The Kings of France Trivia Quiz

Answer: Clovis

If one discounts the Merovingians and the Carolingians as Kings of France in the strict sense of the word, Hugh Capet is the first 'King of France'. But the question was who came first in the history of France and that's obviously Clovis (born in 465 or 466) or Chlodwig (the ancient form of ... Louis), the Frankish King who systematically extended his territory till, when he died in Paris in 511, he had extended his authority over almost all the tribes of Gaul.

Originally his kingdom had been limited to the area around Tournai in what is now Belgium. Pepin (not Pippin) the Short was born in Belgium, too (Jupille 715 - died in 753) and was the father of Charlemagne (742-814). Hugh Capet was the son of the Count of {Paris;} ruled from 939 till 996.

He succeeded to the last of the Carolingians: Louis the Do-Nothing (967-987).

Answer: Louis II the Bald

It was not Louis the Bald, but Charles (II) the Bald (Frankfurt 823 -Avrieux 877). Louis VI the Fat was born in 839 and ruled from 884 till 888. Louis VIII the Lion was the son of Philip Augustus the victor of Bouvines. Born: Paris, 1187. King in 1223. Died in 1226 at Montpensier. He is the one who led the 'Crusade' against the Albigensians.

Answer: Eleanor of Aquitaine

Adelaide of Savoy was Louis VII's mother. Bertha of Holland was his grannie. Alix of Champagne was Louis VII's third wife. Louis VII was born in 1120 and ruled from 1137 till 1180 when he died in Paris.

Answer: England, Flanders, Germany

Philip II Augustus was born at Gonesse in 1165, became King in 1180 and died at Mantes in 1223.He is the one who built the first Louvre Palace, the Notre Dame Cathedral and founded the University of Paris.
At the time, Otto IV of Brunswick was the (contested) Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, sometimes called the "First Reich". After his defeat at Brunswick he was deposed and replaced by Frederick II Hohenstaufen.
Kaiser Billy's "Empire", dated back to 1871, when Prussia had tried to
re-install some kind of "united" Germany. It ended with the Treaty of Versailles, when it became the Weimarer Republic (not a "Reich" ).
Hitler saw himself as the man who was chosen by destiny to establish the Third German Reich, which if all had gone as planned, was meant to last for a thousand years.
Some of the territory of the First Reich was outside modern Germany, but nonetheless the Emperor is usually referred to as "the German Emperor" as the core of the Empire were the many Duchies and Counties where German was spoken. Though the Empire was not a nation state in the modern sense of the word, the Latin name of this so-called First Reich soon became "Sacrum Romanorum Imperium Nationis Germanicae". Oddly enough Rome was NOT part of it, as this was Papal Territory.

Answer: He was declared a saint by the Church already before his death.

In the course of his reign he had to defend his kingdom against a coalition led by Hugh de Lusignan and Raymond the VII of Toulouse which had the backing of Henry III of England. He was an excellent diplomat, kept a watchful eye on the bailiffs, seneschals and provosts (in modern terms: police and judges) of his kingdom and was the creator of the first French Parliament.

He also founded numerous hospitals and was canonised in 1297, 27 years after his death and of course not BEFORE his death, as the Church always plays it safe when canonising people.

Answer: murdering his wife Joan of Navarre

He rightly felt that 'money was the soundest basis for a good administration' and drew the less sound conclusion that anything was allowed if it made him richer. When he taxed Church property he got into conflict with the Pope himself but that proved no major obstacle.

He had Boniface VIII replaced (Anagni Incident) by Clement V, a French Pope who ruled the Church from a French homebase: Avignon. Only the Flemings proved too strong for him as his glorious army was smashed in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 near Courtrai, much to the delight of Dante Alighieri who gleefully mentions the event in the 'infernal' section of his Divina Commedia. Philip the Fair was born at Fontainebleau 1268, got onto the throne in 1285 and died in 1314.

Answer: He was born five months after his father died.

