History Quiz!

pedroeibar1

Arsemageddon wrote: »

That quote is from a monk/friar in Kilkenny who compiled annals. he is writing about his impending death after becoming infected during the Black Death.

His name is on the tip of my tongue. I'm desperately fighting the urge to google it.

Correct.:)
Friar John Clyn, a Franciscan writing in Kilkenny 1348 about the Great Plague. See here for a paper on him.

The pestilence was rife in Kilkenny in Lent, for, from Christmas Day to the 6th day of March eight friars preachers died of it. Scarcely one alone ever died in a house. Commonly husband, wife, children, and servants, went the one way, the way of death. And I, Friar John Clyn, of the Order of Friars Minor, and of the convent of Kilkenny, wrote in this book those notable things, which happened in my time, which I saw with my eyes, or which I learned from persons worthy of credit; and lest things worthy of remembrance should perish with time, and fall away from the memory of those who are to come after us, I, seeing these many evils, and the whole world lying, as it were, in the wicked one, among the dead, waiting for death till it come, as I have truly heard and examined, so have I reduced these things to writing; and lest the writing, should perish with the writer, and the work fail together with the workman, I leave parchment for continuing the work, if haply any man survive, and any of the race of Adam escape this pestilence and continue the work which I have commenced.’ Then follows one paragraph for 1349, containing the death and eulogy of Sir Fulco de la Frene, and then the copyist's brief entry: ‘Here it seems the author died.’

Your turn.

Arsemageddon

I was a barrister, politician, judge, writer and a dualist. To this day I remain the only judge to have been removed from my post by both Houses of Parliament.

Who am I?

pedroeibar1

Arsemageddon wrote: »

I was a barrister, politician, judge, writer and a dualist. To this day I remain the only judge to have been removed from my post by both Houses of Parliament.

Who am I?

Sir Jonah Barrington.:) Now, to make it a little more difficult/complex, how can his life and times be connected to King William IV, the BBC and David Cameron?

pedroeibar1

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Sir Jonah Barrington.:) Now, to make it a little more difficult/complex, how can his life and times be connected to King William IV, the BBC and David Cameron?

Two days on..............
The connections arise through a sequence of events surrounding Sir Jonah’s most famous encounter with another noted duellist, Richard Daly, whose life was saved by the diamond brooch he always wore – Barrington’s musket ball hit it and ricocheted.

Daly was a dandy, a member of the Hellfire Club, an actor/theatre impresario (Smock Alley) and seducer of young actresses. One of his conquests was Dorothea Bland, the daughter of Francis Bland (1736 – 1778) eldest son of an important landed family in S. Kerry who had been disinherited for throwing up an army career to marry an actress and go on the stage.

Dorothea soon became pregnant by Daly who then dumped her; she crossed to England to have her child. She likened her overseas trip to “crossing the River Jordan’ which brought about her stage name of “Mrs. Jordan.” She was a success on the London Stage and from 1790 lived with William, Duke of Clarence, third son of George III who accepted his son’s relationship with “Mrs. Jordan”.

Their children, ten in total, took the surname ‘FitzClarence’. William in 1830 became William IV upon the death of his brother George IV because his two older brothers predeceased him without surviving legitimate issue. David Cameron is descended from one of William/Dorothea’s daughters, Elizabeth FitzClarence.

Sir Christopher Bland, former chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC (among other business interests) was the senior member of Kerry’s Bland family until his death earlier this year.

Claire Tomalin’s book ‘Mrs. Jordan’s Profession’ is a good read.

pedroeibar1

This one should suit current posters.

It was a landmark ruling in its day (1970's Ireland). In a reserved judgement the trial judge awarded the maximum allowable to the plaintiff in this civil action. Of the three key witnesses for the defence he said “I have come to the conclusion that all three were telling lies about this matter…..” He also strongly criticised both the evidence and role of the Defence’s medical witness.
Who were the defendants?
What was the basis of the action?

Manach

Would it be the tort case of Byrne v Ireland, where the State was held liable for the first time for actions of its personel?

pedroeibar1

Manach wrote: »

Would it be the tort case of Byrne v Ireland, where the State was held liable for the first time for actions of its personel?

Not the one I had in mind, although the Supreme Court ruling on Byrne was delivered the same year. (Will leave debate on interpretation of Byrne judgement out of it!)

Clue - the award was £300.

