Royal English Consorts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor was the duchess of Aquitaine before she even married a king. In this capacity she was the most eligible bride in medieval Europe. The King of France, Louis VI, had her marry his son in 1137, and only a week after the marriage, Louis VII became King of France and Eleanor Queen of France.

After 15 years of marriage without a son, the marriage was annulled, and Eleanor was free to marry the Duke of Normandy, still in her capacity as Duchess of Aquitaine. Two years later, her husband became King Henry II of England, and Eleanor Queen of England. Being one of the richest and most powerful women of Europe, she was able to challenge her husband's power with the help of her sons, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey.

Answer: Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Edward IV. When her father died, she and her brothers were declared illegitimate in 1484 by their uncle, Lord Protector Richard.

Seeing how Henry Tudor's claim on the throne was weak to say the least, however, he saw an opportunity to unite once and for all the Houses of York and Lancaster, and end the War of the Roses forever. He overruled the decision to declare Edward IV's children as illegitimate, so he could marry Elizabeth of York as the daughter of a king. Her son, Arthur, would never rule as king; he died at the age of 15, making way for her other son, the future King Henry VIII.

Answer: Ealhswith

There isn't a lot of information on Ealhswith - not just because sources from Saxon times are rather unreliable, but also because Wessex didn't like the idea of a queen. According to Asser, this was because a Mercian woman who married the Wessex king had betrayed her husband, and thus all future consorts were stripped of the title of queen. There was one exception: Judith, later to be known as Judith of Flanders, who was both Alfred's step-mom and sister-in-law.

After Ealhswith's husband, Alfred The Great, died in 899, she founded a convent and was later canonized as a saint by the Christian church.

Answer: Margaret of Anjou

Margaret of Anjou was, in many ways, the real ruler of England during her time as Queen from 1445 until 1461. Her husband, Henry VI, suffered from a mental illness, which he probably inherited from his maternal grandfather, the French King Charles VI.

As the effective ruler of England, her decisions, like excluding Richard of York from the council, ultimately led to the overthrow of her husband by the Yorkists. The Great Council had been formed to rule England during Henry VI mental breakdown, and Richard was the most important nobleman at this time as Duke of York.

While her husband was imprisoned and murdered by the Yorkist faction of the new King, Edward IV, she was ransomed by the King of France and lived the rest of her life in France.

Answer: Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville was a very controversial figure. She married the 5 year younger Edward IV in secret in 1464. The King was so attracted to her beauty, that he promptly forgot the intentions his council, Richard Neville, had for him: to marry a French princess. He also didn't mind that Elizabeth was from a family of Lancasters, the losing side of the War of the Roses.

Edward's council did mind, however, and it was even a factor in the brief overthrow of Edward IV by his brother, George, and the Kingmaker, Richard Neville.

When Edward IV suddenly died, Elizabeth found herself surrounded by enemies, who were afraid of the influence her Woodville family would have if her son became the next king. Her sons were taken from her and put in the Tower by her brother-in-law, Richard III. Elizabeth joined forces with Margaret Beaufort, and support Margaret's son, Henry Tudor, in his war to dethrone Richard III.

Answer: Isabella of France

Isabella, "The She-Wolf" of France, married Edward II in 1308. She was known for both her intelligence and beauty, and found herself married to a king who had no idea how to rule. He might also have been a homosexual, and after almost two decades of marriage, Isabella had enough.

By then, she had lost all of her lands in England, she had lost custody over her children, and everyone working for her had been arrested. She turned to her brother, King Charles IV of France, and with his help and the company of the knight, Roger Mortimer, she launched an invasion of England in 1325.

She won, had her husband murdered, and ruled 5 years as regent of her son, Edward III. Her lover, Roger Mortimer, was executed for his actions in the overthrow of Edward II, but she was spared and lived out the rest of her life in England as a wealthy woman.

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn had no idea what the results of her actions would be when she first flirted with Henry VIII - definitely not that a new branch of Christianity would be created as a result. It took Henry VIII a lot of energy to be able to set his current wife aside for Anne. Because the Pope didn't want to give him an annulment of his previous marriage, he founded the Anglican church, and split from Rome.

Eventually he was able to marry Anne, and wished for nothing more than a healthy son to continue the Tudor dynasty. Anne, however, did not give him a son in the short time she was given. While it took around 7 years for Henry to be able to marry Anne, it took him only 3 years to divorce her. It took even less time to cut her head off after the divorce (two days later) and get married again to someone else (two weeks later).

Despite being born as a disappointment for not being a boy, Anne Boleyn's daughter Elizabeth turned out to be a better ruler than most of her predecessors, and cemented the Tudor name just like her father had hoped.

Answer: Isabella of Angoulême

Isabella of Angoulême was very young when she married John in 1200, even for the standards of the time. She was his second wife, and would give him five children during 16 years of marriage until his death. Known for her beauty, some chroniclers described her as Helen of the Middle Ages, after the legendary Helen of Troy, the face which launched a thousand ships.

After her husband died, Isabella made sure her son, Henry III, succeeded him, and then returned to France. She got married there once more, and had 9 more children.

Near the end of her life she was accused of trying to poison the French King, Louis IX. Louis' father had invaded England during John's reign, and was even declared King of England by many nobles during a brief time. However, she fled her arrest and found refuge in an abbey, where she died two years later.

Answer: Emma of Normandy

Emma of Normandy was married to two kings of England, Aethelred The Unready and Cnut The Great, was mother of two other kings of England, Harthacnut and Edward The Confessor, and step-mother of a third, Harold Harefoot.

When Emma married Aethelred in 1002, she took on the Saxon name Aelfgifu. When Cnut invaded England in 1015, it was clear that Saxon England wasn't ready to push back the Danes. This became even more clear when Aethelred and his son from a first marriage, Edmund Ironside, died in 1016. Both Emma/Aelfgifu and Cnut found mutual benefit in a marriage. To Emma, it meant that she was able to hold on to power, and for Cnut it meant cementing his ties with England and Normandy as a foreign ruler.

After Cnut died, Emma found herself in a struggle between Cnut's Danish son, Harold Harefoot, and her own son by Cnut, Harthacnut. Harold Harefoot became king, but only for five years, with Harthacnut succeeding him. Emma had by all accounts no involvement in Harold Harefoot's death.

Answer: Catherine Howard

A very sad story. Catherine Howard might not have been the brightest of all queen consorts, but her young age counts as an excuse. Being pushed in Henry's direction by her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, Catherine found herself in a situation she wasn't ready for: being married to a king who thought there were no limits to his power, while she enjoyed being a 17-year old girl.

While it is more probable the accusations of infidelity against her were more truthful than the ones against Wife #2, Anne Boleyn, her execution by decapitation in 1542 was another reason why Henry VIII isn't exactly a beloved figure.

Along with Catherine Howard, her two alleged lovers, Culpeper and Dereham, were executed as well, as well as her lady-in-waiting, Jane Boleyn.