Francis and His Famous Friends Quiz

Answer: Stigmata

St. Francis of Assisi was the son of a merchant of silk, who nicknamed him "Francesco" when he was young, which means "Frenchman" (his birth name was actually Giovanni). Although he had been a soldier in his youth, St. Francis' participation in the Crusades was a visit to the Sultan of Egypt to attempt to persuade him to convert to Christianity which, although it failed, allowed Franciscans to remain in the Holy Land after other Christian groups were cast out.

He is famous for founding various orders for those who could not travel as preachers, and for setting up the first nativity scene, in which he used real animals for accuracy. (He is also the patron saint of animals).

He was also the first person recorded to ever receive the stigmata, and was declared a saint in 1228.

Answer: Doctor

Rabelais' books also received condemnation by French academia, despite the approval of his namesake king, Francis I. Rabelais continued to publish the "Gargantua and Pantagruel" books until they became a pentalogy in the 1560s. He was formerly of the Franciscan order, but switched to the Benedictine order because the Franciscans did not tolerate his humanism.

His writings cleverly use a mix of French, Latin, and Greek, and are full of word play, vulgarity, sexual 'double entendres', and satire. He is still lauded as one of the greatest French writers.

Answer: Edward VI

Edward VI was Henry VIII's only legitimate son, and his successor in early 1547. He enjoyed good health as a child, it is now thought, but his life was sadly cut short in 1553 at the age of fifteen. At the time religious contention was rife throughout England; Edward continued the Protestant Church of England reforms that his father had initiated in order to divorce Anne Boleyn. (Interestingly enough, Edward's mother, Jane Seymour, was Catholic.) Deigning not to appoint his half-sister, Mary, his heir, as he wished the country to remain Protestant after his death, he appointed his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, to be his heir. Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, their mother, was for unknown reasons, omitted from the succession.

Lady Grey lasted only nine days on the throne; the Privy Council decided to crown Mary instead, and declared Jane a usurper of the crown. She and her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, as well as other key players in the deed, including Dudley's father, the Duke of Northumberland, were all sentenced to death. Jane's own father was executed only a year later.

Frances Grey and her daughters remained in Mary's favor when she was queen. The Duchess Dowager married her Master of the Horse, Adrian Stokes, in 1555. She died in 1559. She has come to be considered a cruel woman and mother, but some believe that this came about in the 18th century from a need to paint Frances as the horrid antagonist to the perfect Jane. She was very considerate of her other daughters' interests, and despite the breakdown of events concerning Jane, she may well have had her best interests at heart.

Answer: Spanish Armada

"Spanish Armada" correctly describes the Spanish fleet, but the name is often used for the battle itself. Philip II of Spain wanted to remove Elizabeth I of England from her throne, as he wanted to end the Protestant involvement in Europe. He had been married to Elizabeth's Catholic sister, Mary.

The Duke of Medina Sidonia was the commander of the Spanish fleet. There were several skirmishes, but the main battle, at Gravelines in Flanders, determined the English fleet to be the winner. Sir Francis Drake returned to England to massive celebration, and the victory steeled English pride for years to come.

Drake was in his fifties when he suffered a series of defeats at sea, and not long after, a bout of dysentery spelled his end. He was buried at sea. He is still considered an English hero, and many places and things are named after him, both in the UK and the US.

Answer: The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett married twice, first in 1873 to Swan Burnett, a doctor, which ended in divorce, then in 1902 she married Stephen Townsend, a man ten years younger than her. That marriage was short-lived and she never married again. Her other well-known novels include Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.

Answer: Sarajevo

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie intensified the confrontation between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, and is often considered the catalyst for the First World War. Many young Serbs, and one Bosniak, were executed or imprisoned for the assassination, as were three major Serbian military figures who had trained the group. Gavrilo Princip was the one who pulled the trigger, and he died three years later in prison. (He was too young to be executed).

Answer: Vladimir Lenin

The injuries Fanny inflicted on Lenin are said to have affected him for the rest of his life and may have contributed to his death in 1924. Fanny, a member of revolutionary group the Esers as a young woman, was committed to a labor camp (katorga) at the age of 16.

When she was released as a result of the February Revolution in 1917, she was nearly blind and had suffered years of torture. Some historians suspect that Fanny's vision problems mean that someone else might have actually been responsible for the assassination, and that Fanny took the rap for them.

The reason she gave for the attempted murder is that Lenin was a "traitor to the Revolution".

Answer: Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States for 12 years, serving three full terms and dying weeks after being elected for a fourth. He assumed the presidency at a time of severe economic disaster, during the Great Depression. His New Deal program transformed the lives of poor Americans.

He led the US through World War II, his death occuring not long before the Axis powers surrendered. He is generally considered one of the best presidents.

Answer: Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand has appeared in several Coen brothers movies, including "Burn After Reading" and "Hail, Caesar!". She is part of the select group of actors who have won what is known as the Triple Crown of Acting - an Emmy, an Oscar, and a Tony. She was adopted as a baby, and adopted her son in 1995.

Answer: Argentina

Pope Francis took his papal name from Saint Francis of Assisi, who you might remember from the beginning of this quiz! He has been considered more informal than previous popes, and while mostly adhering to traditional Catholic views, he has spoken out about modern issues such as climate change and has decried neo-nationalism. However, he has also faced several controversies in his term.