Arsemageddon

Moore V Ministry of Defence (1972) - human rights case in Northern Ireland regarding internment and the use of the five techniques

pedroeibar1

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Moore V Ministry of Defence (1972) - human rights case in Northern Ireland regarding internment and the use of the five techniques

Correct. The plaintiff was William Moore; he brought an action against the Chief Constable of the RUC (Schillington) and the British Ministry of Defence for wrongful arrest and assault. At that time as a result of the Special Powers Act about 2% of all Catholic males in NI were arrested and held incommunicado and about a quarter of that number were subjected to brutality.
Judge Rory Connaghan ruled that men were detained in “primitive circumstances” which were “deliberate, unlawful and harsh” following their arrest by security forces in the internment scoop of August 1971. Judgment was delivered in Feb. 1972. The amount claimed/awarded (£300) was the maximum County Court award at that time.
Denis Faul was a family friend and a regular visitor – I still have a couple of copies of the book he co-authored, the one with the red cover by Thomas Ryan RHA.

Manach

Which (in)famous Englishman is accounted to be the first of his countryman to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean?

bobbyss

Drake...?

Manach

Indeed it was Drake.

Your turn.

bobbyss

OK But I'm not good at this and couldn't answer 99% of the questions.

What's the connection between Patrick Pearse and Hollywood siren Hedy Lemarr?

feargale

bobbyss wrote: »

OK But I'm not good at this and couldn't answer 99% of the questions.

What's the connection between Patrick Pearse and Hollywood siren Hedy Lemarr?

Hedy Lamarr was married to the son of the officer who accepted the surrender from Pearse in 1916

bobbyss

feargale wrote: »

Hedy Lamarr was married to the son of the officer who accepted the surrender from Pearse in 1916

Yes indeed. In the picture of Pearse surrendering with E O'Farrell partly obscured beside him, he was surrendering to Lowe (?) and stood beside him was his son. His son then went on to become an actor calling himself John Loder who went on to marry the bould Hedy.

feargale

In 1952, a number of post boxes were attacked in Scotland in a dispute, including at least one which was damaged in Edinburgh with a home made explosive device. What was in dispute?

Manach

Was this part of nationalist campaign to demand back the coronation stone , the scone?, to Scotland?

Peregrinus

Manach is close, but I think strictly speaking it was a protest against the use of the cypher "EIIR" on newy-installed postboxes in Scotland, since the new Queen Elizabeth was only the first monarch in Scotland to have that name. (The first Queen Elizabeth was Queen of England, but not of Scotland.)

While the British government later adopted a convention that monarchs would use the higher of whichever regnal numbering was appropriate to Scotland (so if there is ever another King James, for example, he would be expected to be James VIII, not James III), the Scots actually won this particular skirmish; postboxes and other crown property in Scotland are now simply marked with a crown, rather than with the royal cypher.

Manach

I bow before the above poster so Periginus is up next to pose a question.

Peregrinus

Name two people who claimed the English throne on the basis of descent from a Queen of France.

pinkypinky

Richard & John via Eleanor of Aquitaine?

Peregrinus

pinkypinky wrote: »

Richard & John via Eleanor of Aquitaine?

Not who I had in mind. Although their mother was Queen of France, they didn't inherit their claim to the English throne on the basis of their descent from her but rather from their father, Henry II.

If it helps, the two people I am thinking of are descended from two different
queens of France. I realise now that my initial question might have suggested that both were descended from the same queen.

Boulevardier

Richard III and Henry VII

Peregrinus

Richard III was descended from Edward III on both his father's and his mother's side, but in neither case does the line of descent involve a Queen of France.

Henry VII was also descended from Edward III through John of Gaunt. Again, no Queen of France is involved. His paternal grandmother was Catherine of Valois, but she was a French princess, not Queen of France, and in any event she does not figure in his claims to the throne.

The answers I was looking for are:

- James I of England, who was descended from Henry VII through Mary, Queen of Scots (James' mother, Henry's great-granddaughter) who was Queen of France as the wife of Francis II.

- Lady Jane Grey, who was also descended from Henry VII through Mary Tudor (Jane's grandmother, Henry's daughter) who was Queen of France as the wife of Louis XII.

As no-one has got it, I'll throw it open to any one who wants to post a question.

feargale

Which prominent German political figure was a direct descendant of Martin Luther?

BowWow

Check out posts 1166 and 1177 in this thread

feargale

Oops! Meeow!
Ok. Easy one.
What was the most common first name/Christian name of US presidents?

JillyQ

It's James

feargale

JillyQ wrote: »

It's James

Correct. If USA had elected kings instead of presidents Jimmy Carter would have been King James VI. ( King Jimmy I would have been unseemly. )

JillyQ

Here is another easy one name the Irish statesman that who was assassinated on this date