Q 01/05

Which animal, shown in gold on a black field, is the heraldic emblem of the Duchy of Brabant?

A) An eagle

B) A griffin

C) A lion

D) A stag

Answer · why

C) A lion

A lion in gold, with red claws and tongue, was Brabant's emblem, and Belgium's flag takes its black, yellow and red from those arms.

Q 02/05

In modern Belgium, the revived title Duke or Duchess of Brabant goes to which member of the royal family?

A) The heir to the throne

B) The monarch's youngest child

C) The monarch's spouse

D) The monarch's eldest sibling

Answer · why

A) The heir to the throne

The heir to the throne has carried the title since a royal decree of 1840, even though the northern part of old Brabant has been Dutch soil since 1648...

Q 03/05

Which Napoleonic battle was fought near the unwalled town of Braine-l'Alleud, on land of the former Duchy of Brabant?

A) Leipzig

B) Austerlitz

C) Borodino

D) Waterloo

Answer · why

D) Waterloo

Waterloo was fought beside Braine-l'Alleud, an old Brabantine market town whose church served as a hospital for the battle's many casualties.

Q 04/05

Anthony, Duke of Brabant, arrived late and died in borrowed armour at which battle won by England's Henry V?

A) Crécy

B) Agincourt

C) Poitiers

D) Shrewsbury

Answer · why

B) Agincourt

Agincourt cost Anthony his life because he wore a trumpeter's banner as a makeshift surcoat, so the archers who captured him never realised he was wor...

Q 05/05

Which famous European statue is linked by legend to the infant Duke Godfrey III, hung in a basket above a 1142 battle?

A) Manneken Pis

B) The Little Mermaid

C) Piccadilly's Eros

D) Bern's Child Eater

Answer · why

A) Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis, in its best-known legend, honours the two-year-old duke, who is said to have relieved himself on the enemy from his basket before his si...