Faces on Cards 2: English Monarchs (9 for 10) Quiz

Answer: Lackland

John was the fifth son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He followed his brother, Richard the Lionhearted, to the throne. He was called "Lackland" as a young prince because, unlike his four older brothers, he received no land rights on the continent.

Not one of England's most respected sovereigns, he was also inflicted with the nickname "Softsword." In addition to lacking land, he apparently also lacked piety and lived a very sinful lifestyle. For example, his mistresses, by whom he fathered at least eight or nine sons and two or three daughters, were often married noblewomen, unlike the mistresses of most other monarchs.

Answer: Alfred the Great

Alfred is the only English or British ruler to earn the epithet, "the Great." Like John, Alfred was the youngest son of an English king, although he only had two brothers. His father was Ælfred of Wessex, and Alfred was King of Wessex, not of England. Much of Alfred's rule was spent fighting neighboring Danes in the Danelaw and other Viking invaders.

Answer: Normandy

William the Bastard, of course, is better known as William the Conqueror. The Normans, whom William (or Guillaume) ruled as duke in France, were themselves the offspring of Vikings who were given France's Normandy region by the French king, Charles the Simple, in the 890s.

Answer: the Confessor

Edward's father, King Æthelred the Unready, had six sons by his first wife, Ælfgifu. Edward was the first son of Emma, Æthelred's second wife. Consequently, Edward did not become England's king until 26 years after his father's death. Nonetheless, he ruled for 24 years, from 1042 to 1066.

He was briefly succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was slain that same year by William the Conqueror, making Edward the last Anglo-Saxon English king except for Harold's 10-month reign.

Answer: Anne

Anne and her sister Mary were daughters of James Stuart, who became James II following the death of his brother, Charles II. At Charles' suggestion, the girls were raised as Anglicans, with the Catholicism of the Stuarts being unpopular in England at that time.

When James succeeded to the throne, he was deposed in favor of Mary and her husband William of Orange. With Mary's death in 1694 and William's in 1702, Anne succeeded to the throne. Her husband was Prince George of Denmark, and despite 17 pregnancies, she failed to produce an heir and was succeeded by George I, the first of the Hanoverian dynasty.

Answer: Stephen

Born in France, Stephen is also known as Stephen of Blois. During much of his reign, England was rent by civil war fought between his supporters and those of his cousin, Empress Matilda. Unfortunately for Stephen, he was succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry II, and not by his own son, Eustace.

Answer: Tudor

Good Queen Bess is, of course, Elizabeth I, who is also referred to as The Virgin Queen and Gloriana. Tudor rule was characterized by strong rulers, including the women, i.e. Mary I and Elizabeth. That is to say, at the least they proved to be ruthless, as Mary had many Protestant opponents killed and Elizabeth ordered the death of Mary, Queen of Scots, among others.

Answer: Elizabeth II

Crowned in 1953 after her accession in the previous year, Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee in 1977, her Golden Jubilee in 2002, her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, and her Sapphire Jubilee in 2017. She has several interesting titles and styles, including "Queen of Jamaica and her other realms and territories" in Jamaica, "Duke of Normandy" in the Channel Islands, and "Lord of Mann" in the Isle of Man.

Queen Victoria did not celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee, although she certainly had earned the honor in her 45th year of reign. She only celebrated two jubiliees, the Golden (50 years) and Diamond (60 years). In 2017 the term "Sapphire Jubilee" or "Blue Sapphire Jubilee" was coined specifically for Elizabeth II's 65th year of reign.

Answer: Richard III

The last king of the House of York as well as the last of the Plantagenets, Richard III's death also marks the end of the Middle Ages in England. Following the death of Edward IV and prior to his naming himself king, Richard ruled as Lord Protector of England for about three months in place of the uncrowned Edward V.

In 2012 Richard's remains were discovered in an excavation beneath a car park in Leicester and identified by the University of Leicester before being reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

Answer: Lancaster

Two branches of the Plantagenet Dynasty, the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the red rose, and the House of York, symbolized by the white rose, fought each other for over 30 years in what became known as the Wars of the Roses. Eventually, the Yorkists, led by Henry Tudor, defeated the Lancastrians, led by Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field, in 1485. Claiming the throne as Henry VII, Tudor then married Elizabeth of York, thus combining the two feuding houses. Ironically, with Henry's victory, the Tudor Dynasty was established, thereby ending Plantagenet rule.