The Merrie Monarch Trivia Quiz

Answer: Catherine of Braganza

Upon seeing Catherine for the first time, her hair in the Portuguese fashion of the time, Charles remarked "they have sent me a bat". Nevertheless, he married her and, despite attempts by others to persuade him to divorce in later years, Charles adamantly refused to countenance throwing his wife over.

Answer: False

Charles I and Henrietta Maria's first child was a boy, also named Charles, who died on the day of his birth in May 1629. The child that eventually became Charles II was born just over a year later in May 1630.

Answer: Worcester

The Battle of Worcester was a disaster for Charles and the Royalist cause, with more than three-quarters of the King's Scottish army either killed or taken prisoner.

Answer: Seven months

In the summer of 1665, the court decamped from the Palace of Whitehall, initially to Hampton Court Palace, before making the journey to the relative safety of Salisbury. However, in September 1665, the court again moved, this time to Oxford, due to cases of plague reported in Salisbury.

Answer: His brother, James

Charles' brother, James, was, by the late 1670s, a publically practising Roman Catholic, and therefore unacceptable to many members of the aristocracy and political elite as the sovereign and Supreme Head of the Church of England. This sparked what came to be known as "The Exclusion Crisis", in which Parliament attempted to have James excluded from the Line of Succession in favour of Protestant members of Charles' family.

Answer: Elizabeth Killigrew

All of the sons of Barbara Villiers, Nell Gwynne and Louise de Kérouaille that survived to adulthood were given dukedoms in their own right. Three of these, the Dukedoms of Grafton, St Albans, and Richmond and Lennox, still exist in the line of descent from Charles II.

Answer: James

Although James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, was the "strapping first fruit of Charles' loins", the fact that his parents were not married made him illegitimate and thus ineligible to succeed to the throne. However, this did not stop some Protestant exclusionists from focusing on him as a potential heir in place of Charles' Roman Catholic brother, James.

Answer: Royal Hospital Chelsea

The Royal Hospital continues to provide a home for retired soldiers to this day. In return for relinquishing their army pension, the In-Pensioners (known as "Chelsea Pensioners") receive board, lodging and medical care, with the only stipulation being that when out in public in the area around the hospital, they should wear their specially provided uniform.

Answer: Three-piece suit

Having spent many years in France during his exile in the 1650s, Charles brought several European ideas about fashion back to England upon his restoration, including not just clothing, but also décor and furnishings.

Answer: Coldstream Guards

In 1660, as part of the New Model Army, Monck's regiment was tasked with keeping order in London, until it was ordered to be disbanded by Parliament. Before that could happen, it successfully quelled the Fifth Monarchists' Rebellion in January 1661. In recognition, on 14 February 1661, the men of the regiment symbolically laid down their arms as part of the New Model Army, before immediately picking them up again to form the Lord General's Regiment of Guards.

Answer: Oak Apple Day

Oak Apple Day was a public holiday in England from 1660 until it was abolished in 1859. However, it is still celebrated in various local events around England, including serving as the Founder's Day of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Answer: True

Thomas Fairfax was less radical than his subordinate, Oliver Cromwell, and opposed the execution of Charles I. Cromwell however was the third signatory on the King's death warrant. This led to Cromwell being condemned following the Restoration and, in January 1661 he was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor. However, he had already died in 1658, and thus didn't mind that much.

Answer: His actions during the Great Fire of London

The failure of the Lord Mayor of London to take control of the situation when fire initially broke out led to the King assuming direct involvement in the efforts to contain the conflagration, both by giving orders and physically lending a hand.

Answer: His racehorse

The nickname "Old Rowley" is supposed to have originated as a result of the success of the horse in siring a number of foals, and the King's equivalent ability to father children. An alternative suggestion for the nickname is that the King was particularly well-endowed, much like his stallion.

Answer: Stroke

Having suffered what was termed an "apoplectic fit" (today generally known as a stroke), the King was treated by a team of fourteen physicians. They tried various procedures believed at the time to rid the body of disease, including bloodletting, enemas and cupping.

He was aware the end was near and on his deathbed requested his mistresses be looked after once he had died, before finally converting to Roman Catholicism the night before his death.