Whether you are isolating or just want the chance to do some trivia, here’s a new easy to evil quiz for you. The rules are the same as ones I have done in the past. You get the question, then a photo and the answer will be below the photo. There are four categories Easy, Medium, Hard and Evil. This quiz is a general history theme, without a specific era focus. The vast majority of answers have been mentioned somewhere on Historical Ragbag before. All the photos are mine. Keep track of your score and see how you go at the end. Good luck!!
Easy
Established in 1835 what is the capital of Victoria Australia?
Answer: Melbourne
2. Where Was Picnic At Hanging Rock set?
Answer: Hanging Rock (no it wasn’t a trick question)
3. From what castle did the current English royal family take their name?
Answer: Windsor Castle.
4. What is the nickname of the great bell of the clock tower in the houses of parliament in London
Answer: Big Ben
Medium
Where would you find the White Tower, built by William the Conquerer?
Answer: The Tower of London
2. Which king was found buried under a carpark in Leicester?
Answer: Richard III
3. What is the name for Viking boats used for long distance travel and trade?
Answer: Longships
4. Who were sent to Port Arthur in Tasmania? (looking for a general answer)
Answer: Convicts.
Hard
Where in Australia would you find the Big Lobster which was constructed in 1979
Answer: Kingston, South Australia
2. What is the name of the rock 13 km off the coast of Ireland that houses a 6th century monastery
Answer: Skellig Michael
3. Who helped found the State Library of Victoria and was the judge at Ned Kelly’s trial?
Answer: Redmond Barry
4. Where was Matilda of Flanders (the wife of William the Conquerer) buried?
Answer: Abbaye aux Dames in Caen
Evil
What date did Matthew Flinders die?
Answer: 1814
2. When was the domed La Trobe reading room in the State Library of Victoria opened?
Answer: 1913
3. Who caused Hook Lighthouse to be built?
Answer: William Marshal
4. Glendalough was founded by whom?
Answer: St Kevin
And that’s the lot of them. How did you go?
1-4: Ok you know some stuff
5-9: Impressive, nearly half way there
10-15: Stupendous well done, you might actually have read a lot of this blog.
This month’s post is going to be a quiz, I haven’t done one for a while so I thought it’d be a nice change. The rules are straight forward: Read the question, look at the picture (it will be some type of extra information) and scroll down below the picture for the answer. Keep track of your score-including bonus points- and find out how you did at the end. There are four sections: Easy, Medium, Hard, Evil. Five questions to a section. All of the answers can be found somewhere on this blog, or in posts that will be written soon.
Enjoy.
Easy
Question 1: Which King of England was known as the Coeur de Lion?
Answer: Richard I: The photo is of his effigy in Fontevraud Abbey
Question 2: What was sealed in Runnymede in June 1215?
Answer: The Magna Carta. The photo is Runnymede
Question 3: What city is home to the medieval cathedral in the photo below? (sadly it doesn’t look like this now)
Answer: Paris: The Cathedral is Notre Dame (taken in 2012 so well before the fire)
Question 4: What is the name of the medieval illuminated manuscript written by monks in a small town in Ireland in the 9th century and now housed in Trinity College Dublin?
Answer: The Book of Kells.
Question 5: What abbey are a significant number of the Kings and Queens of England buried in?
Answer: Westminster Abbey.
Medium
Question 1: Where was Richard III buried? (the name of the town but you get a bonus point for being more specfic)
Answer: Leicester. Bonus point if you said either under a car park, Leicester Cathedral or Greyfriars)
Question 2: Which English queen (arguably) was known as an Empress and bonus point for why?
Answer: Matilda or Maud and because she had been married to Henry the Holy Roman Emperor. The photo is her burial plaque in Rouen Cathedral.
Question 3: Which Irish saint baptised the grandsons of the King at the Rock of Cashel?
Answer: Saint Patrick
Question 4: What embroidery depicts the events leading up the Battle of Hastings in 1066 as well as the battle itself?
Answer: The Bayeux Tapestry.
Question 5: Which Granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine ruled France as the regent for her son Louis IX
Blanche of Castile. The picture is Angers castle which she was instrumental in building.
Hard
Question 1: Which Irish King was responsible for bringing the English to Ireland in the 1170s?
