Q 01/05

Who was Charlemagne's father?

A) Charles Martel

B) Pepin the Short

C) Clovis I

D) Pepin of Herstal

Answer · why

B) Pepin the Short

His mother was Bertrada of Laon, who later brokered a Lombard marriage for him.

Q 02/05

Charlemagne was named after which grandfather, victor at Tours?

A) Pepin of Herstal

B) Arnulf of Metz

C) Childeric II

D) Charles Martel

Answer · why

D) Charles Martel

The name Charles is unattested before Charles Martel and Charlemagne.

Q 03/05

What does the name Charlemagne mean, from the French?

A) Charles the Hammer

B) Charles the Great

C) Charles the Wise

D) Charles the Pious

Answer · why

B) Charles the Great

In German he is Karl der Große and in Dutch Karel de Grote.

Q 04/05

Charlemagne's Latin name became the word for 'king' in which language family?

A) Slavic

B) Celtic

C) Baltic

D) Finnic

Answer · why

A) Slavic

Russian korol', Polish król and Slovak kráľ all descend from Karolus.

Q 05/05

Which birth year for Charlemagne has scholarship favoured since the late 20th century?

A) 752

B) 760

C) 756

D) 748

Answer · why

D) 748

An older tradition said 742; the biographer Einhard claimed he was 72 at his death, echoing Psalm 90's threescore and ten.