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History of France

Can you name these people, places, and things from French history?
Quiz by
Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 14, 2026
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First submittedApril 8, 2014
Times taken55,860
Average score75.0%
Rating4.59
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Answer
African country which became independent from France in 1962,
once home to the "Pieds-noirs"
Algeria
Leader of the Free French during WWII, he later become President
Charles de Gaulle
Art movement which Claude Monet was part of
Impressionism
Emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 1800s
Napoleon
Period of mass beheadings during the French Revolution
Reign of Terror
Device used for painless beheading
Guillotine
Royal palace which was turned into a museum in 1793
Louvre
Notorious prison liberated on July 14, 1789 (with just 7 prisoners inside)
Bastille
Invention of the Montgolfier brothers
Hot air balloon
"World war" which France fought against Britain and Prussia between 1756–1763
Seven Years War
During the 1700s, Paris was the center of this cultural and scientific movement
Age of Enlightenment
The longest-reigning monarch in world history (72 years)
Louis XIV
Nickname of the above
The Sun King
Palace constructed by that king
Versailles
Chief Minister of France from 1624–1642
Cardinal Richelieu
Female warrior who helped relieve the Siege of Orleans in 1429
Joan of Arc
City which was the center of the Catholic church in the 1300s
Avignon
At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II set this into motion
The First Crusade
Frankish king who was crowned emperor in 800 AD
Charlemagne
Roman general who conquered Gaul
Julius Caesar
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57 Comments
plattitude
+1
Level 94
Apr 16, 2014
I read "Notorious person liberated..." racked my brain trying to come up with someone notorious who had been inside.
Baltimorean
+3
Level 66
May 2, 2014
The Marquis de Sade, as it turns out, was transferred from the Bastille to a madhouse only days before it was stormed. He may have even played a part in stirring up the crowds outside the prison in the weeks before it was liberated.
Shiloh376
+5
Level 76
May 2, 2014
For a long time I pictured a mob of prisoners being liberated at the storming of the Bastille, but there actually were only 7 prisoners at the time. More symbolic of the revolution I think.
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Jun 27, 2020
The people who stormed the Bastille had heard rumors of people being held there in appalling conditions and were quite surprised to find only 7 prisoners inside.
chrslg
+3
Level 44
Nov 28, 2025
I don't think this is true. People stormed the Bastille to get the weapons that were stored there. They weren't at all in a liberation mission. It wasn't a prison they stormed, but an arsenal (which happened to be also a prison). So I don't think they were surprised to see only 7 prisoners ; they mainly didn't care. And, in any case, Bastille wasn't stormed because of rumors about prisoners condition (that, btw, were horrific, even if applied to only 7 prisoners; it wasn't a rumor, but it was also the norm back then)
BillautVarenne93
+2
Level 82
Mar 15, 2026
That's what I was about to say ! Can't do a revolution without weapons, Americans should know that... Besides, the Bastille was mostly for high profile prisoners. The main prison in Paris was the Chatelet.
travelfan
+4
Level 67
May 2, 2014
That one was rather easy. I like it a lot because it's good for my ego :-D. Good variety of questions I think.
samwisegamgee
+22
Level 36
May 2, 2014
accepting just Louis for Louis XIV makes it way too easy to guess btw
Arp2600
+5
Level 89
May 2, 2014
Yeah, I also demand that "XIV" (or 14) be required :p. And it is "Cardinal de Richelieu" (and in fact, his name was Armand du Plessis ;) ).
Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
May 2, 2014
In English, he is called simply "Cardinal Richelieu".
QuizWol
+3
Level 66
Nov 20, 2019
richele.. Knew it, just couldn't spell it.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
May 4, 2014
I think Louis is okay, but on the other hand accepting Cesar for Julius Cesar is like accepting "President" when the answer is Nixon.
Arp2600
+14
Level 89
Dec 21, 2014
Caesar is a cognomen, its exact meaning is unknown because it's believed to be of Etruscan origin, and few is known about their language. It was not part of the Julia family name, but was only used by them, under the Republic. It's true that it became a synonym of the imperial figure after this guy's glorious feats, in the same way as Augustus did.
Duzza
+13
Level 33
May 10, 2016
No, Caesar was his cognomen and was a familial title, though later Emperors used it simply to mean Emperor as it linked them to him and added legitimacy, it was however still his name
kalbahamut
+1
Level 79
Feb 7, 2017
okay then
RondoNo2
+4
Level 49
Mar 16, 2026
That's generous of you.
beetboy12
+6
Level 36
Aug 6, 2014
Louis should be specified. HUGE difference between 14, 15 and 16.
Crazyguineapig
+1
Level 55
May 20, 2025
And 13, 12, 11, ....
Triptych
+1
Level 64
Mar 26, 2026
Just do it blindfolded

Or hobble the rest of us if you're bitter

irish41
+2
Level 58
May 2, 2014
I am super proud of myself for pulling "Vichy" out of some dark recess of my mind, managing to find the one neuron in my brain that remembered that city's name from my college history course a decade ago. :)
Mogysht
+2
Level 49
May 4, 2014
I felt the same way. I said - V, v, v, vi, Vichy! :D
ddddan
+11
Level 85
Jul 14, 2020
Veni, vidi, vichy?
mrputter
+2
Level 89
Mar 15, 2026
I came, I saw, I collaborated with the Nazis.
david2013
+1
Level 87
May 2, 2014
Great quiz!
zimbabwe12
+1
Level 52
May 2, 2014
De Gaulle was president when Paris was liberated as well, but left at the start of the Fourth Republic (1946)
celticcranberry
+3
Level 65
May 6, 2014
I got the Mongolfier bros. question thanks to Monty Python.

