Famous Quotations: Royalty Edition Quiz

Answer: Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I wrote the above when she was under house arrest at the royal palace at Woodstock. She was held in the Tower of London on the orders of her Catholic sister Mary I ("Bloody Mary"), who feared Elizabeth would serve as a rallying point for people insisting on a Protestant monarch. Elizabeth was sent from the Tower to house arrest at Woodstock and eventually freed in 1555, one year later. She became queen upon Mary's death in 1558.

Answer: Henry IV

Henry IV was a Huguenot, or French Protestant. He became the King of France upon the death of Henry III, but powerful Catholic factions as well as the majority of the common people opposed him and named another man king. Henry won some major battles but could not capture Paris.

After almost four years of fighting, Henry decided to convert to Catholicism and was finally crowned in Paris in 1594.

Answer: James V of Scotland

James V of Scotland said the above about his daughter who would become Mary, Queen of Scots. The Stewarts were the Scottish royal family, and James believed that his daughter would be the last of their line. After spending her childhood in France (where she was Queen Consort until the death of her first husband) she returned to Scotland and gave birth to the future James VI by her second husband.

Although she was later forced into exile, and eventually beheaded on the orders of her cousin Elizabeth I of England, her son James became King of England upon Elizabeth's death and the Stuarts ruled England until 1714 (the direct line ended with Queen Anne - another 'lass').

Answer: Charles V

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, also Charles I of Spain, supposedly said this statement in reference to his linguistic abilities (although it wasn't originally noted until 40 years after his death). Since he ruled a vast and very diverse empire, it's a good thing he spoke so many languages!

Answer: Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great was born into a family of minor German nobility and through her marriage became Empress of Russia. After her husband was deposed (likely with her support), she ruled Russia for almost 35 years until her death in 1796.

Answer: Hirohito

Japanese Emperor Hirohito made this statement. Although Japan was an aggressor in World War II, the Japanese people suffered tremendously throughout the war, even before the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and millions died of disease and starvation throughout the country.

Answer: Genghis Khan

In 1219, Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols, wrote to Taoist monk Chang Chunzi (birth name Qui Chuji) to order him to come to court. As Genghis Khan was constantly on the move conquering new people, it took the monk well over a year to catch up.

Answer: Akhenaten

Akhenaten was an 18th Dynasty Pharaoh of Egypt. He declared that Aten, the sun disk, was the one true god and shuttered all other temples throughout Egypt. He founded a new capital city at Amarna and ruled there with his wife Nefertiti. Recent DNA tests have proven that Akhenaten was the father of Tutankhaten - a boy who changed his name and religion and later Egypt ruled as Tutankhamen (the "-amen" referring to the Egyptians' main diety, replacing the "-aten" of his father's monotheistic religion).

Answer: Louis XIV

Upon hearing that his grandson Philip became King of Spain, Louis XIV of France made the above statement referring to the mountains that separated France from Spain. Philip's father and brother were directly in line to the French throne, and the unification of France and Spain under one king would have upset the power balance and later led to the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714).

The childless Charles II of Spain wanted to avoid a probable war and therefore chose Philip, a younger grandson of his half-sister, to be the next King of Spain instead of Philip's father or older brother.

Answer: Harold II

Harold II was king of England for nine months in 1066. He made the above statement to his brother upon hearing of the invasion of Harald Hardrada. Harold defeated the invader Harald at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in September 1066, but then had to rush south to fight William the Conquerer at Hastings in October. William won the battle and Harold is traditionally said to have been killed with an arrow through his eye.