Q 01/05

The word 'etiquette' comes from a French word for what everyday object?

A) A fan

B) A ticket

C) A glove

D) A mirror

Answer · why

B) A ticket

A ticket or label was the old French word's meaning, and one telling says the manners sense grew from cards instructing courtiers how to behave.

Q 02/05

Which French king used a codified etiquette to tame his nobility at Versailles?

A) Louis XVI

B) Francis I

C) Henry IV

D) Louis XIV

Answer · why

D) Louis XIV

Louis XIV kept nobles at Versailles chasing royal favour inside a strict etiquette, which eroded the provincial power they might have used to plot.

Q 03/05

Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 guide to ideal courtly behaviour is called what?

A) The Civil Conversation

B) The Gentleman's Mirror

C) The Book of the Courtier

D) The Courtly Companion

Answer · why

C) The Book of the Courtier

The Book of the Courtier spread across Europe in translation, reaching England in Thomas Hoby's 1561 version.

Q 04/05

Castiglione's prized quality 'sprezzatura' is best translated as what?

A) Strict punctuality

B) Quiet piety

C) Generous hospitality

D) Studied nonchalance

Answer · why

D) Studied nonchalance

Studied nonchalance meant making hard things look effortless, and the word still names that unfussed chic, especially in fashion.

Q 05/05

Which Dutch humanist wrote the 1530 manners manual 'On Civility in Children'?

A) Spinoza

B) Grotius

C) Erasmus

D) Descartes

Answer · why

C) Erasmus

Erasmus's handbook was reprinted so often that a French typeface used for printing manners books came to be called civilité.