The French may occasionally do strange things like eating snails and frogs, but they don't crown corpses yet. Born in Paris in 1316, on 15th of November, five months after his father's death, John died on 19th of November, four days old. Some sources say it was on 20th. Rumour has it that his death had been caused by his uncle the Count of Poitou, who succeeded him in January 1317 under the title Philip V the Tall.
Some, even stranger rumours have it that the royal baby was replaced by another dying one. The "royal baby" is then supposed to have been moved away from France and to have grown up and have led an anonymous life in Italy. As the son of a Siennese merchant, according to one of the stories.
John I (or "Jean Premier" as the French say it) was the son of Louis "le Hutin" ("the Headstrong"; "the Quarreler").

Answer: The French King Charles VI had gone mad

Charles VI(1368-1422) was indeed unable to really rule his kingdom. He became King in 1380 but until 1388 it was his uncles who firmly had power in their hands. In 1392 he went mad, and the Duke of Orleans declared himself regent which was not accepted by John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy.

The assassination of the would-be Regent led to a civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. After Agincourt John the Fearless was murdered by the Armagnacs on the bridge of Montereau, during an attempt at reconciliation.

In the Treaty of Troyes it was agreed that Henry V, who had married a French royal princess, would inherit the throne.

Answer: the Little King of Bourges

He first was named the 'Little King of Bourges', but once he was able to rally the country behind him, he earned himself a much more prestigious nickname and became Charles the Victorious. He was born in Paris in 1403, became king in 1422, anointed in 1429, and died in 1461.

It must be mentioned that his letting-down of Joan of Arc in her hour of distress will forever be a blemish on his reign.

Answer: One of the French Kings was married to Mary I

Francis I was born at Cognac in 1494. He became King in 1515 and tried to annex certain areas of Italy to his kingdom. His main opponent was Charles V, the (elected) Holy Roman (German) Emperor who defeated him at Pavia, in 1525. John II the Good, was in spite of his name a king who blundered himself through life.

He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and his own countrymen did not even want to pay the ransom. When also his son, who had pledged to replace him as a prisoner of the English King, broke his promise, John II saved his personal honour by returning of his own free will to his English prison.

The King who struck his head against a lintel was Charles VIII the Affable. Louis XII, the Father of the People, married Mary Tudor in 1514.

She died in 1533. THAT Mary Tudor however, was not Henry VIII's daughter, the future Bloody Mary, but his beautiful sister.

Answer: Mary Stuart

Eleanor was the wife of Louis VII and was Queen of France from 1137 till 1152 when she divorced her French husband and married the future Henry II Plantagenet. Elisabeth ( b.1555 - d.1592) was Francis's successor's wife. His successor Charles IX was the second son of his predecessor. Catherine de Medicis( b.1519- d.1589) had been that predecessor's wife. Mary Stuart (b.1542-d.1587) later became Queen of Scots, and her career is well-known enough.

Answer: Henry IV

Francis the First lived from 1494 till 1547. Henry IV from 1553 till 1610. It was he who proclaimed the Edict of Nantes giving religious freedom to his subjects. Louis XIII was the King who owed a lot to his principal minister Richelieu. The Treaty of Ales confirmed the religious freedom granted already by the Edict of Nantes. Louis XIV found it more opportune to withdraw that Edict at the end of the War of the League of Augsburg.

Answer: St. Bartholomew's Day

The massacring of protestants led to a first wave of emigration of French intellectuals to other countries. More important still was the Revocation by Louis XIV of the Edict of Nantes, which led to the massive emigration of French Huguenots to protestant countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, England. Traces of that emigration can still be found in the street names of the Soho area in London.

Answer: Mazarin

Coligny, an important leader of the French protestants, was killed during the St. Bartholomew's Night (1572). He had been involved in politics already during the reigns of Henry II (1547-1559), Francis II (1559-1560) and Charles IX (became King in 1560).

