Dates of Accession Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1558

Elizabeth I was one of Engand's greatest monarchs. Many people tried to persuade her to take a husband but she always declared she was already 'married to England'. However, it meant that the House of Tudor died with her.

Answer: 1509

Probably the most notorious English king of all! Known for marrying six times and being ruthless. Following his break with Rome he seized the monasteries and other religious houses in England and in most cases sold them off.

Answer: 1603

An interesting king, who was James VI of Scotland when he ascended the throne of England. He was the leading intended target of the Gunpowder Plot (1605). He commissioned the translation of the Bible known in the U.S. as the 'King James Version' or 'KJV' and in Britain as the 'Authorized Version'.

He was learned but also said to be pedantic; his relationship with the House of Commons was often very strained and he was nicknamed 'the wiseset fool in Christendom'. It is rumoured that he was a homsexual.

Answer: 1154

Probably best known for the words "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest", the murder of Thomas Becket is one of the main reasons we remember Henry today. Marriage to France's Eleanor of Aquitaine, he produced two other kings of England among their eight children, Richard I and John.

Henry II is also noted for his extensive reforms of the legal system. He established the practice of sending judges round the country on a regular basis to hold trials (assizes) in major towns and cities.

Answer: 1625

The only King of England to be executed (after a trial - of sorts), Charles I was beheaded at the end of January 1649. The English Civil War was fought during his reign between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers, which led to an 11 year break from the monarchy.

Answer: 1702

Queen Anne was a tragic figure. She had seventeen pregnancies, most ending in miscarriage or stillborn births. Her one son to survive infancy, Prince William, died aged 11 which left the House of Stuart without a lawful heir to the throne.

Answer: 1087

The son of William the Conqueror, William II (or William Rufus), was killed in the New Forest in 1100 whilst on a hunting expedition. There has been much speculation as to whether he was murdered and Sir Walter Tyrell has often been suggested as the possible assassin.

Answer: 1910

George V was responsible for changing the name of the royal dynasty from the German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the eminently English Windsor. The First World War resulted in a wave of anti-German hysteria and the royal family was keen to play down its German links. (Many other people in Britain with German names also changed their names).

Answer: 1553

Mary I, also known as Mary Tudor, gained the nickname Bloody Mary for her ruthless treatment of Protestants. She was a zealous Roman Catholic, and in her short reign over 300 men and woman were burnt at the stake as heretics. In her reign England lost Calais to France.

Answer: 1327

A warrior king, strong, powerful and effectual, Edward initiated the Hundred Years' War when he claimed the throne of France. The son of the weak Edward II, he was the complete opposite of his father, who never liked fighting.

Edward III is also noted for founding the Order of the Garter.