Medieval Monarchs Quiz Answers

11/24/97

Thanks go to everyone who participated in the quiz. It was a tough one, but some of you just wouldn't give up. The only person who got all 20 answers correct is:

Possum

Congratulations, Possum, you did a great job!

I'd also like to thank all of you for your feedback. We'll be having more quizzes in the future on subjects you find interesting, at varying levels of difficulty. Please be sure check back often for quizzes in the future.

And now....

The Answers

William of Normandy was not the only invader in 1066; another king felt he had a right to the English throne.

	1. What was this king's name? (both first and last names were required)		Harald Hardrada, Hadrade or Hardratta Harald Sigurdsson was also accepted.
	2. What country did he already rule?		Norway Denmark was also accepted

Hardrada began his journey to kingship as a fierce soldier. He became a member of the Varangian Guard, where he served the Empress Zoe and acquired enormous riches. Such was his power and reputation that when he returned to Norway in 1042 the King, Magnus the Good, gave him half his kingdom. Upon Magnus' death in 1047, Harald came to control all of Norway. When the Danes refused to acknowledge his governance, he waged a war of 12 long years to bring them under his control.

Hardrada's claim to the English throne was based on his rule of the Danes. Beginning with Canute, three Danish kings had ruled England before Edward the Confessor had come to the throne, and when Edward produced no sons the Danes felt they had a right to reassert their power. This was a tenuous right, at best. However, Tostig, the treacherous brother of Edward's successor King Harold, led Hardrada into the erroneous belief that the English Earls would support his claim to the throne. Harald set sail for Stamford Bridge, and in the resulting battle on September 25th, 1066, his life was taken by an arrow through his throat.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge was significant to the Battle of Hastings three weeks later. Harold's army was weakened and tired from the earlier battle, and this may have contributed largely to his defeat. Harald's death is also considered to mark the end of the Viking Age.

He was a devout Christian who made two disastrous attempts at Crusading. He died of the plague in 1270 and was canonized in 1297.

	3. What was his name?		King Louis IX Saint Louis was not accepted without the identifying Roman Numeral
	4. What country did he rule?		France

King Louis's misfortunes on Crusades should not be the only measurement by which he is judged. As a military leader he'd done well in the past, soundly defeating Henry III of England when he invaded France in 1242. He was also an able administrator and an individual renowned for his virtue. But that virtue, in the form of religious fervor, led to his downfall. On St. Louis's first attempt at Crusade in 1248, his plan to capture Egypt faltered when his army bogged down in delta and fell prey to disease. Mamelukes ultimately devastated his forces and took him prisoner. His second attempt had barely begun in Carthage when he was stricken with the plague and died.

Saint Louis is a contradictory figure in French history. He persecuted the Jews, encouraged the Inquisition, and blinded and burned heretics at the stake. He also had himself scourged. These were all expressions of his religious intensity that were tempered with outward gentleness. His people loved him, and mourned his death with the dirge: "To whom will the poor now carry their plea, since the good king is dead, who loved them so much?"¹

Some splendid illuminations of scenes from the life of St. Louis can be viewed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

He united the Scots and the Picts and dubbed his new kingdom "Alba."

	5. What was his given (first) name?	Kenneth Ciunaed was also accepted
	6. What was his surname (his last name, or family name)?	MacAlpin

Unfortunately, very little is known about Kenneth MacAlpin, and exactly how he united his people with the Picts is under dispute. Because the Picts carried the line of descent through the female, their intermarriage with the Scots (whose lineage passed through the male) may have resulted in assimilation and thus the demise of the Pictish surname. It is true that Viking invasion interfered with the balance of power in Scotland. By the time MacAlpin succeeded his father as King of the Scots, the Picts could have been ripe for the taking.

Nevertheless MacAlpin is credited with murdering seven Pictish Earls at a banquet to secure his throne. This may in fact have been the case, for Scottish history in that era was violent and bloody.

After years of war this emperor dealt his enemy, Samuel of Macedon, a crushing blow by taking his capital of Ochrida in 1014. He then ordered all the prisoners taken from Samuel's army -- nearly 15,000 of them -- blinded.

	7. What was his name?	Basil II
	8. Over what empire did he rule?	Byzantium Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire were also accepted

Basil II was by all accounts a sober individual who took his duties as Emperor seriously. Unlike the flamboyant emperors of more decadent times, he had no interest in speech-making and extravagant displays of wealth and power. A pragmatic administrator and shrewd military leader, it was Basil who formed the Varangian Guard from Russian Vikings in the Byzantine army to act as his imperial bodyguard. His handling of the empire would have resulted in a state with almost unbreakable power after his death, had he only married and produced an heir.

The war with Macedonia lasted for three decades. Following the victory at Ochrida, Basil acted quickly to bring the war to an end. He blinded the entire army with the exception of one in every hundred soldiers, whom he left with one eye each so they could lead their compatriots home. Then he sent the defeated prisoners back to their leader. Samuel, upon seeing the results of Basil's horrific measures, fainted away and died shortly thereafter.

He was the Moslem leader who took back Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187.

	9. What was his name?	Saladin, or Salah ad-Din
	10. What title did he prefer?	Sultan

When Salah ad-Din was appointed both commander of Syrian troops and vizier of Egypt in 1169, he was entitled to the rank of king (malik), but he did not use it. He expanded his territory to cover Mesopotamia and Palestine, more through diplomatic means than military ones. His well-founded grudge against the Christian invaders was his motive for moving against them; the excuse to act was given to him by Reginald of Chatillon, who raided Moslem caravans during truce. Saladin demanded that Reginald return the plunder taken from the caravans. Reginald's refusal and a further attack on a caravan in which Saladin's sister was traveling was the last straw.

