Royals & Rulers Trivia Questions and Answers

Monarchs, emperors, dynasties and the successions that went badly. It runs well beyond the British line — Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa all appear — though the most-recognised questions are the ones about reigns long enough to have a century named after them. Expect regnal numbers, marriages that were treaties, and the handful of rulers who were removed by their own courts. The hard tier is deliberately about order rather than fame: naming six monarchs is easy, putting them in sequence is the part that decides a round.

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  1. 1. Which English queen, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, ruled during a golden age of exploration and the arts?Easy

    • Elizabeth I ✓
    • Mary I
    • Anne
    • Victoria

  2. 2. How many years did Louis XIV reign as King of France, making his the longest verified reign of any European monarch?Hard

    • 72 years ✓
    • 52 years
    • 62 years
    • 82 years

  3. 3. Which French military leader crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804 after rising to power following the Revolution?Easy

    • Napoleon Bonaparte ✓
    • Louis XVI
    • Louis-Philippe
    • Charles de Gaulle

  4. 4. To which remote South Atlantic island was Napoleon exiled after his final defeat, where he died in 1821?Hard

    • Saint Helena ✓
    • Elba
    • Corsica
    • Malta

  5. 5. Which British queen was the longest-reigning monarch in British history until Elizabeth II surpassed her in 2015?Easy

    • Queen Victoria ✓
    • Queen Elizabeth I
    • Queen Anne
    • Queen Mary

  6. 6. Which German royal house did the British royal family belong to before changing its name to Windsor during World War I?Easy

    • The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ✓
    • The House of Hanover
    • The House of Hohenzollern
    • The House of Habsburg

  7. 7. Which royal house, preceding Windsor, ruled Britain from 1714 to 1901, spanning Queen Victoria's reign?Hard

    • The House of Hanover ✓
    • The House of Tudor
    • The House of Stuart
    • The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

  8. 8. Which royal house, ruling before the Tudors, fought the Wars of the Roses between York and Lancaster?Hard

    • The House of Plantagenet ✓
    • The House of Tudor
    • The House of Stuart
    • The House of Normandy

  9. 9. Which English king, John's predecessor, earned the epithet "Lionheart" for his Crusades prowess?Hard

    • Richard I ✓
    • John
    • Henry II
    • Edward I

  10. 10. Which Norman duke conquered England in 1066, becoming king after the Battle of Hastings?Easy

    • William the Conqueror ✓
    • William II
    • Harold II
    • Edward the Confessor

  11. 11. Which Russian tsar, known as "the Great," modernized Russia and founded the city of St. Petersburg?Hard

    • Peter the Great ✓
    • Ivan the Terrible
    • Catherine the Great
    • Alexander the Great

  12. 12. Which young Russian grand duchess became the subject of rumors that she survived her family's execution?Hard

    • Anastasia ✓
    • Olga
    • Tatiana
    • Maria

  13. 13. Which mystic gained major influence over the last Russian imperial family over their son's illness?Hard

    • Grigori Rasputin ✓
    • Grigori Potemkin
    • Sergei Witte
    • Konstantin Pobedonostsev

  14. 14. Which Mongol leader united nomadic tribes and founded the largest contiguous land empire in history?Easy

    • Genghis Khan ✓
    • Kublai Khan
    • Timur
    • Attila the Hun

  15. 15. Which grandson of Genghis Khan founded the Yuan dynasty and ruled China, later hosting the traveler Marco Polo?Hard

    • Kublai Khan ✓
    • Genghis Khan
    • Ögedei Khan
    • Timur

  16. 16. Which Mughal emperor commissioned the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal?Medium

    • Shah Jahan ✓
    • Akbar
    • Babur
    • Aurangzeb

  17. 17. Which Qing emperor, one of Chinese history's longest reigns, oversaw a period of stability and growth?Hard

    • The Kangxi Emperor ✓
    • Qin Shi Huang
    • Emperor Wu
    • The Qianlong Emperor

  18. 18. Which Chinese empress, the only woman to rule China in her own right as emperor, governed during the Tang dynasty?Hard

    • Wu Zetian ✓
    • Empress Dowager Cixi
    • Empress Lü
    • Empress Wei

  19. 19. Which powerful Chinese empress dowager effectively controlled the Qing dynasty government during the late 19th century?Medium