King Diarmuid MacMurrough of Leinster. The photo is his grave in Ferns Ireland.
Question 2: Which welshman wrote The Topography of Ireland and The Conquest of Ireland in the 1180s?
Answer: Gerald of Wales (also acceptable Giraldus Cambrensis). The photo is his birthplace Manorbier Castle.
Question 3: Which Icelandic Lawman and writer from the 13th century is responsible for much of what we know about Norse Mythology- as he was one of the first to write down the sagas?
Answer: Snorri Sturlson. The photo is of his hot spring at his home in Reykholt in Iceland.
Question 4: What former capital of Norway is home to the castle known as Haakon’s Hall?
Answer: Bergen.
Question 5: Where was Iceland’s Alpingi (a sort of early parliament) held?
Answer: Þingvellir
Evil
Question 1: What is the name of the oldest stave church in Norway? Bonus point for the decade it was built in.
Answer: Urnes. It was built in 1150. The photo is of some of the remarkable carvings.
Question 2: Which French king built Sainte Chapel and for what purpose? You need both to get the point.
Answer: Louis IX and to house his holy relics- including the crown of thorns.
Question 3: What date did William the Conqueror die? And where is he buried?
Answer: 1087 and Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen.
Question 4: Where is the lighthouse built under William Marshal’s direction?
Answer: Hook Head in Ireland.
Question 5: What castle Henry I imprison his cousin Robert Curthoes in?
Answer: Cardiff Castle
So
that’s it. How did you do?
1-5:
Ok you know some medieval stuff
6-10:
Impressive ish, nearly half way there
11-15: Excellent well done, you might actually have read a lot of this blog.
16-20:
Stupendous, well done. Long time follower of Historical Ragbag- or a really
impressive knowledge of random medieval history.
21-22
(remember those bonus point): Inconceivable!
This month I decided to do a quiz, as I haven’t done one for a while. I have also updated two old posts with some new photos and a video. The updated Tower Hill Cemeteries post can be found here and the updated Port Fairy and Cape Schanck can be found here
But to return to the quiz.
The rules are simple. There are sixteen questions in four categories: Easy, Medium, Hard, Evil. You will see a question then a photo clue, the answer is underneath the photo. Good luck and keep track of your score so you can see how you do at the end.
Have fun.
Easy
What is the name of the capital of Victoria?
A. Melbourne
2. Where was the best known book by Joan Lindsay set (hint it features a character called Miranda)
3. What is the name of the main station in Melbourne? (this is very very easy if you look closely at the photo)
A. Flinders Street Station.
4. What is the name of the island best known for its parade of little penguins
A.Phillip Island
Medium
5. What was the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne built for?
A. The 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition
6. Who was one of the founders of the State Library of Victoria, the the library of the University of Melbourne, the Supreme Court Library and was the judge who condemned Ned Kelly to death.
A. Sir Redmond Barry
7. Where in Melbourne can you find 12000 unknown bodies?
A.Under Queen Victoria Market.
8. What attraction was once known as the sow and piglets?
A. The Twelve Apostles.
Hard
9. When was the State Library of Victoria established?
A.1854
10. What and where is the photo below?
A. The ceiling of the ANZ gothic bank in Collins Street Melbourne
11. What is the structure below called and what was it used for?
A. Coop’s Shot tower and creating lead shot.
12. When was the Shrine opened?
A. 1934
Evil
13. What decade was the Scenic Railway at Luna Park opened and which company designed it?
A. 1910s (1912) and it is designed by L A Thompson Scenic Railway Company of New York.
14. What is the name of the mansion built in what is now Somers for Frederick Grimwade in 1895?
A. Coolart
15. Who is the cairn on Arthur’s Seat dedicated to and why?
A. Matthew Flinders because he stood on the mount in 1802
16. Who designed the Forum Theatre
A. John Eberson and Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson
So that is the end. How did you do?
1-4: Well you’ve got some basics down pat. Good start.
5-8: You know more than basics, well on your way.
9-12: Good work, beginning to build a wealth of obscure facts.
13-15: Incredible effort. You may know more about Victoria than is sensible 🙂
This is my second easy to evil medieval quiz. To have a shot at the first click here.
The way this quiz works.
