Tales Told about Kings Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alfred the Great

Alfred (reigned 871-899) was the first to style himself King of England, and united the English against the Danish invaders.

Answer: Edward I

Edward I annexed Wales in 1282, and the Welsh demanded a prince "who spoke no English". When Edward's first son was born at Caernarfon Castle in 1284, so the story goes, the king presented the day-old prince to his Welsh subjects as "the Prince of Wales, who spoke not a word of English."

Answer: Richard III

Richard (reigned 1483-1485) was the last of the Plantagenet kings of England. He succeeded his brother Edward IV, and has long been accused of murdering Edward's sons - the "Princes in the Tower" in order to succeed. The likeliest killer is actually his usurper, Henry VII.

Answer: Edward the Confessor

Edward reigned from 1042-1066, and his death precipitated the Norman Conquest of England. He is the first notable to have been buried in the newly-dedicated (1065) Westminster Abbey.

Answer: George I

Elector of Hanover in what is now Germany, George I (reigned 1714-1727) was the great-grandson of James I, and became King at the death of James' grand-daughter Queen Anne. George succeeded to the British throne only because the Act of Settlement (1701) barred the accession of Roman Catholics and George was the closest non-RC in the line of succession. He divorced Sophia of Celle for having an affair with the Swedish diplomat Count Philip Konigsmark long before he became King of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Answer: King John

King John (reigned 1199-1216) probably has the worst rep of any King of England. The Wash is an estuary in eastern England, and the story goes that King John was travelling from Lincolnshire to Norfolk when his baggage-train, with the casket containing the crown jewels, was caught by the incoming tide as it was crossing the ford near Sutton Bridge on the River Nene.

Answer: Henry II

Henry, who reigned from 1154 to 1189, had a tempestuous disposition, like all the Plantagenets. A dispute over church and civil law caused a breach with his long-time friend Thomas a Becket, whom Henry had had appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury. After voicing his displeasure with Thomas, Henry was taken seriously by four of his knights who hightailed it to Canterbury, forced their way into the Cathedral, and slew Thomas on December 29, 1170.

Answer: Henry V

Henry V (1413-1422), wasn't really the lay-about playboy prince depicted by Shakespeare in 'Henry IV, Parts I and II'. By age 13 he was already an able campaigner against domestic enemies of the crown, and will forever be remembered as the hero of Agincourt in 1415.

He was also an able diplomat, cultured and well-educated, and the first English monarch to read and write fluently in English rather than in French.

Answer: Edward VII

Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, was the not-much-loved son of Queen Victoria. He ascended the throne at age 61, having established himself as an inveterate ladies' man, with a dizzying succession of mistresses and one-night stands, and a prediliction for good food, fine alcohol, and cigars, earning for himself the nicknames Edward the Caresser and Tum-Tum.

His reign was relatively unremarkable, but he gave his name to the elegant Edwardian Era.

Answer: George III

George III (reigned 1760-1820) will always be remembered as the king who was responsible for the American Revolution. (In actual fact, the Founding Fathers should have laid their grievances at the door of George's Ministers, who were responsible for what were termed "the Intolerable Acts".) His nickname derives from George's interest in agricultural improvement in the U.K., since he was monarch at the time of the Industrial Revolution.