William and Mary - the Glorious Revolution Quiz

Answer: She burst into tears

Mary was fifteen and William was an unattractive twenty-seven year old. He had a thin, hunched body and a large nose. Mary's sister Anne described him as "Caliban", the mythical Greek ogre. Charles II had arranged the match and despite the reluctance of James II, it went ahead with Mary again in tears. In hindsight, the marriage is now deemed to have been very successful.

Answer: Charles I

William III was the grandson of Charles I through his mother, Charles' daughter Mary who married William II of Orange. William III was also the great-grandson of King Henri IV of France through his grandmother, Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. Parliament wanted William to be prince consort to his English wife Mary, daughter of the deposed James II, but both William and Mary insisted they rule equally.

Answer: The birth of his son

James was a Roman Catholic and, despite his increasingly despotic behaviour, Parliament was relying on succession by his adult Protestant daughter Mary. The birth of a son to his Catholic 2nd wife caused Parliament to take fright and William and Mary were invited to take the throne. In an added twist, after so many years of failure there were doubts as to the new baby's parentage and there was a rumour that another woman's baby had been smuggled into the bed in a warming pan. Baby James went into exile with his parents in 1688 and because of the suspicions of his ancestry, became known as The Old Pretender. He was the father of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender.

In those days, Roman Catholicism was closely associated with absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings.

Answer: £50,000

William wanted to keep a tight financial rein on Anne but Parliament overruled him and granted a generous allowance to their home-grown princess.

Answer: An official document limiting their royal powers

The Declaration of Rights, and in the following year the Bill of Rights, established the much increased powers of Parliament and decreased the powers of the monarchy. It called for regular parliaments, free elections and freedom of speech within Parliament.

It stopped the monarchy raising taxes, having its own army without the permission of Parliament and barred Catholics from the throne. It banned 'cruel and unusual punishments' and excessive bail. It listed James II's abuses of his royal prerogative and sought to make such despotic behaviour from a future monarch impossible.

It is one of those great constitutional documents and parts of it were later adopted in the U.S.

Answer: Whitehall Palace

Apparently a Dutch maid was drying clothes in front of the fire in a wood-panelled room when the linen went up in flames which rapidly spread. It was January and the Thames was partly frozen over, preventing fire services drawing much water to stop the flames. Almost the only part that survived is the Banqueting Hall built by Inigo Jones for James I, which still stands today.

Answer: Fighting abroad

William spent much of his time battling on the continent while Mary took charge at home. In 1692 he suppressed the Jacobite rebellion in Ireland but most of his battles were to do with the wars between France and the Netherlands, which made him unpopular with the British people. In the longer run, however, he did much to establish England (later Britain) as a great power.

Answer: 32

Mary died in 1694 of smallpox. She was very popular with the people, firstly in Holland and then in England. Her marriage was deemed successful (as royal marriages go)but she had great sadnesses in her life. She felt guilt at the estrangement and displacement of her father, her quarrel with her sister over the Churchills had damaged her popularity in her last couple of years and her childlessness had been a blight on her life.

Despite all this, when her husband was away and she agreed to take charge, she seems to have been a sensible and able sovereign.

Answer: His wife wrote to him and asked him to give her up

After his wife died, William was given a letter she had written to him condemning his relationship with his mistress, even though she had long been aware of it. He was deeply affected by his wife's sudden death and pensioned off his mistress. When he died, a locket containing his wife's hair in was found next to his heart.

Answer: A mole at Hampton Court

William's horse caught its foot in a molehill and he was thrown, breaking his collar-bone. The wound didn't heal, William weakened and in a few weeks was dead. The Jacobites, who regarded him as the usurper of James's throne, drank secret toasts to his nemesis - the mole - the little gentleman in black velvet.