Tudor Pets Quiz - The Tudor Society

Tudor people were just like us, they loved their animals, but how much do you know about the pets of the Tudors? Test your knowledge with this fun quiz.

Tudor Pets

Q1) Which Tudor statesman was known for having his pet cat at his side, on a cushioned chair, while he worked?

Thomas More

Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Audley

Thomas Wolsey

Correct! The resident cat, used as a "mouser" today, in 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence in London, is thought to date back to this.

Wrong! It was Cardinal Wolsey. The resident cat, used as a "mouser" today, in 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence in London, is thought to date back to this.

Q2) Who owned the troublesome dogs Cut and Ball who were known for getting lost?

Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn

Edward VI

Elizabeth I

Correct! He had to offer rewards for their safe return.

Wrong! It was Henry VIII. He had to offer rewards for their safe return.

Q3) Which Tudor family were said to have raised a lion cub as a pet?

The Boleyns

The Wyatts

The Seymours

The Staffords

Correct. There is a story that the lion turned on Thomas Wyatt the Elder and attacked him. Wyatt had the presence of mind to grab his rapier and run it through the lion’s heart. When Henry VIII heard of this story, he commented "Oh, he will tame lions".

Wrong! It was the Wyatts. There is a story that the lion turned on Thomas Wyatt the Elder and attacked him. Wyatt had the presence of mind to grab his rapier and run it through the lion’s heart. When Henry VIII heard of this story, he commented "Oh, he will tame lions".

Q4) What type of animal was "Hatch", whose remains were found in the wreck of Henry VIII's flagship, The Mary Rose?

A cat

A monkey

A dog

A parrot

Correct! He was the ship's ratter and DNA testing has shown that he was a mongrel, his mother being a whippet and his father a terrier.

Wrong! He was a dog. He was the ship's ratter and DNA testing has shown that he was a mongrel, his mother being a whippet and his father a terrier.

Q5) Which breed of dog was the one said to have been shot dead by Thomas Seymour when he broke into his nephew Edward VI's apartments in 1549?

Spaniel

Greyhound

Beagle

Mastiff

Correct!

Wrong! It was a spaniel.

Q6) One of Henry VIII's favourite animals was "Governatore" - what was he?

A dog

A horse

A ferret

A nightingale

Correct! He was a magnificent Barb stallion sent to Henry VIII by Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua and owner of the famous Gonzaga stables of Mantua in Italy.

Wrong! He was a horse. Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua and owner of the famous Gonzaga stables of Mantua in Italy, sent him to Henry VIII.

Q7) On 25th September 1530 Anne Boleyn had to pay out "x s." (10 shillings) for something her and Urian Brereton's greyhounds had done - what had they been up to?

They had killed a sheep

They'd trampled a farmer's crop

They had killed a cow

They had mauled a royal stag

Correct! "Itm the same daye paied for A Cowe that Uryren a Breretons greyhounde and my ladye Annes killed - x s." 25 September 1530

Wrong! They had killed a cow. "Itm the same daye paied for A Cowe that Uryren a Breretons greyhounde and my ladye Annes killed - x s." 25 September 1530

Q8) Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, had a pet dog that she enjoyed calling to heel in public. What was he called?

Rich

Wriothesley

Henry

Gardiner

Correct! He was named after Stephen Gardiner and Catherine was not a fan of the bishop and found it amusing to call Gardiner to heel!

Wrong! He was named after Stephen Gardiner and Catherine was not a fan of the bishop and found it amusing to call Gardiner to heel!

Q9) A sky terrier or spaniel was found hiding under the skirt of whose dead body after s/he was beheaded?

Catherine Howard

Mary, Queen of Scots

Anne Boleyn

Margaret Pole

Correct!

Wrong! It was Mary, Queen of Scots.

Q10) How did Anne Boleyn's little dog Purkoy die?

He died after a fall

He was poisoned

He was shot

He drowned

Correct! He is recorded as being "dead of a fall", so possibly out of a window.

Wrong! He died "of a fall", possibly falling out of a window.

You can find out more about Tudor pets in my talk from last year - click here.