Q 01/05

In which Norman town was William born in 1027 or 1028?

A) Rouen

B) Caen

C) Falaise

D) Bayeux

Answer · why

C) Falaise

Falaise: nine centuries on, Allied bombing destroyed two-thirds of his birthplace as a German army was trapped in the 'Falaise pocket' of 1944, though...

Q 02/05

What was the name of William the Conqueror's mother?

A) Gunnor

B) Herleva

C) Emma

D) Adelaide

Answer · why

B) Herleva

Herleva later married a Norman viscount, and the two sons of that marriage, William's half-brothers, rose to be among the most powerful men in his Eng...

Q 03/05

By what unflattering nickname was William the Conqueror also known?

A) William the Bad

B) William the Fat

C) William the Bastard

D) William the Tanner

Answer · why

C) William the Bastard

William the Bastard: his parents never married, yet before leaving Normandy his father made the magnates swear to accept the boy as heir, and they did...

Q 04/05

William was a descendant of which Viking leader who was granted the lands around Rouen in 911?

A) Ivar

B) Guthrum

C) Ragnar

D) Rollo

Answer · why

D) Rollo

Rollo: King Charles the Simple gave him the land in return for an end to his raids, and his followers' name, the 'Northmen', became 'Norman'.

Q 05/05

William's father, Duke Robert I, died in 1035 on his way home from a pilgrimage to which city?

A) Rome

B) Compostela

C) Jerusalem

D) Tours

Answer · why

C) Jerusalem

Jerusalem: he reached the city but died at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, on the journey back, and his only son, a child of seven or eight, became duke.