Sunday, October 21, 2012

Giveaway Event: Sacred Treason Tudor Trivia Week!


London, December 1563. England is a troubled nation. Catholic plots against the young Queen Elizabeth spring up all over the country. At his house in the parish of St Bride, the herald William Harvey – known to everyone as Clarenceux - receives a book from his friend and fellow Catholic, Henry Machyn. But Machyn is in fear of his life, claiming that the book is deadly... What secret can it hold? And then Clarenceux is visited by the State in the form of Francis Walsingham and his ruthless enforcers, who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. If Clarenceux and his family are to survive the terror of Walsingham, and to plead with the queen’s Secretary of State Sir William Cecil for their lives, Clarenceux must solve the clues contained in the book to unlock its dangerous secrets before it’s too late. And when he does, he realises that it's not only his life and the lives of those most dear to him that are at stake...


To celebrate the release of Sacred Treason by James Forrester (Forrester, by the way, is the pen name of acclaimed British historian Ian Mortimer), I've teamed up with Sourcebooks for a fun week of Tudor trivia questions submitted by Mr. Forrester himself, and at the end of the week, one lucky reader will win their very own copy of the book that The Guardian calls "vivid and dramatic," The Daily Mail calls "arresting," and Philippa Gregory calls "gripping."

Entering is easy! Simply leave your best guess to each day's question in a comment with your email address. Then come back the next day to see if your answer was right and score another chance to win by answering the new trivia question. Each correct guess earns an entry, so by the end of the week you could have seven chances to be chosen in the random drawing for a copy of Sacred Treason. This giveaway is open to those with U.S. or Canadian mailing addresses and ends at midnight Oct. 27.

1) Sunday, October 21:

The symbol of the Tudor house is the Tudor rose. What two houses’ emblems were merged to make the Tudor rose?

Answer: Lancaster and York

2) Monday, October 22:

What color hair was the height of fashion during Elizabethan times?

Answer: Red, due in large part to Elizabeth I

3) Tuesday, October 23:

Theater flourished under Elizabeth’s reign, when many of Shakespeare’s plays were written. What was the name of the theater where he often staged his plays?

Answer: The Globe

4) Wednesday, October 24:

High-ranking officials in Spain and Italy hoped to depose Elizabeth, because of her Protestant beliefs. Who did they want to put on the throne instead?

Answer: Mary, Queen of Scots

5) Thursday, October 25:

Wealthy Londoners during Elizabethan times were introduced to potatoes, coffee and chocolate—thanks to the exploration of what continent?

Answer: South America

6) Friday, October 26:

What toxic ingredient could be found in women’s face powder during this period?

Answer: Lead

7) Saturday, October 27:

If you saw a house with doors marked with red crosses, what would it have meant?

Answer: It was condemned because of the bubonic (black) plague


This giveaway is closed and the winner has been selected.
Stay tuned for more great giveaways!

23 comments:

  1. Lancaster red rose and York's white! Symbolized the merging of the two warring Houses with the new Tudor dynasty.

    I love this idea of a Tudor Week trivia! Very fun - and I had no idea that Ian Mortimer was writing historical fiction - I guess that's the point of a penname? Either way, this looks like a good, new take on Tudor hist. fic. I'm excited to see what he brings to the table. Queen Elizabeth is always one of my favorite historical personages to read about, too!

    jeskimo.kimono@gmail.com

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  2. The Lancastrian red rose joined with the Yorkish white rose and from there came the Tudor rose.

    Great fun giveaway.

    nrlymrtl at gmail dot com

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  3. Too easy..hope the next trivia questions are harder! The white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster were combined to make the Tudor rose, when Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor, the last hope of the House of Lancaster.

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  4. This book sound very interesting to get involved with!!!!!

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  5. Tudor Rose= Red Rose (House of Lancaster)+ White Rose (House of York).
    thanks for the giveaway!
    Emma @ Words And Peace
    ehc16e at yahoo dot com

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  6. The white rose of the house of York and the red rose of the house of Lancaster

    booklove at sawcatsverse dot com

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  7. I am sorry I did not post the question and my answer is The House of Lancaster badge the Red Rose and The House of York badge the White Rose.

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  8. The Wars of the Roses was between the Houses of York (White Rose) and Lancaster (Red Rose).

    Thank you for the chance to win.

    griperang at embarqmail dot com

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  9. I am going to guess and say "blonde" was the most popular. I'm tempted to say red in honor of the Virgin Queen, but my gut says blonde. This is a hard question! I do remember reading in a few novels about women trying to bleach, or use lemon, to lighten their hair. So: blonde.

    jeskimo.kimono@gmail.com

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  10. The answer is red as Elizabeth's hair was red and women wanted their hair to look like hers

    Sorry I answered the other question from yesterday at the top, when I got the email today it just had yesterday's question.

    griperang at embarqmail dot com

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    Replies
    1. You're all good, Angela! You can comment on each day's question before the official answer is posted! Two entries for you so far :)

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  11. They loved red hair! Thank you for hosting this giveaway.

    wfnren(at)aol(dot)com

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  12. The hair color that they loved was red. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  13. Red Hair was loved. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  14. I believe it was red hair...women dyed their hair to be fashionable..

    momkelly2003 at yahoo dot com

    thank you

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  15. hi. just dropped by to say how much i appreciate you taking time to share such wonderful posts.

    Online Trivia Games

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  16. The Globe Theatre! I love Shakespeare's play - especially Much Ado about Nothing and Twelfth Night.

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  17. Jessie beat me to The Globe, but I believe performances were also done at the Blackfriars Theatre. :-D

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  18. The Globe was the famous theatre. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. The Globe was where plays were performed. I love Shakespeare plays and when I was young we went to Stratford.elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  20. Lady Katherine Gray, or Mary Queen of Scots.

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  21. Mary Queen of Scots is my guess.

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  22. My Friday answer is white lead.

    griperang at embarqmail dot com

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