They Came From The East Trivia Quiz

Answer: Byzantine

Leo was the second Byzantine Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty. The Byzantine Empire emerged from the eastern portion of the Roman Empire in the mid-5th century and existed for over one thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The capital of the empire was the city of Byzantium, which is now known as Istanbul and is located in modern day Turkey.

Leo's parentage is unclear, with both Emperor Basil I and Emperor Michael III being named as potential fathers. Whatever the truth was, he succeeded Basil as emperor and reigned with mixed success in both his domestic and foreign policy. One particularly controversial issue during Leo's reign was the fact he had a total of four wives, in a place and a time when marrying for a third time was considered illegal!

Answer: Aragon and Castile

In the 21st century Navarre is a province of north-east Spain including the city of Pamplona, but in the 12th century it was a kingdom in its own right, squeezed between the larger, and more famous, kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Sancho the Wise was the sixth King Sancho of Navarre and dedicated the earlier part of his reign to conducting both physical and diplomatic battles against the neighbouring kingdoms in an attempt to recover territory lost following earlier conflicts and treaties. These disputes continued for many years until King Henry II of England was invited to arbitrate on the matter in 1176. Sancho's eldest daughter, Berengaria, was subsequently married off to Richard I of England, Henry's son and successor.

Sancho was also noted for founding monasteries, supporting architectural projects, providing protection for Jews and immigrants to his country and developing Navarre's international influence and importance.

Answer: Astronomers

As well as ruling Castile, Alfonso was also King of Leon and Galicia (other former Spanish kingdoms) and was titular 'King of the Romans' for 18 years before his abdication from this role in 1275. The latter title is deceptive as it was actually used to refer to German kings rather than kings of the capital city of modern day Italy.

The 'Alfonsine Tables' (sometimes spelled as Alphonsine) were a set of astronomical tables, translated into Castilian from the original Arabic versions. Astronomical tables provided data that allowed astronomers to calculate information such as the position of the planets, phases of the moon and the timings of sunrise and sunset. The 'Alfonsine Tables' were considered authoritative and are known to have been widely used until the 17th century, including by the famous astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus.

Answer: Robert

King Robert of Naples gained his epithets from his reputation for being cultured as well as his achievements in supporting the Pope, and opposing the power of the Holy Roman Emperor in northern Italy.

Unusually, he was succeeded as ruler of Naples by his 16 year old granddaughter, Queen Joanna I. She reigned for nearly 40 years before being assassinated on the orders of her adopted son, Charles, who promptly took over as King Charles III of Naples. Joanna's death was particularly brutal as she was strangled and her body was then supposedly dumped into a well.

Answer: Dauphin

Charles the Wise, also known as Charles V of France, was granted the title of 'Dauphin' when his grandfather, King Philip VI, made him the ruler of the then province of Dauphine. Charles' new land was located in south-east France, and included the city of Grenoble. The title 'Dauphin' was automatically granted to the King's heir apparent right up until it was abolished following the French Revolution.

The successes of Charles' reign, both military and cultural, probably account for the flattering title of 'the Wise'. Unfortunately his son and heir, King Charles VI, had a disastrous reign and ended up with the title of 'Charles the Mad'.

'Duke of Normandy' was another title held by Charles, 'Duke of Orleans' was a title usually reserved for the eldest brother of the King of France and 'Prince of Wales' is the title usually held by the first male in line to the British throne.

Answer: Louis the Prudent

Medieval kings of many countries, and particularly France, tended to spend extravagant amounts of money on their courts, palaces, clothes and armies. However, King Louis XI managed to gain a reputation for prudence by wearing simple clothes, mixing with the common people and removing bureaucracy and inefficiencies in the government. He did spend money on useful projects though, such as road-building and improved communication networks (or webs) - hence his other title, 'the Universal Spider'.

Louis was King of France from 1461 to 1483, and oversaw France's initial developments as a modern nation. His reign coincided almost exactly with that of King Edward IV in England, and he appears as a character in Shakespeare's 'Henry VI, Part III' as an eventual supporter of the deposed King Henry against the usurper, King Edward.

Answer: He was also her adopted son

Information about the life of Mandukhai Khatun is sketchy but she is believed to have been born around 1450 into an aristocratic family. Her first husband was Manduul Khan who ruled the Mongol Empire in the 1470s and after his death she adopted a young boy, Dayan Khan, who was the last remaining descendent of Genghis Khan. The term 'khatun' is the feminine form of 'khan'.

She later married Dayan Khan, and fought alongside him in battle - even whilst she was pregnant with twin sons. She is recorded in history as a great warrior, with the Chinese believed to have extended the Great Wall of China in order to defend against her forces. Her date and place of death is not known, but it probably occurred in the first decade of the 16th century.

Answer: Martin Luther

One historical account records that Martin Luther nailed a copy of his work 'The Ninety-Five Theses' to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany on 31 October 1517. This date is commonly accepted as the start of the Protestant Reformation, when many Christians broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and set up their own national and denominational churches to follow different doctrines and religious practices.

Frederick the Wise (or Frederick III) was Catholic but supported the Protestant reformers. The Edict of Worms in 1521 declared Luther and his followers to be heretics and outlaws and offered rewards for their capture. Frederick protected Luther by hiding him for nearly a year at Wartburg Castle.

The term 'Elector' refers to a prince who had the right to vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Duke of Saxony was one of the original seven rulers formally granted this title and role by the Golden Bull of 1356. The other six were the King of Bohemia; the Margrave of Brandenburg; the Count Palatine of the Rhine; and the Archbishops of Cologne, Trier and Mainz. (Others were added later).

Answer: The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was a fleet of around 130 ships that sailed from Spain with the aim of escorting an army across the channel to invade England. The attempt was a disaster as they were thwarted by bad weather, lost a battle against the English navy led by Sir Francis Drake, and then lost over one third of their ships and thousands of men in storms off the coast of Ireland as they attempted to return to Spain. Although bad luck played a part in the defeat, the main factor was poor management and planning by Philip and his allies.

However, Philip did preside over many Spanish successes during his reign, including the development of trade routes between Spain and the Americas, the defence of Catholicism in Europe and recovery from major financial problems. He also had a whole country, the Philippines, named after him!

The Spanish Conquest refers to Spain's colonisation of areas of the Americas. The Spanish Inquisition was a policy that forced non-Christians (particularly Jews and Muslims) to either convert or leave Spanish territory. The War of the Spanish Succession was an 18th century conflict over the balance of power in Europe following a debate over who would succeed King Charles II as Spanish monarch.

Answer: James I (and VI)

The use of the phrase "the wisest fool in Christendom" to describe King James I of England (and VI of Scotland) is often attributed to King Henry IV of France.

James was King of Scotland for the majority of his life having succeeded his mother (Mary, Queen of Scots) at the age of just 13 months. He also inherited the title of King of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. James was a strong believer in the divine right of kings, with one of his published works being an essay on that subject. He sponsored the translation of the Bible known as the 'Authorised King James Version' and was an active literary patron.

By contrast though he was also a fervent supporter of witch-hunts, and attended the North Berwick witch trials that persecuted at least 70 people. He had frequent conflicts with parliament and passed on his disdain for the government to his son, Charles I. This was possibly his worst misjudgement as the attitudes and actions Charles learned from his father ultimately led to the English Civil War and his execution.