France quiz for dumb and not so dumb yanks !

As a native French speaker, I am always happy to talk about French culture and history. Here are a few basic questions that Frenchies learn in highschool - let's compare the level of education with... euh, our American friends for whom this quiz was made. Here is my selected kings'quiz for you :

1) What French prince was originally protestant but had to convert to catholicism in order to ascend the throne of France ?

2) What historical period (a dynasty and the centuries) was named the time of the "lazy kings" ?

3) Who was the first king of France (not another kingdom called differently)?

4) Who did princess Eleonore of Aquitaine get married to, and what were the consequences for France.

5) What French king did invite an anti-pope to France (Avignon) because of its ambition and incompatibility of mood with the Pope of the time ?

6) Swiss-born Necker was a famous stateman and minister. Who was the king he was serving ?

7) By which treaties did the Spanish Succesion War of the early 18th century ended ? Who was the French king of the time who succeded in puting his grand-son on the Spanish throne by one of this treaties and in exchange of what ? (tip, Juan Carlos of Spain, the present king, is still a descendant of this king and dynasty)

8) Who was Louis XVII ? Why didn't he reign ?

9) How old was Louis XV when he ascended the throne after the death of his great-grand-father Louis XIV ?

10) Which French king died in front of Tunis during a crusade ? Why is he particularily famous to the Christian ?

I hope you haven't eaten too many kings ; I'll try something more varied in the next quiz

I ain't no American but I'll give it a try.

2) The Bourbons? On a wild guess, 17th till end of 18th century (French Revolution)?
3) Hugh Capet?
4) One of the Kings of England (dunno which one). Now the English monarch had a claim on the throne of France, so later would involve itself as a claimant for the French throne during the Hundred Yrs' War.
5) Francis I?
8) Cos it was after the French Revolution and couldn't rule officially cos France was now a Republic and later an Empire. He was in exile?
9) Less then 5 yrs old?

10)
IT IS SAINT LOUIS

Becouse he invaded Egypt, and he even conquered El Cairo
but disease attacked their men and he retreated.
That gave him a lot of prestige in europe, thou.
He was considered as a saint by the french people long before the pope decided he was a saint.

8) He was too old. After the congress of vienna the monarchists tried to set up the bourbon dynasty with their natural successor (louise XVI being the last monarch to rule before the republic was formed) Louis the XVII was an invalid by then, and instead they gave the throne to Charles the X (I think)

Good Lord ! French history isn't very popular outside Europe I can see !

Well, SKM, euh, I mean Knight-Dragon, you got at least two correct : number 3 and 9.
3)Hugues Capet was effectively the first king of France after the split of the Carolingian Empire. His vassals had the real power though ; his territory of authority was limited to the "Ile de France", ie the region around Paris.
9) Louis XV was indeed not more than 5 year old when he became king. The Duke of Orleans became Regent, eventhough Louis XIV had specified he wanted anybody to become regent but not him. Louis XIV (the Sun King) had a very long reign and was extremely authoritarien (absolute despot). He favoured the serious and rigour of Classicism in the art (Versailles). After his death, the Regency period saw a relaxing at the French royal court and the rise of the slightly decadent Roccoco art.

There are some interesting element in your answer 4, but insufficient.

Kublai-Khan, you got number 10 right. Saint Louis was actually known as Louis IX during his reign.

Knight-Dragon and Whiskey Priest, you messed up completely for question 8.

I only know one answer:

2. Eleanor was married to Henry II of England

Achinz, you are right for question 4 (not 2). Henry II Plantagenet, king of England got the privilege. What's more, the addition of Aquitaine and Anjou brought the rest of the Western "half" of France (the Atlantic coast, from Aquitaine to Normandy) under English rule. The following centuries saw the tentative of the kings of France to regain these possesions along with the one of their powerful vassals, such as the Duke of Burgundy. This part of the history is known as the "Hundred Year War" between the French and the English for the domination of France. Joan of Arc finally succeeded in sending back the English on their island and even annexing Normandy, the homeland of the English Monarchy.

Yes, I saw the episode on the plantegenets in Simon Scharma's interesting TV series on the History of Britain (UK TV currently aired in Australia). The almagamation with the Aquitaine domains apparently made the English realm one of the largest in Europe at the time. BTW Henry II is now more infamous for the "murder in the cathedral" of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Beckett.

I'm french but I think I don't have the answer to those questions...
Besides, I disagree with the answer to question 3.

I thought the first "real king" of France was Clovis. The first one to be sacred by the church actually. Saying that Capet was the first king of France sounds like nonsense to me. It's like saying "well I'm going to change the name of that thing over there and therefore it will be a whole new thing". Capet took over a medieval system but hardly changed anything I guess. He was the first king of a new dynasty but that's all I think

Originally posted by geake

I'm french but I think I don't have the answer to those questions... Besides, I disagree with the answer to question 3.

