British History in Roman Numerals Quiz

Answer: Hadrian

The date CXXVIII corresponds to the year 128.
Hadrian ordered the Wall to be built for the purpose of better garrisoning of the Roman borders. He claimed that a "divine instruction" prompted him to order its construction. After Hadrian's death, his successor, Antoninus Pius advanced further into Caledonia and ordered another Wall to be built further north. However, in 162, the Romans withdrew back to Hadrian's Wall.

Answer: The Battle of Hastings

The date MLXVI corresponds to the year 1066.
Harold Godwinson was defeated at Hastings by William of Normandy, known as William the Conqueror. Harold was killed in the battle, which was fought on October 14, 1066. On Christmas Day in the same year, William was crowned King, thus ending the Anglo-Saxon era and the Early Middle Ages in England. Harold's death is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and the depiction is faithful to the tradition that Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye.

Answer: The House of Plantagenet

The date MCLIV corresponds to the year 1154.
Despite the fact that Henry is widely considered to be the establisher of the Plantagenet Dynasty, some historians term Henry and his sons, Richard I Lionheart and John, the Lackland as the "Angevin dynasty", because Henry was the Count of Anjou. Henry's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine provided the basis for English domination claims in France and resulted in many wars.

Answer: Magna Carta

The date MCCXV corresponds to the year 1215.
The first drafts of Magna Carta were made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with the purpose of making peace between the unpopular King John and the feudal aristocracy, as well ase protecting the rights of the Church. King John was forced to accept it, but Pope Innocent III declared it invalid and the First Barons' War erupted. After King John's death, his son, Henry III, changed parts of the document, so that he could eliminate the more radical provisions, and reissued it.

Answer: Edward II

The date MCCCXIV corresponds to the year 1314.
The Battle of Bannockburn was a decisive Scottish victory. The northern parts of England were subjected to Scottish raids, the besieged fortress of Stirling fell to the Scots. 14 years after Bannockburn, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was signed, recognizing Scotland an independent kingdom and restoring the Anglo-Scottish borders at their antebellum position.

Answer: The Longbow

The Longbow allowed the archers of Henry's army (who hailed mostly from England and Wales) to aim at the French knights and dispatch them with great accuracy and speed. Since the French had to cross a sea of mud in order to reach the Englidh positions, it was only natural that the force with the most and better archers would have an advantage.

The French lost over 10,000 dead, including many noblemen, while the English suffered only 112 dead and a number of wounded.

Answer: Battle of Stoke Field

The date MCDXXXVII corresponds to the year 1487.
The Battle of Stoke Field was a victory for Henry and was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses. After Henry's victory, the Tudor dynasty was established and soon England became one of the major powers of the world.

Answer: Francis Drake

The date MDLXXXVIII corresponds to the year 1588.
Though Drake is largely credited with that victory, Lord Howard of Effigham (1536-1624 and Lord High Admiral, 1585-1619) was the actual English naval supreme commander at that time.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada was a part of the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War that spanned from 1584 to 1604 and ended with the 1604 Treaty of London, where the antebellum status quo was re-established.
As for Sir Francis Drake, his success earned him great respect and, one year later, he tried to invade Spain via sea, but this expedition failed.

Answer: Scotland

The date MDCCVII corresponds to the year 1707.
The English Parliament had passed an Act of Union with Scotland in 1706, but the union became complete only when Scotland's Parliament passed the Act with the similar content. The passing of the Acts of Union ended, in a bloodless and peaceful way, a series of English efforts to annex Scotland, efforts that began in the late Middle Ages.

Answer: Arthur Wellesley

The date MDCCCXV corresponds to the year 1815.
Arthur Wellesley is better known by his later title, Duke of Wellington. He defeated Napoleon at Waterloo with the help of the Prussian general Blucher and others. He later rose to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and earned the nickname "Iron Duke" because of the iron windows he had installed in his house.