1500-1599 UK History Trivia

1. Henry VIII married his brother's widow. What was Henry's brother's name?

From Quiz Tudor Miscellany

Answer: Arthur

Arthur, as the eldest son of Henry VII, was the heir to the throne and made the advantageous marriage to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Arthur's death as a late teen made Catherine a widow, and the laws of the church did not permit a man to marry his brother's widow. Henry VII, however, managed to gain a papal dispensation that permitted his son, the future Henry VIII, to marry Catherine. Some historians suggest that a key factor in Henry VIII's appeal to the pope was that the very substantial dowry due from Spain from Catherine's original marriage remained partially unpaid, and that the marriage of Henry to Catherine would ensure collection of the remainder. Later, when Henry VIII asked for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon the fact that he had already been granted a dispensation to marry her in the first place was an additional complication.

From Quiz Tudor Me This

Answer: Battle of Bosworth Field

On 22 August 1485, Henry Tudor, then the Earl of Richmond, led his people to Leicestershire, England to confront King Richard III on the field of battle. The Battle of Bosworth in Leicestershire, a significant turning point in the War of the Roses, led to the death of Richard III of the House of York. To secure his claim to the throne, following a coronation near the village of Stoke Golding, Henry VII promised to marry Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Their marriage in 1486 united the houses of York and Lancaster, the two opposing sides in the War of the Roses.

From Quiz Soldiers in Plays Like to Shakespeares

Answer: 1580s

By the 1580s, Protestantism had been established in England for some 50 years but was still capable of being reversed. Philip II, the widower of the Catholic Queen Mary, was King of Spain and the Pope was very willing to support his 1588 plans for an invasion of England to restore Catholicism. The main thrust of the attack was to come through a large fleet or armada of 22 warships and over 100 other vessels. The English fleet under Francis Drake ended victorious with serious weather off the coast of Ireland being a key factor in driving many Spanish ships onto rocks. The English love handing down apocryphal stories about their heroes and there is one concerning Drake and the Armada which has him on Plymouth Hoe, insisting on finishing a game of bowls before going into action.

From Quiz The Tudors Re-Write History - Season II

Answer: No - wrong Pope and wrong visuals

Cardinal Campeggio was the papal legate (representative) to England, and presumably discussed matters with "the Pope," but which one and when? Paul III (Peter O'Toole in The Series) was elected in October 1534, after Anne Boleyn's coronation. Construction of the Basilica proper began in 1547; the dome was finished in 1590; the rest was completed in 1626. The aerial view shows a wide avenue that was constructed in the 1930s. Season One also used this erroneous "establishing shot," as well as a picture of Vienna, Austria to represent 16th century Paris.

From Quiz The Road to Absolutism in England: II

Answer: French

Henry's army consisted mostly of French mercenaries because when Henry VI died, he and his mother fled to Brittany where they had stayed for 14 years.

From Quiz The Tudors Re-Write History - Season One

Answer: Yes: medical science is unsure exactly what it was

The sweating sickness, as it was called, apparently originated in France. The disease apparently struck wealthy victims more often than the low-born, making it particularly frightening to the upper classes. It vanished within a few decades. Modern medicine is uncertain of what it really was: hanta virus has been suggested.

From Quiz Life Was Cheap under the Tudors ...

Answer: all three reasons

She was indeed found guilty of all these (recent historians argue she was innocent). She miscarried during a tournament, when she feared for the life of her husband. This mark of love was all the more unfortunate since the foetus was reported to have been deformed. The king, despite being eager to have a son, could not risk having an unhealthy heir to the throne. Anne Boleyn pleaded with him, bringing him their healthy child (the future Elizabeth I), but to no avail.

From Quiz Elizabethan Times

Answer: Bloody Mary

Mary I was nicknamed "Bloody Mary." She lived up to this nickname as she tried to restore Catholicism to England and in her short reign of five years (1553-58), over 300 Protestants were burnt as heretics.

From Quiz British History II

Answer: William Cecil

He had sat in every Parliament since 1547.