The Duke of Guise was his main opponent. He was killed on the orders of Henry III in 1588. Henry III himself was assassinated too, by a Jacobin friar named Jacques Clement. Ravaillac was the murderer of Henry IV (1610). Richelieu, Louis XIII,'s minister ruled France with iron fist and a lot of shrewdness. All this pacified the country. Mazarin continued his work under Louis XIV. Gradually freedom of opinion was domesticated again. Mazarin (1602-1661) was of Italian origin as his real name illustrates: Giulio Mazarini.

There are rumours that after Louis XIII's death he secretly married his widow, Anne of Austria.

Answer: Maria Teresa of Austria

Anne of Austria had been Louis XIII's Queen from 1615 till 1666. Maria Teresa was Louis XIV's wife from 1660 till 1683. Her name is sometimes spelled Marie Theresa or Marie Teresa. Though called Maria Teresa of Austria, she was the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain. Marie Lescynzka was Louis XV's wife. From 1725 till 1768. Marie-Antoinette, wife of hapless King Louis XVI, followed her husband as a victim of the guillotine. The execution of the royal couple on 21st January 1793 led to a powerful anti-French reaction from the rest of the European Royalty. Apart from having wives, these Kings also performed very well in the field of collecting mistresses. Marie Mancini, Louise de Valliere and Madame de Montespan were some of Louis XIV 's top favourites. Madame de Pompadour and the Duchess of Barry were among Louis XV's darlings.
In his famous painting of her Diego Velazquez, calls Maria Teresa "of Austria", "Infanta of Spain". When discussing Louis XIV,most genealogists seem to prefer to call he "of Austria".
There is also Maria Teresa the Empress of Austria (1717-1780) and there was a Maria Teresa of Spain from 1882 till 1912.

Answer: Vauban

Turenne aka Henri de la Tour d' Auvergne, born 11 Sept. 1611 at Sedan. Educated as a Protestant, but adapted to Louis XIV's religious preferences, which greatly helped him in his military career. Napoleon called him one of seven greatest 'captains of war' in military history. Was first buried with the Kings of France in their Necropolis in the St. Denis Abbey near Paris.

In 1808 Napoleon had his remains removed to the Invalides Church in Paris. Vauban: b. 15th of May 1633 at St. Leger de Foucheret, d. 1707. Genius of military architecture. Colbert (1619-1683): helped to bring about the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet. Was a very successful practitioner of mercantilism. Louvois (1641-91): one of Louis XIV's top generals.

Introduced the bayonet and the flintlock rifle. Advocated the close cooperation of the artillery and the corps of engineers with the infantry. Supported the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Answer: Philip Equality

There was a Louis the Stammerer, but he was one of the Carolingian Kings, from 877 till 879. He had been born in 846. It was Lafayette and Lafittte, the famous banker, who manoeuvred Philip on to the throne. He tried to steer a middle course between Right Wing Monarchists and Republicans.

His Prime-Minister was Guizot. The 1848 uprising forced him to abdicate. He took refuge in England, where he died.

Answer: Ghent

In 1791 Louis (b.1755, d. 1824) had escaped to Koblenz and later found safer refuge in Italy, Russia and England. He was forced to accept the constitutional system, but was surrounded by reactionaries who wanted to return to the glorious days of the monarchy before the Revolution. After Bonaparte's defeat he regained the throne.

Answer: During the Revolution he was incarcerated and later died in prison

At the time that Louis XVIII got to the throne, it was not clear yet what had happened to Louis XVI's son, the Louis XVII in spe.
Some people claimed that the boy's corpse that had been shown as being "the Dauphin"'s was somebody else's.
For a while in monarchistic circles the legend was kept alive that he still might pop up. That may be why a 'slot' was kept vacant in the royal genealogy. Recent research seems to have proved that the real Louis XVII indeed died in prison.

Answer: St. Denis Abbey near Paris

The Abbey of St. Denis had been funded for by King Dagobert. One of its best-known abbots was Suger (12th century). He became a top adviser to the French King. The Abbey shows the beginnings of Gothic architecture in France. It was also here that Henry IV solemnly abjured his protestant convictions.