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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 90 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 House of Tudor
| When she died childless in 1603, Elizabeth I left her throne to James of Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. Thus, the crown of England passed from the Tudor dynasty to what other dynasty? | The Tudors of England
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Stuart. The Bourbons ruled France. The Hanovers ruled England in the 18th century, and the Windsors (formerly Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) rule England now.
| In a stirring speech to her soldiers before the Spanish Armada was to land - and before the English had word the Armada had been defeated at sea -, Elizabeth I urged them to fight for their country to the last man. Said she, 'I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a _______________...' What word finishes the quote, according to the recollection of Leonel Sharp? | The Tudors of England
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king. This was before the age of female empowerment, but she did a good enough job, don't you think?
We don't have any early drafts or notes from this speech, but the famous quotation comes from a letter that Leonel Sharp wrote to the Duke of Buckingham some three decades after the Queen's speech at Tilbury.
| The closest Elizabeth I ever got to marriage was with a French duke, brother of the King and son of Catherine de'Medici, with whom she actually contracted a marriage before things fell apart. What was he duke of? | The Tudors of England
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Anjou and Alencon. His name was Francois, and he died about a year after the marriage fell through. Otherwise he would have succeeded to the throne of France.
| When Mary died, she was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth I, otherwise known as Good Queen Bess and other nicknames. What Crown colony, now a U.S. state, was named for her -- or, more accurately, for an aspect of her character? | The Tudors of England
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Virginia. She was the Virgin Queen - hence, Virginia.
| One of the most terrible failures of Mary's reign was the loss of what French city, the last English foothold in France? | The Tudors of England
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Calais. Mary mourned for Calais the rest of her life.
| Mary I caused quite a stir not only because she was Catholic, but also because she married a man who would in a few months' time become Philip II of what nation, the on-again, off-again enemy of England? | The Tudors of England
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Spain . This is the same Philip II who later sent the Great Armada against Mary's sister Elizabeth. At the time of his marriage to Mary (in 1555), he was king of Naples and of Sicily; he became king of Spain in January 1556 when his father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, abdicated. Many thanks to deanovc, who kindly pointed out that Philip was not yet king of Spain at the time of his marriage to Mary.
| When Henry's son died, there was a brief plot by Lord Northumberland to lock both of Henry's daughters out of the succession by placing a cousin on the throne. What was the name of this girl, who reigned for nine days and was then imprisoned and beheaded by Mary? | The Tudors of England
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Lady Jane Grey. Northumberland was executed too, as was Jane's husband Guilford Dudley. (Guilford's brother, Robert Dudley, survived to be an important man in Elizabeth's court.)
| One of the very few lasting achievements of Henry's son's reign was a prayerbook for the Anglican Church. What was the name of this prayerbook? | The Tudors of England
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Book of Common Prayer. The Psalter was a product of the Plymouth Bay Colony. The Book of Kells was an illuminated Roman Catholic manuscript, hidden for centuries in people's attics from royal soldiers who would have burned it. (Aren't religious wars a wonderful thing?) Another achievement of Edward's reign was the establishment of a number of grammar schools throughout England.
| After Henry VIII's death, his son -- still a child -- succeeded him. What was the son's name? | The Tudors of England
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Edward . Edward VI was Jane Seymour (Wife Number 3)'s son.
| Henry VIII's final wife (Number Six) survived him, despite frequent arguments on religion. After Henry's death she married a courtier, Thomas Seymour (later beheaded for conspiring against King Edward VI) and died giving birth to his daughter. Who was this Dowager Queen? | The Tudors of England
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Katherine Parr. There's a story that at one point Henry actually made out a death warrant for Katherine Parr, but that a sympathetic Palace guard informed her of the plan and she was able to talk her way out of it. The daughter she bore Thomas Seymour -- first child for both of them -- survived the birth, but is lost to history.
| Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves (Wife Number Four) largely on the basis of a portrait Hans Holbein had painted of her. Sadly, however, Anne and Henry were not quite as impressed with each other when they met in real life. By what unflattering name did Henry reportedly refer to his bride? | The Tudors of England
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Flanders mare. According to legend, Holbein's portrait left out evidence of pockmarks on Anne's face, souvenirs of a bout of smallpox. There may have been other reasons for the bridal couple's disaffection; some argue that Henry may have been frustrated with her taste for garlic or her lack of education and erudition (a duke's daughter, her upbringing had centered on needlework). Or perhaps it was Anne who disliked Henry's looks; she may have set out to be as charmless as possible.
