Great Women In History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Philopater

Euergetes, Soter and Epiphanes were names that were used by other kings of the Ptolemy dynasty. Philopater means loving child. Cleopatra's father was named Ptolemy Auletes, meaning flute player, for which he was often ridiculed. Cleopatra had two older sisters, and it was only after they had died that she assumed the throne, as a co-regent to her younger brother, but she soon left out his name from the official records, in spite of the Ptolemaic insistence that the male co-ruler is of first importance.

Answer: Agrippina

Messalina was another, nymphomaniac, wife of Claudius; Antonia was his daughter and Drusilla was Caligula's favourite sister (with whom Caligula was caught in bed during their childhood). Agrippina was actually quite notorious for poisoning people, she was another sister of Caligula.

She doted on her son, whom she placed on the throne by making Claudius naming him his heir, rather than his own son. But when he was emperor, Nero attempted to kill his own mother.

Answer: Hatshepsut

The images of Hatsepshut were later destroyed when her stepson Thutmose was pharaoh, at about the 30th year of his reign. Nefreteri was one of the wives of Rameses II, Teje was the wife of Amenhotep III and queen mother during the reign of Amenhotep IV (also known as Echnaton). Nechbet is the vulture goddess of upper Egypt.

Answer: Theodora

Zoë was an empress of Byzantium, the other two are just East European names. Theodora had a lot of influence, and after she died, Justinian hardly did anything worthwhile. She is depicted on the famous mosaic in the San Vitale church in Ravenna. Justinian was only allowed to marry her after a special law had been made, which stated that actresses (considered on a par with prostitutes) who abandoned their profession could return to their pristine condition.

Answer: Heloïse

At the time of the romance Abelard was her teacher, and when her uncle found out about the affair he had Abelard castrated. Abelard and Heloïse did marry, but they both joined a monastery afterwards. They still lie side by side at the cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris.

(Many other spellings of her name are found in English, such as Heloise and Eloise).

Answer: Matilda

Even though her father Henry I named her his heir, it was her cousin Stephen who eventually won the civil war and became the King of England. Her first husband was Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor, hence her title. The nobles who supported Stephen, did so by violating their oath to Matilda, probably because they did not think a woman belonged on the throne of England.

The concept of a queen regnant (monarch in her own right) had not yet been established in England at that time.

Answer: Mary

She was called 'Bloody' Mary, for obvious reasons. Elizabeth was her sister, who assumed the throne after her. Jane was also a queen of England, just before Mary, but only for nine days. Victoria was queen of England at the beginning of the 20th century.

Answer: Semiramis

Semiramis, or sammu-rammat, didn't found Babylon, and the hanging gardens were created by Nebukadnezzar II. She was an Assyrian princess, and mother of king Adad-Nirari II, for whom she ruled the land as a regent, until he was of age. Enheduanna is the daughter of Sargon of Agade, and is the oldest known female poet of the near east.

The queen of Saba was the one who asked the advice of king Salomon in the bible. And Batseba was the woman for whom king david committed his great sin, by sending her husband of to war.

Answer: Victoria

She received this nickname because she was suspected of having an affair with her steward, Mr. Brown. A whole era was named after her, and ironically, that era is known for being very prudish.

Answer: Eleanor

Eleanor of Aquitaine was slandered by most of the writers of her age. She divorced her first husband on the grounds of their being too closely related, and then married her second husband, who was almost exactly as close. She was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland.

She supported her sons (of her second marriage) in the revolt against their father, and was consequently imprisoned by her husband until he died. She lived the remainder of her life in the convent of Fontevrault of which she was a patron.