Looks like that's all the responses. Here are the answers.
(1) Moses speaking Attic Greek. Whom was the neo-Pythagorean philosopher Numenius talking about?
Answer - Plato. Christians in the second and third centuries argued that Plato got his best ideas from the Old Testament, so if you were a Platonist you should become a Christian. Numenius was not a Christian, which is why it is striking that he apparently agreed. No-one got this right.
(2) By what name are the Poor Men of Lyon better known?
Answer - the Waldenses, a heretical sect that began in the twelfth century with the preaching of Peter Waldo. They believed that poverty and preaching were central to Christian life (much like Francis of Assisi) but they were not given permission to preach. They ignored the prohibition, thereby becoming excommunicate. They were largely absorbed into the Protestants at the Reformation, but some still exist in South America. No-one got this right, although "Knights Templar" was a good guess.
(3) Who was the only person to become prime minister of Britain on four separate occasions?
Answer - William Gladstone, who was prime minister 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, and 1892-94. Two people got this right.
(4) The Platonists had the Academy. The Aristotelians had the Lyceum. The Stoics had the Porch. What did the Epicureans have?
Answer - the Garden. Two people got this right.
(5) In 1324, a pilgrim appeared in Cairo, on his way to Mecca for hajj. He had with him a hundred camel-loads of gold and five hundred slaves, also weighed down with gold. During his stay in Cairo he distributed so much gold that he flooded the market and depressed prices. What was the name of this wealthy pilgrim?
Answer - Mansa Musa of Mali. This event helped to bring Mali and its fabulous wealth into the European consciousness - even today, the name of Timbuktu is shrouded in an aura of exotic mystique. Two people got this right.
(6) Who is the earliest British author whose writings are extant?
Several of you said Bede, which might have been a good guess if I'd asked for the earliest English author - although it would still have been wrong, as the first Anglo-Saxon author of note whose name is known and whose works are extant was Aldhelm of Sherborne (d. 709). In fact the answer was Pelagius (d. after 417), a very rare example of an ancient or early medieval heretic whose works survive.
(7) The perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a bold, bad man, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold, and with blood. Who was Edward Gibbon describing?
Answer - Theophilus of Alexandria, who engineered the First Origenist Crisis and the Synod of the Oak, which deposed St John Chrysostom. However, contrary to popular belief, there is no real evidence that he destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria whilst burning down the Serapium (I believe that Gibbon was the first to suggest this). One of you got this right.
(8) Which Byzantine emperor had a false nose made of gold?
Answer - Justinian II, who had his nose cut off when he was deposed (since it was believed that only a physically intact person could be emperor) but who returned and took back his throne. Since it was evident that a physically non-intact person could now be emperor, he didn't slit the noses of his rivals but simply had them killed. One of you got this right.
(9) Which Roman philosopher had his works translated by not one but two English monarchs, Alfred the Great and Elizabeth I?
Answer - Boethius. No-one got this right, which surprised me.
(10) You are now going to burn a goose, but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil. Whose supposed last words? For an extra point, who would the swan have been if he was really prophetic?
Answer - Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in 1415. The swan would of course have been Martin Luther. One person got this right, and interpreted the prophecy correctly.
(11) In 652 a treaty called the baqt was established between which two countries?
Answer - Muslim Egypt and Christian Makuria (but I accepted Nubia). This unusual treaty ensured that each country recognised the other's right to exist, and set out taxes that Makuria would pay Egypt every three years (later every year). The rise of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt saw the baqt dwindle in importance, however, and Makuria's fate was to be invaded, flattened, and completely converted by Egypt. One person got this right.
(12) Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz both claimed to have made a great discovery first. The controversy between them and their followers simmered for decades and, it has been claimed, set back British science by many years. What was the discovery?
Answer - the calculus. In fact it seems likely that Newton got it first (calling it "the method of fluxions"), but Leibniz discovered it independently shortly after. It is Leibniz' method and his notation which are used today, and it is said that British mathematicians' patriotic refusal to do so hampered the development of British mathematics for many decades. Two people got this right.
(13) Averroism, or the doctrine of double truth, was a contentious subject in thirteenth-century France. What did the doctrine state?
Answer - that something could be "philosophically true" yet "religiously false" at the same time. This was an idea developed by fanatical Aristotelians to explain how Aristotle disagreed with the Church on some points. The main one was that Aristotle said that the world had had no beginning, but the Church said that it had. "Averroists" therefore suggested that it is philosophically true that the world had no beginning but religiously true that it did have a beginning. No-one got this right.
(14) In 1954, Elvis Presley had his first hit with Thats All Right Mama, thereby ushering in the era of rock and roll. The author of this song was never paid a penny for its use by another artist. What was his name?