From Quiz Back to the Sixteenth Century

Answer: Utopia

The book was originally written in Latin and published in the country now called the Netherlands. It was translated into English, and published in that language, in 1551. By then, More had been long dead, having been executed for his refusal to recognise Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England. He was beheaded in 1535, and canonised (declared a saint) in 1935 by Pope Pius XI.

From Quiz Tudor Miscellany

Answer: There was practically no evidence against her

As would be the case today, it wasn't easy to figure out exactly what happened about thirty years ago, as Catherine's hearing occurred in 1529 and Arthur had died in 1502. Life expectancy was fairly short in Tudor times and very few had served in the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII (although Thomas More and Cardinal Wolsey are two who did), and even fewer had lived at both courts. This entire episode was about Catherine being over 40 and viewed as incapable of bearing a child by the standards of Tudor times. Henry's obsession with having a male heir took over and divorcing Catherine, despite no compelling evidence against her, was his only solution.

From Quiz Tudor Me This

Answer: Arthur

Arthur Tudor was born at the end of September in 1486, mere months after his father Henry VII took the throne. Arthur was betrothed to princess Catherine of Aragon, the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain when he was just two years old, before he was even named the Prince of Wales. Catherine first arrived in England in 1501 and was wedded to Arthur on 14 November 1501 at St Paul's Cathedral. Catherine was given away at the ceremony by ten-year-old Henry Tudor, Duke of York. When a sweating sickness spread through England in the spring of 1502, Arthur fell ill and passed away on 2 April. He was buried in Worcester Cathedral.

From Quiz Soldiers in Plays Like to Shakespeares

Answer: 1510s

In 1517, Luther wrote his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" more commonly known as the "95 Theses". According to the famous account of fellow reformer, Philipp Melancthon, these were nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg although this was written after the event without independent verification.

From Quiz The Tudors Re-Write History - Season One

Answer: No: completely impossible

Thomas Tallis was the leading composer of the early Anglican Church. He never met Sir William Compton, who died (of the sweating sickness) in 1528, at least 15 years before Tallis came to London. Tallis was happily married; Sir William less so; both were apparently "straight." In 1528, the year of Compton's death, Compton was 53 years old and Tallis would have been about 25.

From Quiz Bastles and Barnekins - Steel Bonnets: 2

Answer: The English wardens were required to keep in closer touch with their government then their Scots counterparts

The land on the Scottish side of the border seems to have been better than the land on the English side so the local Scots were probably better off than the English. The English wardens were a long way from London but even on 16th century roads the Scottish wardens were close to Edinburgh. Smoking people out of fortifications was sufficiently common for there to be a term (scumfishing) for it.

From Quiz Life Was Cheap under the Tudors ...

Answer: she died of puerperal fever

She died of puerperal fever shortly after giving birth to the future Edward VI, Henry's long-awaited son. Henry VIII beheaded "only" two of six wives, Anne Boleyn (number 2) and Catherine Howard (number 5), for adultery that she had indeed committed. Two others were simply dismissed, Catherine of Aragon (number 1) because she could no longer give him children (so he divorced her), and Anne of Cleves (number 4) because she "looked like a horse" (sic), so he had the union cancelled for non-consummation. His last wife, Catherine Parr, survived him - against all the odds.

From Quiz Elizabethan Times

Answer: Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I was the sister of Mary I. Elizabeth was a Protestant, and Mary was a Catholic.

From Quiz Tudor Miscellany

Answer: Lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon

Anne was a lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. Her sister, Mary Boleyn, was a mistress of Henry VIII prior to Henry's infatuation with Anne.

From Quiz Tudor Me This

Answer: Greenwich

The Palace of Placentia, also called the Palace of Greenwich, was built by Duke Humphrey of Gloucester in 1443 along the banks of the River Thames in Greenwich, England. It was redesigned by King Henry VII around three large courtyards between 1498 and 1504. The Palace of Placentia was the birthplace of Henry VIII and his two daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and was the location of his wedding to both Catherine of Aragon in 1509 and Anne of Cleves in 1540. The palace was demolished in 1660 by King Charles II and was eventually replaced by the Greenwich Hospital in 1694. An historic marker stone was placed on the site of the demolished palace that reads: "On this site stood the Tudor Palace of Greenwich - Built by King Henry VII - Birthplace of King Henry VIII in 1491 and his daughters Queen Mary I in 1516 and Queen Elizabeth I in 1533".

