Scottish Kings and Queens [ 1 ] Quiz

Answer: Dalriada

Kenneth was king of Dalriada which covered much of modern-day Argyll in western Scotland. Pictland covered most of the north. Strathclyde was an independent kingdom in the south-west of modern Scotland. Northumbria is in England but once extended to cover much of south-east Scotland.

Answer: Constantine II

Constantine reigned 900-943, one of the longest reigns of any Scottish king. He died the year following his abdication. Indulf was his son, who was later king himself.

Answer: Lulach

The historical MacBeth (r.1040-1057), whose name means 'Son of Life', appears to have been a very different character from the 'Macbeth' of Shakespeare's play. He overthrew his cousin Duncan I (r.1034-1040) - also very different from Shakespeare's portrayal of him - and reigned for 17 years before he was killed by Duncan's eldest son, Malcolm Canmore.

However, Malcolm did not gain the throne immediately. It passed instead to MacBeth's stepson, Lulach (known as Lulach the Simple), who reigned for less than a year before he too was killed by Malcolm.

Answer: St Margaret

Hungarian-born Margaret was the sister of the Saxon claimant to the English throne. She came to Scotland fleeing William the Conqueror and the Normans. She was Malcolm's second wife and bore him 6 sons and 2 daughters. She did much to introduce Roman Catholicism to Scotland, which had previously followed the Celtic form of Christianity. She was canonised in 1251.

Answer: 5

Malcolm III (r.1058-1093) was initially succeeded by his brother, Donald III (or Donald Ban (Donald the Fair) - the Donalbain of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'). Donald was deposed by Malcolm's eldest son, Duncan II. Duncan was deposed in turn by Donald, who regained the throne this time ruling jointly with his nephew Edmund, the first of St Margaret's sons to rule. They were deposed by Edgar (r.1097-1107), another of Malcolm and Margaret's sons. Edgar was succeeded peacefully by his younger brother Alexander I (r.1107-1124) who was in turn succeeded by the youngest of Malcolm's sons, David I (r.1124-1153).

The sons who did not reign as king were Donald, Edward and Ethelred.

Answer: Margaret, Mary I, Mary II & Anne

Margaret, Maid of Norway (r.1286-1290), was only a child when she succeeded as the only surviving descendant of Alexander III (r.1249-1286), she died after four years without ever having set foot in Scotland. Mary I (r.1542-1567), better known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was also only as child when she succeeded (8 days old) and spent much of her reign in France. She returned to Scotland at the age of 19 but alienated many of the Scottish nobles and was forced to abdicate. She later fled to England and spent the last 20 years of her life in captivity before being beheaded for her involvement in a plot to overthrow Elizabeth of England.

Mary II (r.1688-1694) was the elder daughter of James VII and II, she ruled jointly with her husband, William of Orange, having overthrown her father. Anne (r.1702-1714) was Mary's sister, the last monarch to rule Scotland and England as seperate nations and the first to rule Great Britain.

Answer: An attempt to decide who should be the next King

When Queen Margaret died in 1290 she left no clear heir. 13 Competitors vied for the crown and the Scottish nobles appealed to King Edward of England to mediate. He eventually decided that John Balliol had the best claim and he was crowned in 1292.

Answer: 10

Many of the Scots considered John to be the rightful king and continued to support his cause over that of Robert Bruce. Bruce's coronation in 1306 was controversial and many of the Scots nobles initially supported the occupying English rather than Bruce.

Answer: Katherine of France

Margaret, daughter of the King Christian I of Denmark was married to James III (r.1460-1488). Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England was married to James IV (r.1488-1513). Madeleine, daughter of King Francis I of France was the first wife of James V (r.1513-1542). Katherine, daughter of King Charles VI of France was married to England's Henry V.

Answer: James VII

Also known as the Young Pretender, Charles led the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion which attempted, unsuccessfully, to overthrow George II in favour of Charles's father, (known as the Old Pretender, and to the Jacobites as King James VIII and III). After his father's death Charles referred to himself as Charles III but died dissolute and bankrupt in 1788, never having returned to Scotland after fleeing in 1746.