It’s pretty simple. You see the question with a photo underneath and underneath the photo, which might be some kind of clue, you’ll find the answer. There’s twenty five questions so keep track of how many you get right and how many you get wrong and see how you do at the end. There’s also a poll at the end so you can see how you compare to everyone else if you’re interested.
As the title suggests, it starts off easy and gets much more complicated. There are five sections: Easy, Medium, Hard, Difficult and Evil.
Easy
What is name of the Duke who became King of England in 1066.
Answer: William I. Other acceptable answers include William the Conqueror and William the Bastard.
Photo: The Abbey of Sainte-Etienne in Caen where he is buried.
2. What is the name of King John’s Queen?
Answer: Isabelle of Angouleme. (any spelling of Isabelle is allowable, there’s lots of them)
Photo: Isabelle’s effigy (on the left) with Richard I, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in Fontevraud.
3. What is the name of the royal castle only an hour by train from London? The largest inhabited castle in the UK.
Answer: Windsor Castle.
Photo: Windsor Castle, obviously.
4. What is the name of the King who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485?
Answer: William Marshal the Younger. You get the point if you just said William Marshal.
Photo: What is probably the younger Marshal’s effigy in the Temple Church in London.
9. What area of what is now London was known in the medieval period for its brothels, and was the site of the Bishop of Winchester’s London palace who also licensed the brothels. The prostitutes are said to have been called Winchester’s Geese.
Answer: Southwark
Photo: The remains of Winchester Palace.
10. Who wrote the History of the Kings of Britain in 1136?
Answer: Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Photo: Monmouth Castle.
Hard
11. Who purportedly said. (Bonus point for who they are speaking about.)
“My Lords, here you see the countess whom I have brought into your presence. She is your lady by birth, the daughter of the earl who graciously, in his generosity, enfieffed you all, once he had conquered the land. She stays behind here with you as a pregnant woman. Until such time as God brings me back here, I ask you all to give her unreservedly the protection she deserves by birthright, for she is your lady, as we all know; I have no claim to anything save through her”.
Answer: William Marshal, he was saying it about his wife Isabel de Clare. Remember you get the bonus point if you got Isabel de Clare too.
I use “purportedly” in the question because although it is recorded in his relatively contemporary biography we have no proof he actually said it, for more about the complexities of the History of William Marshal click here
The quote is from History of William Marshal Volume II. pgs 177-179. ISBN: 0905474457
Photo: Kilkenny Castle in Ireland, where the statement was purportedly said.
12. What are the dates of the Period of Anarchy where the Anglo Saxon Chronicle said “that Christ slept, and his saints.”
Answer: 1136-1154.
Photo: the non contemporary tomb of Empress Matilda, one of the participants.
13. What is the name of the Earl of Leicester who married King Henry III’s sister?
Answer: Simon de Montford.
Photo: Statue of Simon de Montford, non contemporary, on the clock tower in Leicester.
14. What was the name of William the Conqueror’s brother who possibly commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry?
Answer: Bishop Odo, you can have the point if you just said Odo.
Photo: Ships sailing to England in the Bayeux Tapestry.
15. What is the name of the mistress of John of Gaunt whom he later married?
Answer: William d’Albini the Earl of Arundel you get the point if you just said William d’Albini.
Photo: Castle Rising.
18. Who wrote:
“I have your picture in my room; I never pass it without stopping to look at it; and yet when you are present with me I scarce ever cast my eyes on it. If a picture, which is but a mute representation of an object, can give such pleasure, what cannot letters inspire? They have souls; they can speak; they have in them all that force which expresses the transports of the heart; they have all the fire of our passions, they can raise them as much as if the persons themselves were present; they have all the tenderness and the delicacy of speech, and sometimes even a boldness of expression beyond it.”
Photo: The non contemporary tomb of Abelard and Heloise in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
19. Who took Lincoln Castle in 1144. There were two, but you can have the point if you get one of them.
Answer: Ranulf Earl of Chester and his brother William of Roumare. You get the point if you got at least one of them and some variation on the name is OK.
20. When was the Charter of the Forest first issued separately from the Magna Carta? bonus point for who issued it.
Answer: 1217, it was issued by Henry III under the seal of his regent William Marshal. If you got either Marshal or Henry III you get the bonus point. If you got both, well done you’re very smart, but no extra points.
