The Last of My Line Trivia Quiz

Answer: Henry I

The House of Normandy provided England with three kings: William I (1066-1087), William II (1087-1100) and Henry I (1100-1135). The House of Normandy is best known for its rise to power in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings as well as for the construction of castles across the land. Henry Beauclerc (Henry I) is not as famous as his father, William the Conqueror, but historical review of his leadership is favourable as he dealt with numerous factions in France, England and Wales.

When the son of Henry I died in the sinking of the White Ship, the House of Normandy was left with no male heir. Henry I looked to nominate his daughter, Matilda, to succeed him but his nephew had other ideas.

Answer: Stephen

Stephen staged his coup upon the death of Henry I in 1135, strong arming Matilda out of her inheritance. Matilda, and those loyal to her, did not take this lying down and the coup left the nation in disarray. Stephen would be the first and last ruler from the House of Blois as, after two decades of civil war, Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda, that the latter's son should be recognised as the rightful heir to the throne.

This was codified in the Treaty of Wallingford (1153), the terms of which were fulfilled upon Stephen's death a year later.

Henry II became the king of England and the House of Anjou became preeminent.

Answer: John

Oh King John, to you history has not been kind! Rulers from the House of Anjou are also known as the Angevins and they were Henry II, Richard I (Lionheart) and John. John was the monarch during the time when the House of Anjou lost most of its territory in France and it is this shift in geography and power that has led to a classification being retrospectively applied. Namely, that Henry II to John are now considered to be Angevins due to the more significant presence on the continent.

Henry III was the son of John, signatory of the Magna Carta or "Great Charter", and Henry ascended to power upon the death of his much maligned father in 1216.

Answer: House of Plantagenet

Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III and Richard II are considered to be the Plantagenets proper and they ruled over England from 1216 to 1399. The tyrannical Richard II, who at a young age brutally suppressed the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, was ousted in 1399 by Edward IV and the story goes that Richard was left to starve to death at Pontefract Castle in 1400.

Due to the seizure of the Crown, power had shifted from the House of Plantagenet outright, to a cadet branch - the House of Lancaster.

Answer: Henry VI

The reign of Henry VI, the last of the Lancastrians, was split into two separate terms; the bulk of his reign took place during his first spell as king (1422 to 1461), with a half-year period of restoration following in 1470/1471. Henry VI was a child king, ascending to the throne before his first birthday, and he grew up amid a backdrop of politicking and warfare - the Wars of the Roses (1455 to 1487).

As part of the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV, backed by noblemen sympathetic to his cause, ousted the weak and ineffectual Henry VI following victory at the Battle of Towton in 1461. Nine years later, a revolt saw Edward IV flee to the continent and Henry VI was reinstated.

His restoration was short lived and Edward IV would return to power.

Answer: Richard III

"Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain", dying on the fields at Bosworth in 1485. With him died the House of York and the overarching House of Plantagenet, the latter also encompassing the House of Lancaster. Richard III occupied the English throne for little more than two years and his short tenure was characterised by rebellion. In comes the House of Tudor!

Answer: Yes

The House of Tudor is undoubtedly one of the most famous royal houses to have reigned over Britain. Starting with Pembroke-born Henry VII in 1485, the Tudors had 118 years of uninterrupted rule; this came to an end as a result of the very powerful Elizabeth I, "The Virgin Queen", bearing no child. And so it came to pass in 1603 that James I - Elizabeth's first cousin (twice removed) - took to the throne, the dawning of the age of the House of Stuart. This transition was painless enough, but the Stuart era would turn out to be anything but stable.

Elizabeth reigned for the longest of any Tudor monarch (44 years), with her father, Henry VIII, ruling for a few months shy of 38 years.

Answer: Anne

The Stuart era, and the eleven year interregnum, saw sustained challenges to the concept of monarchy; a king lost his head (a grizzly end for Charles I) and the Cromwells seized executive power for a time (Richard proved incompetent). After periods of anarchy, in the literal sense of having no head of state at all, Britain saw restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and it was up to Charles II to bring some stability to a country that had long been at war with itself. Forty odd years and a string of monarchs later, Queen Anne was on the throne.

Anne's life was a tragic one, illness after illness fell upon her and her experience with pregnancy and childbirth is perhaps one of history's most harrowing. Depending on the source, Anne was known to be pregnant either 17 or 18 times, with only five children surviving the full term of pregnancy; worse still, only one child survived beyond the age of two - Prince William, Duke of Gloucester. Queen Anne would outlive Prince William, as the latter died at the age of just eleven, leading to the collapse of the House of Stuart when Anne died in 1714. The Stuarts were replaced by the Hanoverians under the leadership of George I.

Answer: No

For those studying the Hanoverians, memorising the order of the monarchs is pretty straightforward: George I, George II, George III, George IV, William IV and finally, Victoria. Queen Victoria is of course known for her long reign from 1837 to 1901 and for the prolonged period of mourning for her husband, Albert. Victoria and Albert left behind a rather extensive family and their eldest son, Albert Edward, would succeed Victoria under the regnal name of Edward VII.

Edward VII was the first British monarch to rule as part of the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, on account of a child, at that time, being considered to belong to the father's house rather that that of the mother. This implementation of patrilineality saw the end of the House of Hanover and the emergence of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.

Answer: George V

The Saxe-Coburg Gotha name became something of a problem as tensions between the United Kingdom and Germany were all too evident with WWI raging on for a devastating four years. In 1917, three years into the war and seven years into the reign of George V, a rebranding exercise took place where the overtly Germanic name of Saxe-Coburg Gotha was replaced by the overtly British name, Windsor, after the fortress-like Windsor Castle.