Affair Deal Photo Quiz | Mixed Bag

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Henry VIII's wives ... While still married to Catherine of Aragon, he was attracted by which woman, who would become his wife and mother of Elizabeth 1?

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was only married to Henry VIII for three years, and produced an heir - but not the boy Henry was hoping for. Henry, up to his usual tricks, was soon chasing the lovely Jane Seymour and looking a reason to remove Anne. She was convicted of high treason in 1536 and executed four days after her trial.

2. Which author of "Hard Times" and "Little Dorrit" had an affair with a young actress named Nelly Ternan?

Answer: Charles Dickens

Dickens saw Nelly in a play when she was 18 and he was in his mid-forties. The following year he separated from his wife after she opened a package sent from the jeweller - unfortunately the trinket was meant for Nelly and not for her. Ooops. Ternan was left a legacy of �1,000 when Dickens died.

3. Lola Montez was the mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria, but proved to be a trouble maker, interfering in political matters and generally stirring up strife. In what country was the exotically beautiful woman born?

Answer: Ireland

Lola's mother (who claimed to have Spanish royal blood) was just 14 when she gave birth to Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, in Ireland. Eliza eloped at the age of 19 but when her husband, Thomas James himself eloped with another woman, she took to the stage as Lola Montez.

Her performances were described as 'suggestive' and caught the eye of many a European personality. Ludwig I of Bavaria was especially smitten, buying her a large house and settling an annuity on her. Her 'career' took her to Spain, Germany, Australia and the USA.

The biography of this woman is intriguing and worth a read - it's hard to believe she stuffed so much drama into a relatively short life. She died of the effects of syphilis.

4. Chopin was engaged to Maria Wodzinski for about twelve months, on a sort of trial basis - her parents decided his 'irregular lifestyle' made him unsuitable husband material. After his engagement ended, with whom did he start a long-term relationship?

Answer: George Sand

Novelist George Sand was born Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, and was generous with her affections, having affairs with a number of personalities of the time. While the relationship between Sand and Chopin was instrumental in enabling Chopin to compose the music for which he is rightly famous, their affair was an odd one. Chopin was accused of having 'unsuitable affection' for Sand's daughter Solange. Sand also made an unflattering caricature of Chopin in the person of Karol Lucrezia Floriani.

5. Which uncle of Richard II and father of Henry Bolingroke (Henry IV) was the long-time lover of Katherine Swynford, marrying her in 1396 and paving the way for the War of the Roses?

Answer: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III, had a long term, though adulterous, relationship with Katherine Swynford. She bore him four children and they married in January 1396, when Katherine was in her mid-forties. Their relationship led eventually to the foundation of the house of Tudor.

Henry VII came from the marriage of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster through his father, and from his mother, Margaret Beaufort, through John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. In addition, 3 other descendants of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford became English sovereigns; Edward IV, Richard III and Edward V.

6. Abraham was a bit sceptical when God told him that he'd be the father of multitudes, as he was childless and he and his wife Sarah were getting on in years. Abraham sought to help God along by taking who as his mistress?

Answer: Hagar, handmaiden of Sarah

Sarah and Abraham didn't believe God when he said she would become pregnant so they decided to fix things themselves. Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, became the concubine of Abraham and thus the mother of Ishmael, the founder of the Arab people (Genesis 16:1,2).

The Bible tells us that despite their lack of faith, Sarah gave birth to the child Isaac, the son of promise, when Abraham was 100 and she was 90 years old.

7. This must surely hold the key I'm looking for! Which consort of Czar Peter III succumbed, at the age of around 43, to the charms of Grigory Potemkin?

Answer: Catherine Alekseyevna (the Great)

In common with many of the royal relationships in the 16th - 18th centuries, things were somewhat fluid. Catherine had a succession of lovers.

When the Empress Elizabeth died in 1762, Catherine saw a chance and had her husband Czar Peter III arrested; he was later killed, in a plot widely assumed to be of Catherine's making.

Ukrainian-born Potemkin was useful to Catherine as he was quick-witted and politically astute. They were lovers for many years, though in the longer term, Catherine replaced him with younger men.

8. Egyptian royals: Cleopatra is known to have been the lover of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, but how was she related to her first husband, Ptolemy XIII?

Answer: He was her brother

Cleopatra was useful to her brother as his marriage to her assisted his claim to the Egyptian throne, but was also a shrewd and intelligent ruler in her own right. While they were definitely co-rulers, it is uncertain whether they actually consummated the marriage.

9. According to Katharine Hepburn, she and Spencer Tracy had a long-lasting affair which "was to me absolute bliss". Also the atomic number of iron, how long did their relationship last?

Answer: Twenty-six years

The real-life chemistry between these two showed on the silver screen. Though their affair started early on in their movie collaboration, they kept it secret, out of respect for Tracey's wife (they never divorced).

10. Well, now, here's a convoluted mess. Cosima von B�low became the second wife of German composer Richard Wagner (having an affair with him while still married to Hans von B�low, and while Wagner was still married to his first wife). However, Cosima was herself the result of an affair her mother, Marie d'Agoult, had with which composer?

Answer: Franz Liszt

Marie d'Agoult was an historian and author, whose pen name was Daniel Stern. Liszt and d'Agoult had a five year affair which started while d'Agoult was married to Charles Louis Constant d'Agoult, Comte d'Agoult. Her affair with Liszt produced three children.

Source: Author VegemiteKid

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Affair Deal Trivia Quiz

I HAVE to get the key to an Adventures in Authoring challenge - and I need your help. History is full of affairs and intrigues, and I know you're a whiz at history. Please, help me find the key!

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