From Quiz Soldiers in Plays Like to Shakespeares

Answer: 1540s

Nicolaus Copernicus set out his theory in the book "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" which was published in 1543, the year of his death. He had begun his speculations as early as 1514 but delayed publication of the completed work probably for fear of the backlash it would provoke.

From Quiz The Tudors Re-Write History - Season II

Answer: Yes - got that right

The Series is basically correct. One might quibble with the Series showing Henry's authority as a single piece of legislation, whereas there were several Bills involved. If you watch The Series, you may question the apparent confusion between Henry's becoming the head of the Church and the development of Protestant theology in England - the latter occurred later, and gradually.

From Quiz The Road to Absolutism in England: II

Answer: John Fortescue&Fortescue&Sir John Fortescue

Fortescue accompanied Queen Margaret of Anjou and her court in their exile on the Continent, and returned with them afterwards to England. On the defeat of the Lancastrian party he made his submission to Edward IV, from whom he received a general pardon.

From Quiz Odd Man Out Tudor Style!

Answer: Duke of Norfolk

The Dukes of Norfolk during the Tudor Dynasty were Thomas Howard and his grandson ... Thomas Howard. As Roman Catholics they were out of favour in the reign of Elizabeth I.

From Quiz Bastles and Barnekins - Steel Bonnets: 2

Answer: They would flee from gunfire

They seem to have gotten over this fear quite soon (assuming the report was not just a slander). The wheel lock appeared about 1530 allowing guns to be carried ready for firing and without matches which could betray your position with a glow or smoke (very important in border warfare). Wheel locks were always expensive and "high tech" in the 16th century. In 1590 there was an incident when the Scots claimed 60 men out hunting were set on by 400 armed English. The English claimed it was a raiding party as there were at least three times the number and at least four score had firearms.

From Quiz The Steel Bonnets

Answer: Six

Both countries had an East, Middle and West March. (In this context, "march" means "border district"). The Scots held that Liddesdale was almost a march on its own under its keeper. Liddesdale area was so wild that the author Sir Walter Scott (a good "Borders" name incidentally - there were three Walter Scotts involved in the freeing of Kinmont Willie) was supposed to have been the first person to take a wheeled vehicle into the valley.

From Quiz Life Was Cheap under the Tudors ...

Answer: refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy recognizing the King as Head of the English Church

The question of Henry's divorce, and of the coronation of Anne Boleyn in 1533 (which More refused to attend), triggered the king's wrath against him. The other answers are totally false, except for the one about Bibles in English. Thomas More passed laws (with Henry VIII's consent) to make these illegal (proclamation of 20th June 1530) as he thought Biblical knowledge should distributed by superiors at their own discretion - but this was not the reason for his execution. More's sucessor (Thomas Cromwell) was also beheaded, and his predecessor (Thomas Wolsey) died in prison with an execution looming ahead.

From Quiz Elizabethan Times

Answer: Henry VIII

King Henry VIII was their father. In 1534 he severed all links with the Papacy after the Pope denied his request for a divorce. He was not keen on introducing the Reformation to England, but ruthlessly seized and, for the most part sold off, monasteries and their treasures.

From Quiz British History II

Answer: Council of Trent

From Quiz Back to the Sixteenth Century

Answer: Archbishop of Canterbury

As Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer was the men tasked by Henry VIII to extricate him from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. As Catherine had previously been married to Arthur, brother of Henry, the argument was made that this contravened ecclesiastical law, making the marriage null and void. Unfortunately for Cranmer, Henry's death led to the accession of Mary I, a staunch Catholic, who considered Cranmer to be a heretic. He was executed in 1556.

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