Q 01/05

Which king is usually counted as the first to rule all of England, after taking Viking York in 927?

A) Edward the Elder

B) Æthelstan

C) Offa of Mercia

D) Edgar the Peaceful

Answer · why

B) Æthelstan

Æthelstan: ten years later he crushed an invading alliance of Scots and Dublin Vikings at the Battle of Brunanburh.

Q 02/05

Which king is the subject of the legend about burning a peasant woman's cakes?

A) Cnut

B) Alfred the Great

C) Harold Godwinson

D) Edward the Confessor

Answer · why

B) Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great: hiding from the Danes in the Somerset marshes, he supposedly let the cakes burn, yet months later he routed them at Edington.

Q 03/05

Which Danish king won the English throne in 1016 and later ruled Denmark and Norway too?

A) Sweyn Forkbeard

B) Harthacnut

C) Cnut

D) Harald Hardrada

Answer · why

C) Cnut

Cnut: in the legend where he orders the tide to halt, the original point was to show his humility before God, not his arrogance.

Q 04/05

Which king built Westminster Abbey and was buried there the day Harold was crowned?

A) Æthelred the Unready

B) Edward the Confessor

C) Edmund Ironside

D) Harthacnut

Answer · why

B) Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor: his new church was consecrated in December 1065, but he was too ill to attend and died days later.

Q 05/05

Weeks before Hastings, Harold Godwinson defeated a Norwegian invasion at which battle?

A) Fulford Gate

B) Maldon Bridge

C) Stamford Bridge

D) Assandun

Answer · why

C) Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge: Harold killed both Harald Hardrada and his own brother Tostig there, then had to hurry south when William landed days later.