THE HISTORY, ETC DECEMBER QUIZ!!!

Ten historical ticklers to tee you up for the weekend

For a while I’ve been thinking it might be fun to do a regular monthly quiz. I posted one ages ago and seem to remember it went down well.

Now I’ve decided to stop mulling and get on with it. So here’s the plan. Once a month I’ll post a ten-question historical quiz. It’ll mostly be for fun, but now and again there will be a prize.

The answers will be provided at the bottom of the page. Paid subscribers can access them straight away - for everyone else, I’ll unlock the content next week so you can check how you’ve done. Post your scores in the comments… and please share this with your friends.

Also, if you think this sucks, it’s too hard, it’s too easy… whatever… let me know. I am planning on expanding the types of content posted on History, Etc in 2024 (Substack just added a new video feature which looks very promising)… but I want to be sure I’m posting things you actually like…

Okay. Quiz time. Here we go…

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Rochester Castle

1. Let’s start easy. If you’ve been listening to This Is History season 3, you’ll know that in 1215 King John besieged Rochester Castle and his miners down one of its towers. What fuel did they use to burn the struts that collapsed their mines?

a) Beeswax

b) Pig fat

c) Boiling pitch

2. This week CBS Studios announced a new historical drama about the Norman Conquest of 1066. Who is playing William the Conqueror?

a) James Norton

b) Tom Hardy

c) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

3. A recent documentary about Richard III proposed new theories about the Princes in the Tower, and the pretenders of Henry VII’s reign. What were the names of those two pretenders?

a) Lambert Simpson and Perkin Welbeck

b) Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck

c) Lambert Simple and Perkin Fruitcake

Henry V… but how old was he when he died?

4. Which of these kings of England was the oldest when he died?

a) Henry IV

b) Henry V

c) Henry VI

5. Saint Lawrence is the patron saint of chefs and comedians, because of the manner of his martyrdom. During his execution in 258AD, by being roasted to death on a griddle, he made a surprisingly witty comment. What was it?

a) Turn me over, I’m done on this side!

b) Don’t forget the salt!

c) Would you like fries with that?

6. The Elgin Marbles, currently part of the British Museum’s permanent collection, are the subject of a longstanding diplomatic tussle between Greece and Britain. Which ancient monument were they taken from?

a) The Parthenon

b) The Knossos

c) The Colossus of Rhodes

7. Which of these French kings was responsible for the downfall of the Knights Templar between 1307 and 1314?

a) Philip II ‘Augustus’

b) Philip IV ‘The Fair’

c) Philip VI ‘The Fortunate’

8. Which castle is shown in the picture above?

a) Corfe Castle

b) Carrickfergus Castle

c) Caernarfon Castle

9. Which of these famous late medieval poems begins with a big party scene at Christmas?

a) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

b) The Canterbury Tales

c) Piers Plowman

10. During which century were the first gold coins minted in England?

a) Thirteenth century

b) Fourteenth century

c) Fifteenth century

ANSWERS

1 b)

2 c)

3 b)

4 c) (Henry IV was 45, Henry V was 35 and Henry VI was 49)

5 a)

6 a)

7 b)

8 c)

9 a)

10 a) Gold pennies were minted in 1257 during the reign of Henry III. The more famous ‘florin’ and ‘noble’ were minted in the 1340s under Edward III.