Answer - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who wrote great songs but was a rather mediocre performer (so a sort of early role model for Bob Dylan, then). Only one person got this right. Shame on y'all!
(15) In 1760, Joseph Merlin showed off his brilliant new invention at a party and was almost seriously injured by it. What was the invention?
Roller skates. Incredibly, four people got this right.
(16) Why are William Burke and William Hare famous?
Answer - in the 1820s, to help feed the insatiable demand of the Scottish medical schools for corpses to experiment on, Burke and Hare took to murdering people and selling the bodies. They were not grave-robbers (the "resurrectionists" had been operating for some decades already) but, if you like, the next logical step. Their actions helped to spur the passing of the notorious Anatomy Act in 1829, which sought to solve the problem by allowing medical students to dissect the bodies of those who died in poor houses. Two people got this right.
(17) In 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths made some of the worlds first fake photographs. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was completely taken in and wrote two pamphlets and a book supporting them. What did the photos apparently show?
Answer - fairies sitting next to the two girls. Experts pronounced the photos and films not doctored with - it seems never to have occurred to anyone that perhaps the girls had just posed cardboard cut-outs on the bushes. It's often considered ironic that Conan Doyle, who invented Sherlock Holmes, was a devout believer in the occult, magic, and fairies. He even believed that Harry Houdini was not a conjurer at all but a real magician who only pretended to have no occult powers, which annoyed Houdini, who not only claimed to have no strange powers but spent his time debunking those who claimed they did (so he was the opposite of that ludicrous faker Uri Geller). Three people got this right.
(18) Who was the only Englishman to become Pope?
Answer - Nicholas Breakspeare, whose Papal name was Adrian IV ("Adrian" scored only half a point). One person got this in full and two got half-points.
(19) How did the 1930s blues singer Tommy Johnson claim to have acquired his musical powers?
Answer - he claimed to have met the devil at a crossroads on moonless night at midnight and sold his soul in exchange for mastery of the guitar. The legend is more often associated with his namesake Robert Johnson, a far more famous and important musician, but one who never made any such claim. I was surprised that no-one got this right as it's such a cliche!
(20) The wisest fool in Christendom. Who said it, and of whom?
Answer - Henri IV of France said this of James I of England (although it's normally really attributed to Henri's chief minister, the Duc de Sully). Two people got this right.
So Private Hudson, with ten points, wins and gets to set the next one.
(1) Moses speaking Attic Greek. Whom was the neo-Pythagorean philosopher Numenius talking about?
Answer - Plato. Christians in the second and third centuries argued that Plato got his best ideas from the Old Testament, so if you were a Platonist you should become a Christian. Numenius was not a Christian, which is why it is striking that he apparently agreed. No-one got this right.
(2) By what name are the Poor Men of Lyon better known?
Answer - the Waldenses, a heretical sect that began in the twelfth century with the preaching of Peter Waldo. They believed that poverty and preaching were central to Christian life (much like Francis of Assisi) but they were not given permission to preach. They ignored the prohibition, thereby becoming excommunicate. They were largely absorbed into the Protestants at the Reformation, but some still exist in South America. No-one got this right, although "Knights Templar" was a good guess.
(3) Who was the only person to become prime minister of Britain on four separate occasions?
Answer - William Gladstone, who was prime minister 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, and 1892-94. Two people got this right.
(4) The Platonists had the Academy. The Aristotelians had the Lyceum. The Stoics had the Porch. What did the Epicureans have?
Answer - the Garden. Two people got this right.
(5) In 1324, a pilgrim appeared in Cairo, on his way to Mecca for hajj. He had with him a hundred camel-loads of gold and five hundred slaves, also weighed down with gold. During his stay in Cairo he distributed so much gold that he flooded the market and depressed prices. What was the name of this wealthy pilgrim?
Answer - Mansa Musa of Mali. This event helped to bring Mali and its fabulous wealth into the European consciousness - even today, the name of Timbuktu is shrouded in an aura of exotic mystique. Two people got this right.
(6) Who is the earliest British author whose writings are extant?
Several of you said Bede, which might have been a good guess if I'd asked for the earliest English author - although it would still have been wrong, as the first Anglo-Saxon author of note whose name is known and whose works are extant was Aldhelm of Sherborne (d. 709). In fact the answer was Pelagius (d. after 417), a very rare example of an ancient or early medieval heretic whose works survive.
(7) The perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a bold, bad man, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold, and with blood. Who was Edward Gibbon describing?
Answer - Theophilus of Alexandria, who engineered the First Origenist Crisis and the Synod of the Oak, which deposed St John Chrysostom. However, contrary to popular belief, there is no real evidence that he destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria whilst burning down the Serapium (I believe that Gibbon was the first to suggest this). One of you got this right.
