Q 01/05

By what nickname is Louis XIV best known?

A) The Sun King

B) The Iron King

C) The Citizen King

D) The Spider King

Answer · why

A) The Sun King

The Sun King. He took the sun as his emblem and, at 14, danced the part of the sun god Apollo in a court ballet, casting himself as the star his whole...

Q 02/05

Which British monarch's 70-year reign is second only to Louis XIV's 72 among sovereign monarchs?

A) Victoria

B) Elizabeth II

C) George III

D) Henry III

Answer · why

B) Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II. Her 70 years and 214 days fell short of Louis XIV's 72 years and 110, a total he could reach only because he inherited the throne as a s...

Q 03/05

In which royal château west of Paris was Louis XIV born?

A) Château de Chambord

B) The Louvre Palace

C) Saint-Germain-en-Laye

D) Château de Vincennes

Answer · why

C) Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He held court at the château for years before settling at Versailles, then lent it to England's deposed king, whose exiled cour...

Q 04/05

Which real-life musketeer, later immortalised by Alexandre Dumas, arrested Louis XIV's disgraced finance minister in 1661?

A) Athos

B) De Tréville

C) D'Artagnan

D) Aramis

Answer · why

C) D'Artagnan

D'Artagnan. The real Charles de Batz de Castelmore, an officer of the king's musketeers, made the arrest on Louis's orders and then spent years as his...

Q 05/05

Who was Louis XIV's mother, who ruled France as sole regent during his minority?

A) Anne of Austria

B) Marie de' Medici

C) Catherine de' Medici

D) Elisabeth of France

Answer · why

A) Anne of Austria

Anne of Austria. Despite the name she was a Spanish princess, born in Valladolid to King Philip III; 'Austria' was the name of her Habsburg dynasty, n...