    • Empress Dowager Cixi ✓
    • Wu Zetian
    • Empress Lü
    • Empress Wei

  20. 20. Which Hawaiian queen was the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii before its overthrow in 1893?Medium

    • Queen Liliuokalani ✓
    • Queen Kaʻahumanu
    • Queen Emma
    • King Kalākaua

  21. 21. Which Habsburg empress, one of few women to rule in her own right, governed Austria and Hungary?Hard

    • Maria Theresa ✓
    • Empress Elisabeth
    • Marie Antoinette
    • Zita of Bourbon-Parma

  22. 22. Which Spanish king ruled a vast American empire in the 16th century while also serving as Holy Roman Emperor?Medium

    • Charles V ✓
    • Ferdinand II
    • Philip II
    • Philip IV

  23. 23. Which Spanish king sent the Spanish Armada to invade England in 1588, an invasion that ultimately failed?Easy

    • Philip II ✓
    • Charles V
    • Ferdinand II
    • Philip IV

  24. 24. Which Scottish king led his country to independence from England, notably winning the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314?Medium

    • Robert the Bruce ✓
    • Macbeth
    • William Wallace
    • James I

  25. 25. Which English king was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, fleeing after his Catholic rule failed?Medium

    • James II ✓
    • Charles II
    • William III
    • George I

  26. 26. Which title is traditionally given to the wife of a reigning British king?Medium

    • Queen consort ✓
    • Queen regnant
    • Princess royal
    • Duchess

  27. 27. Which title is given to the eldest daughter of the British monarch, an honor bestowed only on one royal at a time?Medium

    • The Princess Royal ✓
    • The Duchess of York
    • Queen consort
    • The Countess of Wessex

  28. 28. Which title is held by Prince William, King Charles III's heir, following his father's accession to the throne?Easy

    • The Prince of Wales ✓
    • The Duke of York
    • The Duke of Cambridge
    • The Earl of Wessex

  29. 29. Which term describes a period when someone rules on behalf of a monarch too young, absent or incapacitated to govern?Medium

    • A regency ✓
    • An abdication
    • An accession
    • A jubilee

  30. 30. Which British king suffered a mental illness later theorized as porphyria, needing a late-reign regency?Medium

    • George III ✓
    • George IV
    • William IV
    • George II

  31. 31. Which succession law, historically used in France, barred women entirely from inheriting the throne?Hard

    • Salic law ✓
    • Absolute primogeniture
    • Male-preference primogeniture
    • Agnatic-cognatic succession

  32. 32. Which Belgian king abdicated in 2013, following a pattern set by other European monarchs that decade?Medium

    • Albert II ✓
    • Philippe
    • Baudouin
    • Leopold III

  33. 33. Which mountain microstate between France and Spain is uniquely ruled jointly by two co-princes?Medium

    • Andorra ✓
    • Monaco
    • Liechtenstein
    • San Marino

  34. 34. Which large building, home to a royal family, is typically the seat of a monarchy?Easy

    • A palace ✓
    • A cathedral
    • A manor
    • A townhouse

  35. 35. Which term describes a family that has ruled over a country for multiple generations?Easy

    • A dynasty ✓
    • A regime
    • A republic
    • A federation

  36. 36. Which term describes a country ruled by a king or queen, as opposed to an elected president?Easy

    • A monarchy ✓
    • A republic
    • A democracy
    • A federation

  37. 37. Which English outlaw legend, said to have stolen from the rich to give to the poor, is associated with Sherwood Forest?Easy

    • Robin Hood ✓
    • King Arthur
    • Guy Fawkes
    • William Tell

  38. 38. Which annual military ceremony, held in June, celebrates the official birthday of the British monarch?Medium

    • Trooping the Colour ✓
    • The State Opening of Parliament
    • Remembrance Sunday
    • The Order of the Garter service

  39. 39. Which English king's reign is commonly associated with the legend of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381?Easy

    • Richard II ✓
    • Edward III
    • Henry IV
    • Richard III

How to play these as a game

Trivia Tavern runs these as a live round: one person opens a room, everyone else joins with a five-character code, and answers are locked in on each player’s own phone with a clock running. Faster correct answers score more, and a match draws from the full royals & rulers pool — around two hundred questions, of which the 39 above are a sample.

Two to eight players, about fifteen minutes for three rounds, and nobody needs to make an account to sit down.

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