(8) Which Byzantine emperor had a false nose made of gold?
Answer - Justinian II, who had his nose cut off when he was deposed (since it was believed that only a physically intact person could be emperor) but who returned and took back his throne. Since it was evident that a physically non-intact person could now be emperor, he didn't slit the noses of his rivals but simply had them killed. One of you got this right.
(9) Which Roman philosopher had his works translated by not one but two English monarchs, Alfred the Great and Elizabeth I?
Answer - Boethius. No-one got this right, which surprised me.
(10) You are now going to burn a goose, but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil. Whose supposed last words? For an extra point, who would the swan have been if he was really prophetic?
Answer - Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in 1415. The swan would of course have been Martin Luther. One person got this right, and interpreted the prophecy correctly.
(11) In 652 a treaty called the baqt was established between which two countries?
Answer - Muslim Egypt and Christian Makuria (but I accepted Nubia). This unusual treaty ensured that each country recognised the other's right to exist, and set out taxes that Makuria would pay Egypt every three years (later every year). The rise of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt saw the baqt dwindle in importance, however, and Makuria's fate was to be invaded, flattened, and completely converted by Egypt. One person got this right.
(12) Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz both claimed to have made a great discovery first. The controversy between them and their followers simmered for decades and, it has been claimed, set back British science by many years. What was the discovery?
Answer - the calculus. In fact it seems likely that Newton got it first (calling it "the method of fluxions"), but Leibniz discovered it independently shortly after. It is Leibniz' method and his notation which are used today, and it is said that British mathematicians' patriotic refusal to do so hampered the development of British mathematics for many decades. Two people got this right.
(13) Averroism, or the doctrine of double truth, was a contentious subject in thirteenth-century France. What did the doctrine state?
Answer - that something could be "philosophically true" yet "religiously false" at the same time. This was an idea developed by fanatical Aristotelians to explain how Aristotle disagreed with the Church on some points. The main one was that Aristotle said that the world had had no beginning, but the Church said that it had. "Averroists" therefore suggested that it is philosophically true that the world had no beginning but religiously true that it did have a beginning. No-one got this right.
(14) In 1954, Elvis Presley had his first hit with Thats All Right Mama, thereby ushering in the era of rock and roll. The author of this song was never paid a penny for its use by another artist. What was his name?
Answer - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, who wrote great songs but was a rather mediocre performer (so a sort of early role model for Bob Dylan, then). Only one person got this right. Shame on y'all!
(15) In 1760, Joseph Merlin showed off his brilliant new invention at a party and was almost seriously injured by it. What was the invention?
Roller skates. Incredibly, four people got this right.
(16) Why are William Burke and William Hare famous?
Answer - in the 1820s, to help feed the insatiable demand of the Scottish medical schools for corpses to experiment on, Burke and Hare took to murdering people and selling the bodies. They were not grave-robbers (the "resurrectionists" had been operating for some decades already) but, if you like, the next logical step. Their actions helped to spur the passing of the notorious Anatomy Act in 1829, which sought to solve the problem by allowing medical students to dissect the bodies of those who died in poor houses. Two people got this right.
(17) In 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths made some of the worlds first fake photographs. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was completely taken in and wrote two pamphlets and a book supporting them. What did the photos apparently show?
Answer - fairies sitting next to the two girls. Experts pronounced the photos and films not doctored with - it seems never to have occurred to anyone that perhaps the girls had just posed cardboard cut-outs on the bushes. It's often considered ironic that Conan Doyle, who invented Sherlock Holmes, was a devout believer in the occult, magic, and fairies. He even believed that Harry Houdini was not a conjurer at all but a real magician who only pretended to have no occult powers, which annoyed Houdini, who not only claimed to have no strange powers but spent his time debunking those who claimed they did (so he was the opposite of that ludicrous faker Uri Geller). Three people got this right.
(18) Who was the only Englishman to become Pope?
Answer - Nicholas Breakspeare, whose Papal name was Adrian IV ("Adrian" scored only half a point). One person got this in full and two got half-points.
(19) How did the 1930s blues singer Tommy Johnson claim to have acquired his musical powers?
Answer - he claimed to have met the devil at a crossroads on moonless night at midnight and sold his soul in exchange for mastery of the guitar. The legend is more often associated with his namesake Robert Johnson, a far more famous and important musician, but one who never made any such claim. I was surprised that no-one got this right as it's such a cliche!
(20) The wisest fool in Christendom. Who said it, and of whom?
Answer - Henri IV of France said this of James I of England (although it's normally really attributed to Henri's chief minister, the Duc de Sully). Two people got this right.
So Private Hudson, with ten points, wins and gets to set the next one.
