French Royals Trivia

1. Joséphine Bonaparte was not born "Joséphine" and, in fact, prior to meeting Napoleon, had never been called Joséphine by anyone. What name(s) did her family and friends know her by up until 1795?

From Quiz Not Tonight, Josephine...

Answer: Rose or Marie Rose

Joséphine was born with the name Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie. Although she is said to have been born in Martinique in 1763, there is some question about this, since there is evidence suggesting she was born in St. Lucia on 23rd June of that year and was then christened in Martinique. (St Lucia changed hands from being British to French 14 times over 150 years, and records were lost, but there is a newspaper article suggesting the family lived on St. Lucia after the "peace of 1763".) Either way, she definitely did live on Martinique with her family. She was the eldest daughter of Joseph Gaspard Tascher (1735-1790), an impoverished aristocrat who had a commission in the navy, and Rose-Claire Tascher (formerly des Vergers de Sannois). Joséphine's parents owned a sugarcane plantation on Martinique, which later became a museum. When Napoleon met Rose/Marie Rose, he made no secret of the fact that he didn't like the name Rose or Marie Rose. Instead he called her "Joséphine", a play on her middle name. She ended up adopting this name and calling herself it for the rest of her life.

From Quiz Philip IV of France

Answer: He was canonized.

Louis IX was canonized in 1297, not long after his death in 1270. His family was known for their piety. His sister Isabelle of France was also worshipped as a Saint. In the centuries after his death, Louis was seen as the ideal Christian king. Having a saint in the family added greatly to the prestige of the French Royal family. Louis IX did go on Crusade twice, but wasn't very successful. The Battle of Bouvines was a great French victory, but was won by Louis IX's grandfather Philip II in 1214.

From Quiz Vive la Reine

Answer: He was a Viking.

Rollo was a Viking warlord, who became the ruler of Normandy. William I of England, famous as Willian the Conqueror, was a direct descendant of his. Adelaide of Aquitaine was influential at the court of her husband and played a diplomatic role as well. All the following kings of France were her descendants. He died more than a century before the First Crusade, so wasn't involved in any way.

From Quiz Weddings of Royalty 3

Answer: Pope Clement VII

Pope Clement VII, her uncle, was thrilled when King Francis I proposed marriage between his second son Henri and Catherine de Medici. Clement called betrothal of Catherine and Henri as "the greatest match in the world".

From Quiz Louis XV: After Me the Deluge

Answer: Great-grandson

Louis XV became king of France in 1715 when he was only five years old. Between 1711 and 1712 his grandfather, both parents and elder brother all died unexpectedly. He grew up an orphan, lonely and all too aware of the huge responsibility that awaited him. Philippe of Orléans (Louis XIV's nephew) acted as regent until Louis XV reached maturity at the age of 13.

From Quiz Kings and Queens of Navarre (1234-1610)

Answer: He composed music that is still played today

Theobald was first known as 'the Posthumous' because he was born after his father died. He would later get the nickname the 'Troubadour', because of his talent in music. He was also a renowned poet and dedicated a poem to Blanche, the Queen-regent of France, which created a lot of gossip. He was also a lawmaker and wrote a book about Navarrese traditions.

From Quiz Blanche of Castile, Queen and regent of France

Answer: Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry was notorious for the slaying of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, which happened after four knights heard him wish for his death. He did public penance afterwards. Eleanor was notorious for reportedly having affairs during her first marriage and for her rebellion against Henry, who was her second husband. John and Richard were their sons and both gained notoriety after they rebelled against their father. John also showed a great lack of respect for the church and was rumored to have murdered a nephew with his own hands. Isabella of Angoulême would later become an enemy of Blanche and incited her second husband Hugh de Lusignan to fight her. She would also be suspected of trying to poison Blanche's son Louis. Philip and Agnes lived together as husband and wife, but the Pope ordered Philip to go back to his first wife. When he did not listen, the pope placed France under an interdict.

From Quiz Napoleon II

Answer: Marie Louise

Emperor Napoleon I was married to Josephine de Beauharnis. They had no children. Napoleon became disgusted with her, divorced her and married Marie Louise of Austria. Marie Louise was the daughter of Emperor Francis II of Austria. She was a very intelligent person, who had to rule France as a regent for some time. After Napoleon's exile, she moved to Austria and married again.

From Quiz Empress Josephine: The Early Years

Answer: Marie-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie

Josephine was born as Marie-Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie in Trois-Ilets, Martinique on June 23, 1763.

From Quiz Louis XIV

Answer: Mazarin

Mazarin died in 1661. France had been considerably weakened because, during due to this period of regency, the country's own gentry had invaded Paris. The noblesse d'epee objected to the throne being dominated by a Spaniard and Italian, this resulted in the Frondes. They did not rebel against the young king, however one of Louis's motives throughout his reign was to tame his nobility.

From Quiz Secrets of the Gotha IV

Answer: Elizabeth Charlotte Wittelsbach of Bavaria

Princess Elizabeth was born on 27th May 1652 in Heidelberg, Germany, the daughter of Elector Charles Louis Wittelsbach of the Palatine and Princess Charlotte von Hesse of Cassel. Duke Philippe of Orleans, brother to Louis XIV, had been a widower for nearly three years when he married his second wife, after the death of Princess Henrietta Anne Stuart of Great Britain. Philippe and Elizabeth were married on 15th January 1673 in Chalons, France and had three children; Duke Alexander of Valois, Duke Philippe II of Orleans and Princess Elizabeth, the duchess of Lorraine. Elizabeth outlived her husband by over a decade, dying on 8th December 1712 in Paris, France. "She possessed not only the face and figure of a German foot soldier, but the language and character also ... but she not the kind of woman to be astonished for long or to moan in rain over the disadvantages of a union more symbolic than real. She had wit and in her famous letters took her revenge for the unkind remarks her appearance and manners had provoked in Versailles".

