History: Tudor and Stuart people

Twenty questions on the people of the Tudor and Stuart years who are not in the headlines. Henry VIII's wives, the Armada, 1603, the Gunpowder Plot, the execution of Charles I and Cromwell as Lord Protector are in this category's first history quiz. This one fills in everyone around them.

The Tudor monarchs, in order

Henry VII, who tamed the nobles after the Wars of the Roses; Henry VIII, under whom Wales was united with England by law; Edward VI, a strict Protestant, and the Book of Common Prayer; Mary I, a Catholic, and the persecution that gave her the name 'Bloody Mary'; Elizabeth I, who never married. The questions are set so that each monarch's deed sits next to a sibling's — learn the order and most of them answer themselves.

Scotland and Ireland

John Knox and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland; Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in England and executed in 1587; the Plantation of Ulster under James I; Charles I's prayer book and the Scottish rising it provoked; Cromwell's campaign in Ireland, remembered for its brutality.

Writers and explorers

Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, and his plays (set against Bunyan and Milton); Drake, the first Englishman to sail around the world; Virginia, named after the 'Virgin Queen'; and the King James Bible of 1611.

King and Parliament

The divine right of kings, Cavaliers and Roundheads, Naseby in 1645, and the future Charles II hiding in an oak tree after Worcester in 1651. The Reformation itself is here too, as the idea that ties much of the period together.

Question types follow the real test: single answer, 'choose two', and 'which of these statements is true?'.

How this differs from test day

This is a quiz only: twenty questions on one period, each followed by an explanation that names why the right answer is right and where each wrong one really belongs. The real test is different in shape: 24 questions drawn from the whole handbook, on a computer, in 45 minutes, with no feedback until the end. Use this to find the facts that will not stick, then go back to them — not as a stand-in for the test itself.

The questions and explanations here are Zestly's own, written from publicly known facts. No text is reproduced from the official handbook, which is a separate copyrighted publication and the only real syllabus.

• Put the Tudor monarchs in order and attach one deed or belief to each
• Explain the Reformation in England and in Scotland, and name John Knox
• Say what happened to Mary, Queen of Scots, and what the Plantation of Ulster was
• Name Shakespeare's birthplace and plays, Drake's voyage and the King James Bible
• Explain the divine right of kings and name the sides and a decisive battle of the Civil War

Practice material written by Zestly from publicly known facts of British history, for the period covered by the Life in the UK history chapter. No text is reproduced from the handbook Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents.