Of Titles and the Lack Thereof Quiz

Answer: Pharaoh

The 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, which had remained virtually intact through the centuries, was one of the main factors behind an international revival of interest in the ancient rulers of Egypt. His death mask has become an instantly-recognised symbol of their culture, and the treasures that were taken out of his tomb have travelled around the world, drawing huge crowds everywhere.

Born Tutankhaten, the son of Akhenaten, his name change to Tutankhamun indicates a change back from his father's monotheism (worshipping the god Aten) to the earlier polytheism, since Amun was one of the chief gods of the pantheon rejected by Akhenaten. He ruled for about nine or ten years, dying at a young age, thought to be around 18.

Answer: Huangdi

Chinese rulers have had a number of titles and honorifics, but the first person to rule a unified China just called himself 'Qin Shi Huang' or 'Shihuangdi', which translates into English as First Emperor of Qin. Starting as a prince of Qin, he became king at the age of 13, and (after conquering the other warlords) the first Chinese emperor, at the age of 38. And he clearly planned to be the start of a dynasty - although the Qin Dynasty only lasted for 15 years, it established the imperial system that lasted until the 20th century.

His reign is remembered for a number of reasons: he greatly expanded the area under Chinese control, he joined the various bits of the Great Wall of China to make them a (more or less) single fortification, and he was buried in a massive mausoleum guarded by life-sized figures, referred to as The Terracotta Army.

Answer: Black Prince

All right, this isn't really a title as such, but it is the honorific by which Edward of Woodstock is best known. As the oldest son of Edward III, he was made Duke of Cornwall at the age of seven, and Prince of Wales at thirteen. He was known as an excellent soldier, and his father knighted him in 1346. Shortly after, the sixteen year old was one of the leaders of the English at the Battle of Crecy, during which he earned his nickname, said to be due to the black armour he wore. Continued success in the early battles of the Hundred Years War led to him gaining the title of Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony, not accepted by the local nobles, and which he later resigned as it was proving to be more trouble than it was worth.

He died after a lengthy illness, having asked his father to guarantee that his son would be protected after his death.

A year later, the son was duly crowned King Richard II.

Answer: King of England and France

This is one of the titles that had to be shortened in order to fit nicely into the answer space. In full, he was King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and of the Church of England in Earth Supreme Head. The title of Defender of the Faith was bestowed on him in 1521 by Pope Leo X, in recognition of his writing 'Defence of the Seven Sacraments', a strong statement of support for papal supremacy.

It didn't take him long to change his views, however - one of his arguments in 1527 as to why his marriage to Catherine of Aragon should be annulled was that the pope had not had the authority to grant him a dispensation to marry his brother's widow.

After Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry, there was a period of struggle for power between church and state, which Henry finally resolved in 1535 by declaring himself to be the supreme head of the church in England, a title which continues to be used into the 21st century.

Answer: Queen of France and Navarre

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna was an Archduchess of Austria by birth, who became Dauphine of France when she married Louis-Auguste, the future Louis XVI, and Queen of France and Navarre when he gained the throne in 1774. During the French Revolution, the title was changed to Queen of the French, from 1791 to 1792.

When the monarchy was abolished, her husband became known as Citizen Capet, in reference to the family line of which the Bourbons were a branch. Since he was executed on 21 January 1793, she was officially the Widow Capet when she was beheaded on 16 October of the same year.

Answer: Empress of India

This is another title that had to be sampled because of space considerations. Alexandrina Victoria had fewer first names than many other royals, but quite a list of titles: By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India.

At birth, she was fifth in line for succession to the throne, because her father was the fourth son of George III. Her father and grandfather both died shortly after her birth, and the three uncles were all dead by the time she was 18, and inherited the throne.

Her reign (1820-1901) was at the time the longest for any ruler of Great Britain until that time; it was surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015. She had 9 children and 42 grandchildren, including members of most European royal houses. Two of the leaders of nations involved in World War I (King George V of England and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany) were her grandchildren.

Her granddaughter Alix of Hesse was married to a third leader, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

Answer: Queen of Hawaii

Lydia Lili'u Loloku Walania Kamaka'eha was the first Queen of Hawaii, and its last monarch, being overthrown in an 1893 coup that eventually led to annexation by the United States in 1898, and Hawaii's admission as the 50th state of the union in 1959. Even before she took the throne, the independence of Hawaii was under serious pressure, following the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii (known as the Bayonet Constitution, since King Kalākaua was under military pressure to sign it or be deposed).

Her attempts to restore some of the powers of the monarchy were seen as threatening overseas business interests, leading to the 1893 coup, which was supported by US Marines, sent to protect American citizens. Lili'uokalani officially abdicated two years later, and spent most of the rest of her life seeking to legally regain her throne.

Answer: Archduke of Austria-Este

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, in Sarajevo was one of many factors, commonly identified as the triggering factor, leading to World War I. When he was assassinated, his wife Sophie was in the car with him. So enamoured of her was he when they met in 1894 that he insisted on marrying her despite the fact that she was not from a suitably royal family.

The 1900 marriage was morganatic, meaning that neither she nor any children the couple might have could inherit his titles or privileges.

She was not even allowed to appear in public with him - if they had to be at the same function, she was required to stay in a quite separate area from him! When the couple were shot by Gavrilo Princip, they were actually on their way to visit the victims of a bomb that had been thrown at their car earlier in the day, missing them but injuring the people in the car behind theirs.

Answer: Duke of Windsor

Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, ruling as Edward VIII, from January until December of 1936. After his abdication so that he could marry the American divorcée Wallace Simpson (an act that was not consistent with the king's role as head of the Church of England, not to mention the fact that she was a commoner), he was granted the title of Duke of Windsor.

The title was created for him on 8 March 1937, and was extinguished (decreed to no longer exist) on his death.

The title comes from Windsor Castle, a royal home since the Norman Conquest. Windsor is also the family name taken on to replace the earlier Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1917, to reduce the reminder of the German links with the royal lineage.

Answer: Emperor of Japan

The name Hirohito means Abundant Benevolence, and Hirohito's reign, starting in 1926, was officially designated the Shōwa era, a name meaning Enlightened Peace. Given the Japanese militarization and expansion into China during his reign, and their role in World War II, these names seem ironic. Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, Hirohito was kept on as emperor, to maintain a sense of social continuity. Along with this went a campaign to distance him from the atrocities carried out in the war; he was portrayed as being virtually a helpless puppet in the hands of the ruling military. Since his death, this has been re-evaluated, and most historians agree that he was certainly cognizant of events, if not actually responsible for all of them.