From Quiz Secrets of the Gotha II

Answer: The House of Osman in Turkey

"A young cousin of his wife, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, had been carried off by Barbary pirates during a sea crossing, sold as a slave in Constantinople and had then become Sultana Valide, mother of the future Sultan Mahmad II. This exotic relationship had not satisfied the emperor's vanity however, for he dreamed of more illustrious alliances for himself and his relatives".

From Quiz Madame de Pompadour: Mistress of Louis XV

Answer: 1745

She met Louis XV in 1744 but before he would announce her as his mistress he groomed her for the court.

From Quiz Josephine Bonaparte

Answer: West Indies

Josephine was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique in the West Indies where she grew up on a slave plantation called Trois-Ilets. Josephine was one of three girls and often referred to herself as the bejeweled slave.

From Quiz Louis Louis

Answer: Carolingian

The Carolingian dynasty (A.D. 800-987) was named after Charlemagne. Louis I, the son of Charlemagne, reigned from 814 to 840. The last Carolingian king was Louis V, who died in 987. He was succeeded by Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, the founder of the Capetian dynasty.

From Quiz King Philip II of France

Answer: Augustus

Philip IV (1285-1314) was called the Fair, Philip V (1316-1322) was the Tall and Philip VI (1328-1350) was the Fortunate. The title 'Augustus' comes from the Latin augere, which means to increase, given because Philip greatly increased the lands of the French King. Philip was also known as Dieu-donne, or God-given, as he was born when Louis VII was 45 years old and still did not have a male heir, despite having had two wives.

From Quiz Louis XV

Answer: The Duc de Bourgogne

The Duc de Bourgogne (or Burgundy in English) died, along with his wife and elder son, from a plague of measles, when the future Louis XV was only three years old. Louis XIV was the great-grandfather of Louis XV. The Grand Dauphin, the French equivalent of the Prince of Wales, was his grandfather. The Duc d'Orleans was a nephew of Louis XIV and the Regent during Louis XV's minority.

From Quiz Eleanor of Aquitaine

Answer: 1122

Eleanor of Aquitaine was the eldest child of the Duke of Aquitaine.

From Quiz Desiree Clary

Answer: Marseilles

She was born in Marseilles in 1777, where her father was a silk merchant.

From Quiz Philip IV of France

Answer: He still had an older brother at that point.

Louis, Philip's older brother, was considered the heir to the throne of France when Philip was born in 1268. Philip only became heir apparent at age eight, when Louis died. His mother Isabella of Aragon had already passed away at that point, falling from a horse while being pregnant again.

From Quiz Vive la Reine

Answer: Kiev

Anne of Kiev was a daughter of the Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev, and a Swedish princess. By 1051, Henry I of France was in dire need for an heir, as his first wife and son had died. Anne married the much older Henry and they had three sons together. After he died, she acted as regent for their young son Philip.

From Quiz Weddings of Royalty 3

Answer: St. Batholomew's Day Massacre

Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henri II and Catherine de Medici, a Catholic, married Henri of Navarre, a Protestant. In August of 1572 nearly a week after the wedding the massacre began in Paris with several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for the wedding were killed. Thousands more throughout the country were killed in the days that followed.

From Quiz Kings of France

Answer: Phillip II

Phillip II, also known as Phillip Augustus, created a group of paid bureaucrats to aid in government institutions. He built the first Louvre.

From Quiz Louis XV: After Me the Deluge

Answer: Marie Leszczynska

Marie was the daughter of the deposed king of Poland. She was 21 and Louis was 15 when they were married. Although Louis took many mistresses, the couple had ten children. Infanta Maria Anna Victoria of Spain was his first cousin to whom he had been betrothed before. Caroline of Ansbach was the wife of George II of England. Sophia von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg is better known as Catherine the Great, czarina of Russia.

From Quiz Kings and Queens of Navarre (1234-1610)

Answer: England

Her daughter was the famous Isabella, 'She-wolf' of France. She invaded England in 1327 after years of mistreatment by her husband Edward II, deposed him and ruled England for three years with her lover, Roger Mortimer.

From Quiz Blanche of Castile, Queen and regent of France

Answer: Yes, they were very happy together

Unlike her own parents, Eleanor of England was very happy in her marriage to Alfonso VIII of Castile. They shared power and supported each other. After Alfonso died, Eleanor became sick with grief and died only a few weeks later.

From Quiz Napoleon II

Answer: The King of Rome

Napoleon II became Emperor of the French following his abdication in 1815. His father, Napoleon I, decreed that the full title of the heir-apparent to the Emperor should be "His Majesty, the King of Rome". Napoleon II became the Duke of Reichstadt in 1818, seven years after his birth. He was awarded the title when he was living in Austria. He was able hold the title until his death in 1832. Napoleon II was never the Holy Roman Emperor.

From Quiz Empress Josephine: The Early Years

Answer: Joseph-Gaspard de Tascher

Josephine's father was a lieutenant of the Troupes de Marine and his wife was Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sanois, whose maternal grandfather was English.

From Quiz Louis XIV

Answer: Bourbon

The Bourbon dynasty was constantly in competition with the House of Habsburg, which controlled both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Later on in his reign, Louis was challenged by William of Orange, who became William III of England. The Hanoverians were the established royal family of England following the War of Spanish Succession.

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