Scotland's Monarchy 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ayrshire

Robert II died at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire on the 19th April 1390, aged 74.

He ascended the throne when he was 54 years old after the death of his uncle, David II. His reign started well as he was able to stabilise and greatly improve the country's finances - due in part to a flourishing wool trade and, on the death of Edward III of England, he no longer had to pay David II's ransom money.

However, he became a weak king and, towards the end of his reign, did not rule well over his nobles. They were critical of him and the prestige of the crown weakened. In an attempt to restore law and order his eldest son, John, took over the rule of the Kingdom.

Robert was buried at Scone Palace on the 25th April and he was succeeded by John, who took the name Robert III.

Answer: Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany

Robert, Duke of Albany, seized the regency after his elder brother, Robert III, died in 1406. He made no attempt to rescue his nephew from captivity and instead focused on securing his own interests and increasing his power.

He died in 1420 while James was still in England, leaving the regency to his only son, Murdoch. His regency would not last long though as James finally returned to Scotland in 1425 and executed him and two of his sons for treason. This virtually wiped out the Albany Stewarts.

Answer: Perth

James I was staying at Blackfriars in Perth with his wife Joan Beaufort. During the night, a band of men led by Sir Robert Graham broke into the King's apartments in a bid to assassinate him. James tried to make a run for it by breaking through the floorboards and jumping in to the sewer below.

Unfortunately for James, it had recently been blocked. The assassins found him and he was stabbed to death although evidence suggests he put up a fight.

His queen, Joan Beaufort, was also injured but she managed to escape and take her young son, now James II, to safety.

Answer: Black Dinner

Sir Alexander Livingston and Sir William Crichton were joint counsellors to the young James II. They perceived the Douglas clan as a threat and were terrified that the King would fall under their influence.

They invited William, 6th Earl of Douglas, to dine with James at Edinburgh Castle in November 1440. Legend has it that during the feast a black boar's head - a symbol of death - was brought in to the hall. At this signal the Earl and his brother were dragged out to Castle Hill, given a mock trial and beheaded.

Answer: University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the second oldest university in Scotland and the fourth oldest in the UK behind Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews.

St Andrew's University is the oldest in Scotland (third oldest in the UK) and was founded sometime between 1410 and 1413 during the reign of James I.

The University of Aberdeen was not founded until 1495 during the reign of James IV. At that time it was called King's College and this was joined by Marischal College in 1593. It was not until 1860 that the two colleges merged together to form the University of Aberdeen.

Though it may be surprising, there was not a university in Edinburgh until 1582.

Answer: True

James III had two sons who were both called James (imaginative wasn't he?). His third and youngest son was called John.

There is controversy as to why both boys were called James. One theory is that at the time of the younger James' birth, the older James was seriously ill and not thought likely to live. However there is little evidence to support this. In the late medieval period it was not uncommon to have two brothers with the same name.

Answer: Cambuskenneth Abbey

He was buried along side his queen, who had died at Stirling Castle in 1486, at Cambuskenneth Abbey in Stirling.

Kelso Abbey is where James III was crowned in August 1460 and Holyrood was where he married Margaret of Denmark.

Dunfermline is where Robert the Bruce, Malcolm Canmore III and St Margaret are (or were) buried.

Answer: Scottish Gaelic

James IV was apparently fluent in many languages, including Scottish Gaelic, French, Spanish and German.

It was during his reign that the Lord of the Isles was defeated, causing Gaelic to suffer without a figurehead to keep the language and culture together.

The language was also considered barbarian and uncouth, and as James V's mother was Margaret Tudor, English influence probably deemed it unnecessary to teach the language to the young King after his father was killed.

Answer: Catherine of Aragon

Henry VIII was over in France when James invaded England and so it was up to Catherine, whom Henry had appointed regent, to send an English army north to meet him. It was commanded by the Earl of Surrey and resulted in the death of most of the prominent Scottish nobles including James himself.

Answer: James was Henry's nephew

James V's mother was Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII and elder sister of Henry VIII. Therefore Henry was James' uncle.

Answer: Falkland Palace

James' army was defeated by the English at the Battle of Solway Moss on 24th November 1542. He took ill on the 6th December and died on the 14th, just six days after the birth of his daughter, Mary. Some say it was because he had a nervous breakdown after hearing of the defeat.

James had extended the buildings at Falkland Palace in the French Renaissance style during the 1530s and it became one of his favourite residences. It is home to the oldest Real Tennis Court in the world and is still in use.

Answer: The Rough Wooing

The Rough Wooing was not actually a term applied to the conflict by contemporaries and the phrase was coined nearly 300 years later by Sir Walter Scott. At the time it was known in Scotland as the "Nine Year War". The name was said to come from a comment by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, who reportedly said: ""We liked not the manner of the wooing, and we could not stoop to being bullied into love." How accurate this is though remains a mystery.

The Border Wars were a series of conflicts between Scotland and England in the border regions of both countries that occurred mainly in the fifteenth century.

The Second War of Independence happened during the reign of Edward III who had resented his mother's treaty to end the first conflict. It lasted from 1332- 1357 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick.

The Anarchy is the term used to describe the English civil war that raged between Stephen and Matilda for the English crown in the twelfth century.

Answer: Loch Leven Castle

After a stand off at Carberry Hill on 17th June 1567, Mary surrendered to the Confederate Lords and she was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, located on a small island in the middle of Loch Leven. It was here that she miscarried twins, and only a few days later on 24th July she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one year old son, James. She was imprisoned for less than a year as she escaped on the 8th May 1568.

She raised an army of 6000 men but was defeated at the Battle of Langside on the 13th. She spent a night at Dundrennan Abbey before she crossed the Solway Firth into England. She was never to return to Scotland.

Answer: True

He took the spelling of his father's surname rather than his mother's. Thus when he took the English throne, he became the patriarch of the Stuart dynasty of Great Britain (not Stewart ...).

Answer: Henry IV of France

Apparently he was described thus because he "never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one." Unfortunately I could not find who claimed this nor could I find any further reference as to how he was given this nickname. Nonetheless ... it seems very fitting!