Salah ad-Din was a brilliant commander, and he quickly succeeded in recapturing Jerusalem and several other Christian cities. But he did not attempt to take Tyre, where most of the Christian lords had retreated. The news of the fall of Jerusalem galvanized Europe into action, and the result was The Third Crusade.

She married the king of France and bore him only daughters, then ran off with the 19-year-old adventurer who would become king of England. Two of her sons by the English king would also become kings of England.

	11. What was her name?	Eleanor
	12. What French province did she come from?	Aquitaine

The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to King Louis VII of France was ill-fated from the start. Eleanor was strong-willed, clever, and manipulative, while Louis was studious and quiet from his preparation for the cloth. Her apparent inability to bear sons further distanced her from her incompatible husband.

Henry Plantagenet, on the other hand, was bold, daring, and strong-willed himself. His battles with Becket were legendary, and when Eleanor plotted against him he had her locked up (although this did not stop the indomitable queen from continuing her machinations). When the eldest son died, Eleanor backed Richard for the succession, although Henry wanted John. Ultimately Richard followed his father to the throne, but when he died without an heir John took the crown after all.

The Lion in Winter is a superb film focusing on Eleanor and Henry near the end of his reign. I highly recommend it.

Ivan the Great was the first Russian leader to style himself "Tsar."

	13. What was his title before he became Tsar?		Grand Prince Prince and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince were not accepted.
	14. Over what principality did he rule?		Moscow, Muscovy or Moscovy

For centuries, the Russian people lived under the subjugation of the Mongols. The Golden Horde was too powerful and too fierce to defeat, so the Russian leaders paid tribute to the Mongol leaders and accepted Mongol appointments as Princes to govern their own people.

In 1328, Ivan Grozny was appointed Grand Prince of Moscow. His personal power grew as he collected tribute from and held sway over other principalities. He called himself "Tsar," but it was not until more than 50 years later that the Mongols were at last defeated in the battle of Kulikovo by Grand-Prince Dmitri Donskoi.

He was El Cid's patron, and when he became king he made the young Cid his standard-bearer.

	15. What was his name?		Sancho Sancho II was also accepted.
	16. Over what Spanish kingdom did he rule?		Castile

When King Ferdinand I died, his land was divided equally among his three sons and two daughters. Sancho, his eldest, was not satisfied with this arrangement. Within five years of inheriting the throne of Castile, he set out to take control of his siblings' lands.

What success Sancho had was largely due to young Rodrigo Diaz, who would later be conferred the title of El Cid and about whom the epic poem The Lay of the Cid would be written. Rodrigo's father had served the country well, and Sancho took a personal interest in the young man, seeing to his education and military training. Diaz was instrumental in turning the tide of battle at both Leon and Galicia. However, after conquering Toro with ease, Sancho was killed when he tried to take Zamora. His exiled brother Alfonso succeeded him, and did not treat Diaz so kindly.

 

In the early part of Venice's history, the city was governed by Maritime Tribunes. In 697, however, the first leader bearing a new title took over.

	17. What was this title?		Doge
	18. Who was the first man to use it?		Paolo Lucio Anafesto Anafesto and Paolo Anafesto were also accepted

Before Attila the Hun invaded northern Italy in the middle of the fifth century, the islands of Venice were inhabited by people who made their living through fishing the lagoon. Attila's invasions sent refugees from the mainland to the islands, and while many returned home when the danger had passed, some stayed, and the islands grew into thriving communities. Twelve separate townships, each governed by a tribunal, joined together to handle lagoon-wide matters, and the Concione -- an assembly of the entire population -- was created. In 697 the Concione elected the first Doge.

The Doge is the only monarch in the quiz who doesn't wholly qualify as a monarch. He held his job for life, but he could not make the position hereditary. When the position was created, the Doge was elected by the people and given nearly unlimited power. Over the centuries, the wealthy trading families began to exert more control, and eventually the Doge was elected by and answerable to the Great Council, membership in which was a privilege of class.

By grace of his marriage to an English queen he became king of England for four years -- until his wife died. Thirty years later he sent the Spanish Armada to its fate.

	19. What was his name?		Philip II
	20. Which English queen did he marry?		Mary Tudor. Mary I and Bloody Mary were also accepted.

Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal, was a devout Catholic, and his marriage to Mary Tudor -- also a devout Catholic -- was not well-received by the English people, the majority of whom were by this time Protestant. Although Mary was so infatuated with her husband that she suffered a hysterical pregnancy, Philip did not return the affection of his older, somewhat plain wife. When she died in 1558, he returned to Spain and never left it again.

A number of different factors contributed to Philip's motives for sending the Armada off to England in 1588, not the least of which was the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Catholic rival to Protestant Queen Elizabeth's throne. By far the best book about the Spanish Armada -- and one of the best treatments of any historical subject I've ever had the pleasure of reading -- is The Armada by Garrett Mattingly. (The link will take you to Borders.com, where, thanks to a commercial relationship between About.com, its Guides and Borders.com online booksellers, you can purchase this book online.)

 

Note

¹France: A Modern History by Albert Guérard, 1959.

 

 

 

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