Murderous Monarchs Quiz

Which Mary was dubbed "Bloody Mary" for burning 300 Protestants at the stake?

Mary I

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary II

Mary of Guise

Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman, was said to have bathed in the blood of young girls as part of her beauty regimen. How many innocent people is she said to have murdered during her lifetime?

300

400

500

600

Fourteenth-century Turkish ruler and conqueror Tamerlane was notorious for his cruelty in war and for the many atrocities committed by his armies. After massacring 70,000 people in an Iranian town during one expedition, what did he do?

Tamerlane (Image credit: THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE)

Enslaved all the town’s children

Constructed towers out of the victims' skulls

Made a cloak for himself from the skin of his victims

Fed the remains of those killed to his hungry soldiers

Henry VIII is best known for his long-suffering bevy of beheaded brides. But, he actually only sent two of the six to the scaffold. Which two queens did he execute?

Henry VIII by Hans Holbein (Image credit: Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York)

Catherine Parr and Anne of Cleves

Jane Seymour and Catherine of Aragón

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard

Jane Seymour and Anne Boleyn

Vlad Dracula, prince of Walachia (now part of Romania), was Bram Stoker's inspiration for his famous novel, "Dracula." Which particularly cruel act was this fierce ruler's favorite way to punish people?

Bran Castle (Image credit: Susan McCartney/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

Feeding them to hungry wolves roaming the castle grounds

Impaling them on long stakes

Biting their necks with his own razor-like teeth

Which family member(s) did Roman emperor Nero kill?

Emperor Nero (Image credit: SEF/Art Resource, NY)

His mother

His second wife

His first wife

All of the above

Which English king is rumored to have killed his two young nephews?

Richard III

Richard II

Edward IV

Henry V

Which monarch killed his son and only legitimate heir over a wardrobe malfunction?

Ivan the Terrible

Alexander the Great

Ptolemy I

Louis XIV

Which Spanish rulers launched a bloody inquisition that lasted 350 years?

Ferdinand V and Isabelle I of Castile

John II of Aragón and Blanche of Navarre

Henry III of Castile and León and Katherine of Lancaster

Alfonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal

Known as the "Scourge of God" and feared across the Roman Empire for his voracious plundering, Attila, fifth-century king of the Huns, met his death not in a blaze of glory, but by this embarrassing end:

Attila the Hun (Image credit: Hulton Deutsch)

Falling off his horse and getting trampled

Contracting a nasty case of syphilis

Suffering a bloody nose

Choking on his own toenail