Q 01/05

Which French ruler placed the crown on his own head at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1804 as Pope Pius VII looked on?

A) Napoleon I

B) Napoleon III

C) Louis XVIII

D) Charles X

Answer · why

A) Napoleon I

Napoleon I took off his laurel wreath and crowned himself, then crowned the kneeling Josephine, while the pope who had come to Paris to officiate reci...

Q 02/05

Which architect is buried in the crypt of Barcelona's Sagrada Família, the church he worked on from 1883 until he died?

A) Lluís Domènech

B) Josep Puig i Cadafalch

C) Antoni Gaudí

D) Ildefons Cerdà

Answer · why

C) Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí rests in a church that was never a cathedral, despite its nickname: Barcelona's archbishop has his seat at the older Cathedral of the Hol...

Q 03/05

Which Archbishop of Canterbury was killed inside his own cathedral in 1170 by four knights loyal to King Henry II?

A) Thomas Cranmer

B) Thomas Becket

C) Stephen Langton

D) William Laud

Answer · why

B) Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket was made a saint little more than two years after the killing, and his jewelled shrine drew pilgrims to Canterbury until Henry VIII had ...

Q 04/05

A cathedral takes its name from the cathedra kept inside, which is what kind of object reserved for the local bishop?

A) An altar

B) A lectern

C) A throne

D) A pulpit

Answer · why

C) A throne

A throne for the bishop is what a cathedra is: the word comes from the Greek for seat, and it is also the distant source of the English word chair.

Q 05/05

In which London church did Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 before an estimated 750 million TV viewers?

A) Westminster Abbey

B) St Paul's Cathedral

C) Westminster Cathedral

D) Southwark Cathedral

Answer · why

B) St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral won out over the traditional royal wedding venue because it offered more seating and allowed a longer procession through London.