England's Royal Consorts, 868-1837 Quiz

Answer: Elswitha

Elswitha of the Gaini and Alfred were married in 868 or 869. She outlived him by three years, dying in 905. The name Elgifu was shared by the first queen of Edmund the Elder, and the wife of Edwy the Fair. Judith was the second queen of Ethelwulf, and Wulfryth was either the second wife, or the mistress, of Edgar the Peaceful.

Answer: Emma of Normandy

Emma of Normandy was the queen of Ethelred the Unready, and after his death she married his enemy, Canute, who ruled England from 1016-1035. Her sons were Hardecanute and Edward the Confessor, who ruled England from 1040-1042 and 1042-1066 respectively. Edith was the queen of Edward the Confessor; they had no children because he had taken a vow of chastity. Matilda of Scotland was the first queen of Henry I, and their son was drowned in the sinking of 'The White Ship'.

Another of Henry I's sons, Richard, was also killed in this incident, but opinion is divided as to whether he was a legitimate child. Eleanor of Aquitaine was also wife of two kings and mother to two kings.

She was married to King Louis VII of France, eventually divorced him, and soon after married Henry II of England.

She was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and John.

Answer: Berengaria of Navarre

Richard I neglected his bride, Berengaria of Navarre, because, apart from the fact that he was absorbed in the Crusades, he was also gay. After his death she founded an abbey and became a nun. Eleanor of Aquitaine was Richard's mother, and Isabella of Angouleme married his youngest brother John. Adela of Louvain was the second queen of Henry I.

Answer: Eleanor of Castile

Edward and Eleanor of Castile were married in 1254, when she was just 10 years old. She was an active queen, and accompanied her husband on crusade. After her death, he commissioned twelve crosses to be built in her honour. He also ordered that two large candles should burn forever by her tomb.

Unfortunately, after burning for over 200 years, they were extinguished during the Reformation. Eleanor of Provence was Edward's mother, and was extremely unpopular with the people for her extravagance. There has never been a queen of England called Eleanor of Anjou.

Answer: Edward II and Isabella of France

Isabella's time as queen was miserable. Her husband lavished favour on his gay partner, who was eventually executed by the barons. If Isabella expected her husband to pay her more attention, she was to be disappointed. Edward soon found new favourites and Isabella eventually took a lover of her own; Roger Mortimer. They plotted the grisly murder of Edward after he was deposed. Mortimer was executed on the order of Isabella's son, Edward III, and Isabella herself was imprisoned at Castle Rising, where she eventually went mad.

Edward I and Eleanor of Castile appear to have been happily married. Although Eleanor of Aquitaine allied herself with her sons against her husband, she never plotted to have him killed. Isabella of Valois was only eight years old when she was sent to be married to Richard II, and was just 11 when her husband was deposed.

Answer: Catherine and Isabella of Valois

Catherine, who married Henry V, was twelve years younger than Isabella. After the death of her husband, Catherine formed a clandestine relationship with Owen Tudor. When news of their marriage became public, Owen was arrested, and Catherine was sent to a nunnery. Even so, their union created the famous Tudor dynasty.

Anne and Mary Boleyn were indeed sisters, but only one became a queen. Mary Boleyn was one of Henry VIII's mistresses, and is said to have borne him two children, one of whom was a son. Joan of Navarre, the queen of Henry IV, lived two hundred years after Berengaria, the ill-fated wife of Richard the Lionheart. Margaret of Anjou was the queen of Henry VI, and Eleanor of Anjou is fictional.

Answer: Guilford Dudley

Lady Jane Grey did not wish to marry Guilford Dudley, but her parents forced her into the match. Edward VI died six weeks after their marriage, and Guilford's father, the Duke of Northumberland, announced that Jane would become Queen. Of course, the aim of this plan was to put his son on the throne. However, Jane was extremely intelligent: She made the best of a bad situation and told her husband that she would not make him King without parliament's permission. Guilford reputedly had a tantrum.

Jane only ruled for nine days, before being imprisoned in the Tower of London by Mary Tudor. Months later, both Jane and her husband were executed.

Answer: Catherine of Braganza

Catherine tolerated her husband's philanderings; she had no choice. On his deathbed, Charles begged her forgiveness. Henrietta Maria was Charles' mother and Mary of Modena was his brother James II's second wife. Lucy Walter was one of Charles' many mistresses; her son by Charles was created Duke of Monmouth, and he attempted to snatch the throne after his father died.

His grounds for this was the claim that Charles had married his mother in secret, which made him the legitimate heir to the throne.

Answer: Sophia Dorothea of Zelle

George I sent his wife into exile when she was 28, after discovering her adultery with a Swedish count. Her husband was invited to become King of England twenty years later, and the fact that his wife remained imprisoned made him extremely unpopular in England. Sophia died at the age of 60, after spending 32 years in confinement.

Mary de Bohun was never a queen, as she died before her husband, Henry IV, deposed Richard II. However, her son became Henry V. Caroline of Brunswick was the queen of George IV, and a famed adulteress. George of Denmark appeared to be faithful to his wife Queen Anne, and it was generally thought that he was too dull to ever attract another woman.

Answer: Mrs Jordan and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

Mrs Jordan was William IV's long-standing mistress while he was still the Duke of Clarence. They led quite a good life together with their ten children, all surnamed Fitz-Clarence. When it became apparent that he would become king, he searched desperately for a wife, and was eventually accepted by Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Adelaide was kind to William's illegitimate children, though she was destined to have none of her own.

William apparently fell desperately in love with Miss Wykeham, an heiress, just before his marriage to Adelaide. Caroline of Ansbach was the queen of George II, Mrs Fitzherbert was secretly married to George IV, and Mrs Wheeler was one of Edward VII's many conquests.