FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

Quiz about Famous Mistresses Through History

Famous Mistresses Through History Quiz

Throughout the annals of history, there have been many instances of great leaders or prominent figures who have carried on illicit affairs. This is a quiz with some eyebrow-raising facts about some of these trysts.

A multiple-choice quiz by boxcrusher. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
boxcrusher

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
256,470

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
2843

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Peter the Great of Russia reigned from 1682 to 1725. Both Peter and his wife, Catherine, had relationships outside their marriage, but Peter had a double standard. When he discovered his wife's cuckoldry, what action did he take? Hint

He had his wife's lover executed and his head placed in a jar of alcohol. She was forced to keep the jar in her bedroom.

Peter divorced her and never again let her see her children

She was forcibly ejected from the royal palace and was made to live as a commoner from that day forward

His wife was charged with multiple crimes, convicted, and hanged in a public square while her lover watched.

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. When the Elector of Hanover became King George I of England in 1714, his wife (Princess Sophia of Celle) did not become Queen because she was found to have committed adultery. Which of these things was NOT true about their union? Hint

She was his first cousin

She was executed and her body thrown in the Thames River

George had two mistresses of his own

She was locked in a castle for the next 32 years

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. The fourth Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627 had quite an impressive harem. Of what was this harem comprised? Hint

40,000 slaves and captured women from rival tribes defeated in battle

1,000 royal wives and 2,000 additional women

300 royal wives, 5,000 additional women, and 1,000 young men

All unmarried women were considered "property of the Emperor"

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Thomas Jefferson owned a large plantation and had many slaves. One of these slaves was his mistress for over twenty-five years. She eventually bore him as many as seven children - though historians haven't agreed on the exact number. What was this woman's name? Hint

Harriet Bray

Martha Eaton

Sally Hemings

Beverly Ellis

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. The Thracians were a warrior people who lived in what is today Bulgaria, from 1300 to 500 B.C., when they were reduced to vassals by the Persians. Polygamy was common practice among Thracians; and when a man died his wives argued amongst themselves as to which one was his favorite - in order to win a particular privilege. For what honor were the competing? Hint

To be allowed to remain in the marital home

To sell the remaining wives into the service of an unmarried man of their choosing

To collect all the deceased's worldly goods

To be killed and placed next to her husband in his tomb

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Fernande Olivier lived for seven years (1904-1911) with a famous artist and wanted to marry him. But she was unable to locate her estranged husband to obtain the necessary divorce, and thus could not marry her beloved. Which giant of the art world was her intended? Hint

Vincent van Gogh

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pablo Picasso

Paul Gauguin

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which opened in 1889, created a love nest at the peak of the structure so that he could carry on all of his personal trysts. The aerie is now open to all visitors, but how is it described on the plaque that adorns the site today? Hint

A place for Eiffel to reflect

A storage room

A personal office for Eiffel

A lavatory

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Cleopatra is one of the more famous rulers of the ancient world, and is a household name more than two thousand years after her death in 30 B.C. Which of these statements about her is FALSE? Hint

She was the daughter of Pharoah Ra II

She married two of her brothers, and was also the mistress of both Julius Caesar AND Mark Antony

Though popularly thought to be Egyptian since that is the country she ruled, Cleopatra was actually Macedonian

She took her own life, allegedly by means of an asp

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. In ancient Greece, women counted their age from the date on which they were married.

True

False

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. The second wife of Prince Charles was one of the more famous mistresses of the 20th Century. After marrying Charles, she immediately took the title of The Duchess of Cornwall. By what other name do we know her? Hint

Camilla Parker-Bowles

Alice Keppel

Princess Diana

Kate Middleton

(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

Select a User ID:

Choose a Password:

Your Email:

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: He had his wife's lover executed and his head placed in a jar of alcohol. She was forced to keep the jar in her bedroom.

From 1682-1696 he reigned jointly with his half brother, Ivan V. Peter the Great was an exceptionally cruel ruler. He had his heir and eldest son, Alexei, tortured and killed 1718 because he had disobeyed his father and opposed official policies. Alexei's mother (Eudoxia, Peter's first wife) had also been punished; she was dragged from her home and tried on false charges of adultery. A similar fate befell Peter's beautiful mistress, Anna Mons, in 1704.

Answer: She was executed and her body thrown in the Thames River

George had Sophia imprisoned in the Castle of Ahlden in her native land. She was denied access to her family, and forbidden to remarry. She was completely without freedom - she received an income, servants, and was allowed to ride in a carriage outside her castle, albeit under supervision.

3. The fourth Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627 had quite an impressive harem. Of what was this harem comprised?

Answer: 300 royal wives, 5,000 additional women, and 1,000 young men

Jahangir married his first wife at the age of 14, and continued acquiring concubines throughout his rule.

Answer: Sally Hemings

John Wayles - the father of Jefferson's wife, Martha - had taken Sally's mother, Betty, as a concubine after the death of his third wife.

Sally Hemings served as chambermaid at Monticello, Jefferson's plantation estate.

Answer: To be killed and placed next to her husband in his tomb

The Thracians are mentioned in both of Homer's great works: The Odyssey and The Iliad. Nothing is said of their unusual mourning habits, however!

Answer: Pablo Picasso

In the mid-1940s, Fernande found that her elusive husband had died just after she first met Picasso in a corridor of the tenement known as the Bateau-Lavoir more than forty years earlier.

Gauguin died in 1903, van Gogh in 1890; only Renoir (d. 1919) was alive during the time of this particular liaison of the prolific Picasso.

Answer: A personal office for Eiffel

Eiffel also designed the armature for the Statue of Liberty, as well as several other important landmarks in Paris.

None of his other works brought him the same level of fame as the structure that bears his name.

The tower was met with resistance from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. (Novelist Guy de Maupassant - who claimed to hate the tower - supposedly ate lunch at the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where you couldn't see the Tower.)

Today, the Eiffel Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art, and one of the most recognizable landmarks on Earth.

8. Cleopatra is one of the more famous rulers of the ancient world, and is a household name more than two thousand years after her death in 30 B.C. Which of these statements about her is FALSE?

Answer: She was the daughter of Pharoah Ra II

There are a number of unverifiable but famous stories about Cleopatra, of which one of the best known is that, at one of the lavish dinners she shared with Antony, she playfully bet him that she could spend ten million sesterces on a dinner. He accepted the bet.

The next night, she had a conventional, unspectacular meal served; he was ridiculing this, when she ordered the second course - only a cup of strong vinegar. She then removed one of her priceless pearl earrings, dropped it into the vinegar, allowed it to dissolve, and drank the mixture.

The earliest report of this story comes from Pliny the Elder and dates to about 100 years after the banquet described would have happened.

9. In ancient Greece, women counted their age from the date on which they were married.

Answer: True

Unmarried women were not counted as part of legitimate society, so for the Greeks the wedding signified the start of a woman's "real life".

Answer: Camilla Parker-Bowles

Princess Diana publicly blamed the relationship between her husband and Camilla for the break-up of her marriage. Diana reported that Camilla had known before she did that the Prince of Wales was going to propose to her.

Source: Author boxcrusher

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.