence has been found to support either supposition.

Answer: Edward

Edward III's son and heir Edward, Prince of Wales, was also known as The Black Prince due to his armor being black. He married Joan of Kent and they had two sons Edward (who died young) and Richard. A few years after the Black Prince returned to England in 1371 he died of an unknown and painful illness.

Answer: 22 years, 10 months, 3 days

On 31 October, 1396, when Isabella was six, she married the widower King Richard II of England, in a move for peace with France. Richard was 29 when he and Isabella were married. The age gap just shy of 23 years!