Royal Survey Trivia Quiz

Answer: Offa

Egbert was the King of Wessex and began his reign at the beginning of the 800s.

Answer: Alfred

The Danish invasions resumed under the reign of Ethelred the Unready, who followed Alfred.

Answer: Canut

Edward the Confessor, of the Wessex line, began his rule in 1042.

Answer: Harold II

This occurred at the infamous Battle of Hastings. The date of this Norman Conquest has, in the past, been branded into the minds of American and English school children, because it had such a dramatic effect not only on English history, but also on the English language.

Answer: Henry I

William II, the third son of the Conqueror, became king in 1087. He was succeeded in 1100 by his brother, the Conqueror's youngest son, who ruled as Henry I.

Answer: Stephen

Stephen, of the House of Blois, was a grandson of William's through the female line. This period of uncertainty is sometimes referred to as "The Anarchy."

Answer: Henry II

Henry II was a grandson of Henry I through his daughter. He married Elanore of Aquitane and had two royal sons, Richard I (Coeur de Lion) and John (Lackland).

Answer: John

King John is most famous for signing the Magna Carta. His son, Henry III, reigned until 1272. He was succeeded by his son, then his grandson, and finally his great-grandson, Edward I, II, and III.

Answer: Richard II

Edward, "The Black Prince," did not get to assume the throne, but his son Richard II ruled from 1377-1399.

Answer: Henry IV

John of Gaunt was the Duke of Lancaster. Through Blanche, he had a son who defeated Richard II and ruled as Henry IV from 1399-1413. His son, the famous "Prince Hal," succeeded him as Henry V. Through Katherine of France, he had a son who ruled as Henry VI.

Answer: Richard III

During the reign of Henry VI, the War of the Roses was in full force. Richard Plantagent (grandson of Edmund Langley, Duke of York, and great-grandson of Edward III) laid claim to the throne, but did not succeed. After his death, his son succeeded and became Edward IV.

It was called the War of the Roses because the Lancastrians had a red rose for their emblem and the Yorkists had a white rose. Edward's son, Edward V, was never actually crowned. He was promptly murdered, and Edward IV's brother Richard III became king.

In Shakespeare's version of history, Richard III was the murderer, though alternative theories have been proposed by historians.

Answer: Henry VII

Richmond's claim to the throne was weak. He was descended, through his mother, from John of Gaunt and his third wife Catherine Swynford (Geoffery Chaucer's sister-in-law, incidentally). However, John and Catherine's children were born before they were married.

These children were made legitimate by law, but with the specific stipulation that no descendant of theirs would sit on the throne. Nevertheless, Richmond defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, becoming King Henry VII.

Answer: Edward V

Edward V was the son of Edward IV. Henry VIII's son by his third wife, Jane Seymour, ruled as Edward VI. When Edward died, Mary I, his first daughter by Katherine, became Queen. Katherine was Catholic, and consequently so was Mary. Mary tried to restore Catholicism, and became known as "Bloody Mary." When she died childless, her sister Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn) became Queen.

She, like her mother, was Protestant.

Answer: James I

He was James VI of Scotland, but James I of England. Thus began the reign of the house of Stuart. Mary Queen of Scots had tried to capture the English throne. Elizabeth had her imprisoned and eventually beheaded.

Answer: Charles II

Charles I was beheaded in 1649 after the English Civil War. The commonwealth/protectorate then ruled until 1660, when Charles II was restored to the throne. Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector from 1653-1658, and his son Richard Cromwell, "Tumble-down Dick," was Lord Protector from 1658 until he resigned in 1660. Charles II was followed by his brother James II.

Answer: William III

Charles II died without a legitimate heir, and so his Catholic brother, James II, assumed the throne. The English did not like that he was Catholic, so he was deposed by William of Orange (a grandson by a daughter of Charles I) and Mary (the Protestant daughter of James II) in the so called "Glorious Revolution" or "Bloodless Revolution."

Answer: Anne

Anne, another Protestant daughter of James II, became Queen. When she died, the great grandson of James I (through his mother) became King George I.

Answer: George I

James II's son was called "The Old Pretender," and this is referred to as the First Jacobite Rebellion. Later, in 1745, his son, "Bonnie Prince Charles" made another failed bid for the throne, and this is called the Second Jacobite Rebellion.

Answer: Victoria

George III was succeeded by his son, who ruled as George IV. George IV actually began ruling in 1811, in a period called The Regency, when George III was still alive but had been declared incurably insane. George IV's brother then followed him as William IV. Victoria assumed the throne in 1837.

Answer: Edward VIII

His brother George VI then ruled from 1936-1952, when his daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him.