I thought the first "real king" of France was Clovis. The first one to be sacred by the church actually. Saying that Capet was the first king of France sounds like nonsense to me. It's like saying "well I'm going to change the name of that thing over there and therefore it will be a whole new thing". Capet took over a medieval system but hardly changed anything I guess. He was the first king of a new dynasty but that's all I think

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Well, Clovis was the first king of the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks. He was certainly the first "barbarian" king to convert to Christianity after the fall of Rome. But the Frank Kingdom evolve to the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne which inluded most of Germany and Austria now, Switzerland, the North of Italy, Catalonia and the Benelux countries. It wasn't called France either, and when it splited between the 3 grand-sons of Charlemagne, 3 new kingdoms were created, but still none of them was France. After the 3 brothers fought each others, Lothaire, the Elder, was defeated and his kingdom divided between his two brothers, namely Charles the bald and Louis the German. Louis inherited the title of Holy Roman Emperor, addding "of the German nation" to the name. But the whole had soon to be parceled between the heirs in numerous Duchies and Counties, following the Germanic tradition. In 987, the great lords decided to establish a king to whom they would swear fidelity. They chose Hugues Capet because he was weak and could threaten their power. He was the first king to be called "KING OF FRANCE" (I insisted in my question on this point), though he was no more than a puppet king. His successors soon came to fight their own vassals to regain territory and power. Louis VI the Fat, was famous for this and indeed extended considerably the tiny domain of the king of France. But a few vassals were still powerful and it took until the 16th century for France to be reunified under the same ruler again. Burgundy was a very powerful of these vassals, but so became the Duke of Normandy in 1066 after becoming King of England.

May I remind all of you that this quizz hasn't been fully answered yet.

Questions 1,2,5,6,7 and 8 are still open.

Originally posted by Julien
May I remind all of you that this quizz hasn't been fully answered yet.

Questions 1,2,5,6,7 and 8 are still open.

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Cos may I remind you they're too hard. I don't know, not w/o checking it up in books or the net. :crazyeyes

Cos may I remind you they're too hard. I don't know, not w/o checking it up in books or the net.

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Most of them are highschool questions in Belgium (I don't even speak of France, where they should know better).

I will give a few tips :

1) What French prince was originally protestant but had to convert to catholicism in order to ascend the throne of France ?

It was during the war of religion, so around the 16-17th century.

2) What historical period (a dynasty and the centuries) was named the time of the "lazy kings" ?

It was a long time ago, before France was even called France.

5) What French king did invite an anti-pope to France (Avignon) because of its ambition and incompatibility of mood with the Pope of the time ?

This king had a strong personality. But he got his ass kicked in Flanders, what is now remember in Flemish people as the most notable victory for their independance. It happened in 1302... I hope I am not giving too much of the answer now.

6) Swiss-born Necker was a famous stateman and minister. Who was the king he was serving ?

It was before the French revolution.

7) By which treaties did the Spanish Succesion War of the early 18th century ended ? Who was the French king of the time who succeded in puting his grand-son on the Spanish throne by one of this treaties and in exchange of what ? (tip, Juan Carlos of Spain, the present king, is still a descendant of this king and dynasty)

There were 2 treaties in 2 successive years. This was during the European colonization of America and England, France and Spain were fighting bitterly for the world supremacy. Inside Europe, the Austrian Habsburg had an important role during this period.

8) Who was Louis XVII ? Why didn't he reign ?

This is less well-known. Everybody might have come to wonder at least once why there were no Louis XVII, but a XVI and a XVIII. Louis XVI and XVIII were brothers. Louis XVI was guillotined during the French revolution, but had 2 children though... I can't tell you more.

Julien said:

- let's compare the level of education with... euh, our American friends

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Perhaps it's interesting to quiz American to see how well they know the French culture... but don't say that you want to compare the level of education if all your questions are very much specific to France! of course the French will win hands down hehe... well I sure hope they would...

If the goal is really to compare education levels you need to ask general knowledge questions... perhaps question about Chinese history for example... then at least the Americans and French are on level plain field...


I am not American nor French by the way... just an observer

Wow that's a lot of royals questions.

5) Philippe IV Le Bel?

Julien said:

As a native French speaker, I am always happy to talk about French culture and history. Here are a few basic questions that Frenchies learn in highschool - let's compare the level of education with... euh, our American friends for whom this quiz was made. Here is my selected kings'quiz for you :

1) What French prince was originally protestant but had to convert to catholicism in order to ascend the throne of France ?

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Henry of Navarre, later Henry IV founder of the Bourbon dynasty.

2) What historical period (a dynasty and the centuries) was named the time of the "lazy kings" ?

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No clue.

3) Who was the first king of France (not another kingdom called differently)?

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Louis the Pious/Hugh Capet/Francis Valois depending on how you define it. I'm assuming you don't want the Merovingians.

4) Who did princess Eleonore of Aquitaine get married to, and what were the consequences for France.

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Henry III I think. All that really happened was Phillip II getting pissed and some dude having his head turned into a drinking goblet.. I don't really remember.

5) What French king did invite an anti-pope to France (Avignon) because of its ambition and incompatibility of mood with the Pope of the time ?

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No clue. Charles the something is a good bet.

6) Swiss-born Necker was a famous stateman and minister. Who was the king he was serving ?

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Louis XVI.

7) By which treaties did the Spanish Succesion War of the early 18th century ended ?[/quote]
Treaty of Utrech.

Who was the French king of the time who succeded in puting his grand-son on the Spanish throne by one of this treaties and in exchange of what ? (tip, Juan Carlos of Spain, the present king, is still a descendant of this king and dynasty)

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Loius XIV.

8) Who was Louis XVII ? Why didn't he reign ?

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He was a kid of Louis XVI. He was killed before he could reign but the title is still given to him.

9) How old was Louis XV when he ascended the throne after the death of his great-grand-father Louis XIV ?

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No clue.

10) Which French king died in front of Tunis during a crusade ? Why is he particularily famous to the Christian

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?
No clue. Louis Something.


Could you try something besides kings? There is more to France then its kings. How about: "Who are the two most famous statesmen in the French Revolution?" (Danton and Robespierre.)

EDIT:
Wow. Real threadbump.

Necroed thread closed.