Photo: Lincoln Castle from inside the walls which holds a copy of the 1217 Charter of the Forest.
EVIL
21. What is the name of the cavern under Pembroke Castle and what stone is composed of?
Answer: Wogan’s Cavern and limestone. you need both to get the point.
Photo: The cavern.
22. Where is this description from the Domesday Book describing?
“King Edward had 51 Burgesses paying rent and 212 others over whom he had sake and soke, and three mills rendering 40s. Now there are 19 Burgesses paying rent. Of [the houses of] the 32 others who were [there] 11 are waste in the city ditch and the archbishop has 7 of the them.”
Answer: Canterbury. The quote is from the page five of the Penguin Classics edition of the Domesday Book.
Photo: facsimile of the Domesday book from the National Archives.
23. What is the name of the chapel in Richmond castle and what century does it date to and what type of vaulting is the roof?
Answer: St Nicholas’ chapel, 11th century and barrel vaulting. You need all three for the point.
Photo: The chapel.
24. What was the amount of money paid to Prince Louis of France to leave England in 1217?
Answer: 10 000 marks
Photo: The effigy of William Marshal in the Temple Church. He was regent at the time the money was paid.
25.
Who created the Lindisfarne Gospels and when did they die?
Answer: Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne and 712.
Photo: Lindisfarne Abbey.
THE END
So that’s it. How did you do?
1-5: Well you’ve got some basics down pat. Good start.
6-10: You know more than basics, well on your way.
11-15: Good work, beginning to build a wealth of obscure facts.
16-20: Impressive. You know you stuff.
21-25: Incredible effort. You may know more about this period than is sensible
26-27 remember the three bonus points: Speechless. Incredible. You definitely know more than you need to about this specific period and area.
28: If you got them all… Sure you didn’t write the quiz?
Now if you feel like it put your results in the poll below.
It’s pretty simple. You see the question with a photo underneath and underneath the photo you’ll find the answer. There’s twenty five questions so keep track of how many you get right and how many you get wrong and see how you do at the end. There’s also a poll at the end so you can see how you compare to everyone else if you’re interested.
As the title suggests, it starts off easy and gets much more complicated. There are five sections: Easy, Medium, Hard, Difficult and Evil.
13. How did the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle famously describe the Period of Anarchy 1136-1154?
Answer: It was a time “that Christ and His saints slept.”
Michael Swanton, (ed) & trans, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, London: Phoenix Press, 2000, p. 265. You get the point if you got a variant of this, there’s different translations.
Photo: The current tomb of Empress Maud, one of the antagonists of the Period of Anarchy.
14. Name the children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Answer: 70.34m, but you can have the point if you said 70.
Photo: My favourite scene in the Bayeux Tapestry with the Hand of God coming out of the sky.
24. Which papal legate played a significant role in the Magna Carta negotiations and in the Regency of Henry III?
Answer: Guala Bicchieri. You can have the point if you only got Guala, or said Gualo. It is a variation of the spelling and often only Guala or Gualo is written.
Photo: Facsimile of Salisbury’s Magna Carta in the Temple Church.
25. Who did Geoffrey of Monmouth describe as “an accomplished scholar and philosopher, as well as a brave soldier and expert commander”?
.
Answer: Robert Earl of Gloucester and oldest illegitimate son of Henry I. The passage is from Geoffrey’s dedication of his work History of the Kings of Britain.
Answer: William Marshal the Younger. You get the point if you just said William Marshal.
Answer: Southwark
Answer: 1217, it was issued by Henry III under the seal of his regent William Marshal. If you got either Marshal or Henry III you get the bonus point. If you got both, well done you’re very smart, but no extra points.
Answer: 10 000 marks
Answer: Wilson’s Promontory
Answer: 1901 . The picture is Tom Robert’s painting of the opening of Australia’s first parliament in May 1901. For more information 
Answer: Magnetic Island.
Answer: Cheviot Beach 1967. For more information 
Answer: The Loch Ard. The photo is of Loch Ard Gorge. For more information 
Answer: Major Thomas Mitchell. For more information 
Answer: Somers. The photo is of Somers’ beach.
Historical Ragbag 