I would have gotten the Cardinal Richelieu one for the same reason if I was able to spell it correctly. :P

henrigolo
+1
Level 71
Mar 15, 2026
Your dogs are all called Balloono!
jajaco2017
+1
Level 56
Feb 7, 2017
17 out of 20
Moosefight
+2
Level 59
Feb 7, 2017
I love the easily guessable name of the war.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Sep 14, 2024
I tried 8 year war... Only one I missed togerher with Richeleu. (Pretty proud actually, history is not my subject, at all!)
RondoNo2
+1
Level 49
Mar 16, 2026
Neither is arithmetic, apparently.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Mar 28, 2026
I counted to 7 correctly this time :D ánd got Richelieu.

Though.. I tried Algiers instead of Algeria... Guess I can't use all my braincells at once..

Triptych
+1
Level 64
Mar 26, 2026
Spelled Miss Thangly Thang in French nope

Spelled Cardinal Rich Place as Rich Water

Damangio
+1
Level 64
Feb 7, 2017
It's hard to spell "Versailles."
joeythelemur
+2
Level 80
Feb 8, 2017
It wouldn't accept Cardinal "Fang".
Stoggler
+2
Level 55
Mar 25, 2026
Bring out the comfy chair!
Tramp
+6
Level 79
Nov 20, 2018
I can't believe I tried "10 years war" for ""World war" fought against Britain and Prussia 1756-1763"... Possibly the dumbest answer I've ever tried to enter on this site.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Sep 14, 2024
Yay someone gave a worse answer than my 8 year war :D
divantilya
+5
Level 36
Dec 15, 2018
Why, oh WHY won't you allow us to complete our answers? (e.g., DeGaul and Richelie instead of DeGaulle and Richelieu!)

Don't require the XIV for Louis, yet insist on "FIFA World Cup" in its entirety. Insanity!

Quizmaster
+8
Level ∞
Jun 27, 2020
No matter how we do it people complain.
kogatora
+5
Level 96
May 19, 2019
the montgolfier question was a breath of fresh air in the middle of this quiz
BlackJohn
+3
Level 79
Jul 14, 2020
This being a quiz made by an American, I half expected to find a question about French surrendering in WWII but was pleasantly surprised not to!
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Mar 14, 2026
Thank you for noticing. We also make deliberate efforts to avoid constant references to Nazis in German quizzes.

Why? Because it's boring and reductive.

HectorVortac
+1
Level 47
Jul 18, 2020
I blindly entered the answer 'Marie Antoinette' and was surprised to find no matching question.
Crazyguineapig
+4
Level 55
May 20, 2025
Why "montgolfière" isn't accepted ?
Liam6564
+1
Level 43
Aug 9, 2025
it's an English quiz.
ooftownroad
+1
Level 70
Feb 17, 2026
Roma is accepted for Rome
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Mar 14, 2026
Yes. Roma is a standard type-in. We keep it for the sake of consistency.

"Give them an inch, and they take a mile"

GoblinOfCooz
+1
Level 79
Mar 15, 2026
more people ought to know about the fascinating Cardinal Richelieu! One of the principal architects of absolutism and strong central government - without a Richelieu, you probably don't get the Sun King.
Philippelebel
+1
Level 79
Mar 15, 2026
Suggestions to fine-tune the quiz:

Maybe cut down on the Louis XIV questions (there are 3) to have more questions on early France.

Ask about the Lascaux cave for example.

Or change the Versailles question to: which palace was used to sign the peace treaty with Germany after WWI?

If the average is too high, don't ask about Caesar but about the person he defeated (Vercingétorix) or the battle (Alesia).

Terror Bastille and Guillotine are all on the same era, so one or two could be taken out.

Possible replacements: which black dancer from Missouri worked for the resistance during WWII?

Which female scientist's coffin in the Panthéon is lined with lead?

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 15, 2026
We're working on a sequel with more advanced questions!
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 87
Mar 15, 2026
Spare a thought for the brave but ill-fated Franz Reichelt who tried to parachute off the Eiffel Tower only to drop like a stone early in the 20th century.
FreeStater
+1
Level 81
Mar 15, 2026
I seem to recall that happening in a Scooby-Doo movie.
FreeStater
+1
Level 81
Mar 15, 2026
Nitpick: the longest-reigning monarch (that we're sure of) was Sobhuza II of Swaziland, at an astounding eighty-two years. Of course, he wouldn't become a sovereign until 1968.
FreeStater
+1
Level 81
Mar 15, 2026
Side note: I'm almost certain whoever holds the actual record has been lost to history. Wikipedia says there are several, albeit questionable, accounts of monarchs reigning for upwards of eighty years.
HemmoAU
+1
Level 57
Mar 25, 2026
58% knew 'Richelieu' but only 52% knew the First Crusade?? Make it make sense.
brandybuck96
+1
Level 82
Mar 26, 2026
Les trois mousquetaires ?
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