Ten Centuries of English Writers Quiz

Answer: Robert of Shrewsbury

A Benedictine monk, Robert of Shrewsbury went on to become Prior and later Abbot of Shewsbury. His dates of birth and death are unknown. It is believed that he was born around the turn of the century (11th to 12th) and that he died around 1167 to 1168. His most famous work was his account of the life of Saint Winifred, a 7th century Welsh saint, believed to have been written around 1130. Part of the manuscript is stored at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.

In the television series "Cadfael", the character of Prior Robert was based on Robert of Shrewsbury and portrayed by Michael Culver. In this series, he is depicted as being ambitious and arrogant. He often clashes with Cadfael who finds ways around his authority.

Answer: Roger Bacon

Roger Bacon (c.1219-20 - c.1292) was a medieval Franciscan friar and polymath who wrote about diverse topics, such as theology, philosophy, science, mathematics, optics, alchemy, astronomy, agriculture, grammar, and logic. After he died, he was given the nickname "Doctor Mirabilis", which means "wonderful teacher".

His advocacy for the sciences, and in particular for scientific method and empirical observation, set him in conflict with the church and he was put under house arrest by his fellow Franciscans for "holding and teaching suspected novelties".

Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) was a famous English writer, poet, and philosopher. He has been called the "father of English literature" and the "father of English poetry. He is most famous for writing "The Canterbury Tales". This book has 24 stories.

He planned for 28 but never finished it. Some of the tales are serious, some are funny and some are quite rude. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. In 1556, his remains were moved and he became the first writer buried in the area now called Poets' Corner.

Answer: Sir Thomas Malory

The author of the classic "Le Morte d'Arthur" (French for "The Death of Arthur") was Sir Thomas Malory (c.1415-18 - 1471). It is a comprehensive compilation of all the Arthurian legends, including the stories involving Arthur, Excalibur, Guinevere, Lancelot, the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, Mordred and the fall of Camelot. Malory wrote this book around 1470 while incarcerated in Newgate Prison.

He died there the following year. The reason for his imprisonment is unknown but likely to be political.

Answer: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a playwright, poet and actor and is best known for his 37 plays, which are usually categorised into tragedies, comedies and histories. He was born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon and thus is known as "the Bard of Avon". During his lifetime, some of his plays were banned when they offended the nobility. Through his works, he is credited with contributing over 1700 words to the English language (such as majestic, gloomy, bedroom, and critic), as well as expressions such as 'in a pickle', 'green-eyed monster', 'good riddance', 'brave new world', and 'love is blind'.

Shakespeare is the subject of many controversies, most notably whether he actually wrote the plays attributed to him. More than 80 other writers have been proposed as the real authors of his works, including Sir Francis Bacon; Edward de Vere, and Christopher Marlowe.

Answer: John Milton

John Milton (1608-1674) was a poet, an intellectual and a civil servant who worked for the government of England under Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War years, writing official correspondence in Latin for the government. He is best known for his epic poems "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained".

He went blind before writing these poems so he dictated them to his daughters. Like Shakespeare, he created many words which were added to the English language, the most notable being "pandemonium". Pandemonium was the capital of Hell in "Paradise Lost", referring to a place of chaos.

The word was derived from the Greek "pan" (all) and "daimon" (demon). Other words Milton contributed to English included fragrance, jubilant, impassive, sensuous and debauchery.

He also contributed phrases such as 'all is not lost', 'trip the light fantastic', and 'by hook or crook'.

Answer: Samuel Johnson

Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was an English writer, poet, and playwright, whose most notable contribution to English Literature was as a lexicographer (a person who compiles dictionaries). His "Dictionary of the English Language" was the precursor to the Oxford English Dictionary, which would follow more than a century later.

It took him eight years to complete it. It has been criticised for being incomplete, containing only 42,000 words, and for faulty etymology, literary bias, prejudicial language and spelling inconsistencies, but for its time, and considering it was a solitary effort, the dictionary was a remarkable achievement. Oxford University awarded him awarded an honorary doctorate in 1775 to acknowledge his literary contributions.

Answer: Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817) completed six novels, four of which were published during her lifetime - in order, "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Mansfield Park", and "Emma". "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" were published posthumously in 1817.

The novels that were published during her lifetime were published anonymously, with credit on the title page indicating that they were written "By a Lady". This was because it was socially unacceptable for a woman of her class to be a professional author, as it implied her family could not support her.

Her posthumously published novels were accredited as 'By the author of "Pride and Prejudice", "Mansfield-Park" &c (sic) - With a Biographical Notice of the Author'. Jane Austen's brother, Henry, provided the "biographical notice" which revealed her identity.

Answer: Agatha Christie

Universally acknowledged as the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is well known as the world's most popular mystery novelist. In fact, her estate has now trademarked that epithet. Her books are outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Agatha Christie pioneered many plot devices that had never been previously utilised - such as making the murderer turn out to be the narrator of the story, having a child be the murderer, having "everybody dunnit" instead of a single perpetrator, and having the detective's assistant (the "Watson") be the guilty party.

She perfected the art of the locked room mystery and the seemingly unbreakable alibi. Given her undisputed position as Queen of Crime, it is hard to believe that her first book, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", was rejected by six publishers before it was finally printed five years later!

Answer: JK Rowling

Joanne "Kathleen" Rowling (1965- ) achieved fame for her series of "Harry Potter" books (published between 1997 and 2007). She actually does not have a middle name but she selected Kathleen (her grandmother's name) to satisfy her publisher, who thought that using two initials (JK) instead of Joanne would make her name seem "gender-neutral" and thus more appealing to young male readers.

In 2012 she began to write adult fiction under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith because she wanted the books to be judged on their own merit and not because of her reputation.