Their marriage ended, apparently unconsummated, seven months after it began. Anne lived in England for the rest of her life, supported in style by Henry.
| Wife Number Five was cousin to another of Henry's wives. Which wife was #5's cousin? | The Tudors of England
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Anne Boleyn . They were both beheaded. So were various of their other relatives. There was just something about that Boleyn and Howard clan . . .
| Think back to the old rhyme, still used by schoolchildren to remember Henry VIII's wives: 'Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.' Who was his fifth wife, the second to be beheaded? | The Tudors of England
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Katherine Howard. She had apparently neglected to inform her husband the King that she was actually also the common-law wife of one of his courtiers. A slight matter of adultery, that she was probably actually guilty of -- unlike another of Henry's wives.
| Henry VIII had a little-remembered older brother, who married Catherine of Aragon and would have become king before him, had he not been a sickly youth and died in his teenage years. What was this brother's name? | The Tudors of England
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| Henry VII became King of England, founding the Tudor dynasty, when he defeated Richard III at what final battle of the Wars of the Roses? | The Tudors of England
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Bosworth Field. Henry, a Lancastrian, cemented his claim to the throne by marrying Elizabeth of York, heiress to the House of York. She was the elder sister of the Princes in the Tower, who were murdered as children by parties unknown (but much speculated on).
Elizabeth. All through his reign, Henry VIII had feared leaving England in the hands of a female monarch, but Elizabeth's reign was the longest, most peaceful and most prosperous of any of the Tudor monarchs.
James I. James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots whom Elizabeth had put to death. He was Elizabeth's second cousin. This began the rule of the House of Stuart in England.
The Pope. Sixtus V, who was Pope from 1585-1590, was quoted as saying this after the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary Queen of Scots, was held prisoner in England before being executed after a plot to assassinate Elizabeth was discovered.
Virginia. It is named for the 'Virgin Queen', Elizabeth Tudor. Maryland was named for Henrietta Maria the wife of Charles I.
Robert Dudley. Elizabeth had known Robert Dudley since her childhood. They were imprisoned in the Tower at the same time, and although many historians believe they saw a great deal of each other in the Tower, this is doubtful. Later in Mary's reign, after they were both released, he sold off some of his land to pay her debts. Elizabeth gave him the honor of riding beside her to her Coronation. She gave him rooms adjoining hers in the palace. They were very close all their lives and she kept his last letter by her bed where it was discovered when she died.
| When Elizabeth was placed in the Tower of London by her sister Queen Mary, she believed that she would never leave the place alive. She decided to make one request of Mary concerning her death. What was it? | The Tudor Monarchs of England
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To be beheaded by a swordsman from France like her mother Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth decided to make this wish after being taken through Traitor's Gate (the same gate her mother Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard were taken through) from which very few people emerged alive. She was lodged in the same rooms as the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey.
none. Phillip and Mary had no children together. Mary had two false pregnancies: she believed that a child was growing inside of her, when actually it was a tumor that later caused her death.
Spain. Mary married Phillip of Spain who was the Great Nephew of her mother Katherine of Aragon. Phillip like his wife was a fanatical Catholic. The English people hated Phillip.
Bloody Mary. Mary was a fanatical Catholic and had over 350 Protestants burned at the stake during her five-year reign.
Catholic . Mary, like her mother Katherine of Aragon, was a fervent Catholic. This caused many problems between Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth, who was a Protestant like her mother Anne Boleyn and her converted father Henry VIII.
Jane Grey. Lady Jane Grey, The Nine Days Queen, was forced against her will to marry Gilford Dudley the son of John Duke of Northumberland and to become Queen of England. Mary raised an army to gain the throne she deserved and Jane, Gilford, and John were thrown in the Tower. All were later executed.
Thomas Seymour. Thomas Seymour had flirted a great deal with Elizabeth when they were both living in the house of the Dowager Queen. When the Queen died in childbirth, Thomas tried to marry Elizabeth without the approval of the Privy Council. This led to his death on the block.
Edward Seymour. Edward Seymour, Edward Tudor's uncle, was the first Protector of the Realm. He was followed by John Dudley. Thomas Seymour, also a brother of Jane, married Henry VIII's widow Katherine Parr the Dowager Queen. Both Thomas and Edward were executed during Edward Tudor's reign.
Katherine Parr. Henry VIII, despite the breach with Rome, remained essentially Catholic in outlook. He wrote a book entitled 'In Defense of the Seven Sacred Sacrements' against Luther and the Protestants for which he was rewarded by the Pope with the title Defender of the Faith. He broke from the Catholic Church in 1533, when he was denied a divorce from Katherine of Aragon. He made himself head of the Church of England and granted himself his divorce. He was excommunicated. Although he was a heretic in the eyes of the rest of the world, he never saw that that way. Katherine Parr, who was Protestant in outlook, was accused of heresy and saved herself only by groveling.
Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard were cousins, and both were executed for adultery. They are buried side by side. Anne fell out of the King's favor after giving birth to Elizabeth and then miscarrying the son she had promised. She was wrongly accused and convicted of having affairs with five men including her brother George. She was executed by a special swordsman from France. Katherine Howard was the King's fifth wife and she was young and foolish. She was guilty of her crimes and also beheaded.
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