(no subject)

[tinyjo]

[Poll #1490404]

Inspired by last night when I asked Alex to pick out a medieval This Sceptred Isle for me. He read out the dates on the box and I said sleepily "So, Elizabeth I and James I probably" and he was very impressed that I actually knew that from the dates. I asked him which century Henry VIII reigned in and he found it hard. So am I weird for knowing this stuff, or is he unusual for not knowing it. I can't really remember where I got taught it, I just kind of picked it up. I can also name all the Kings and Queens since William I in order, given a little thinking time, which I know is weird.

Comments

[boredinsomniac.livejournal.com]

Wow, I got it! I wasn't sure when I tried to remember about her specifically - I was only thinking some time in the 16th or 17th centuries. A few years ago I went on a major kick for books - fact or fiction - about European monarchs of that period. It included a biography of Catherine of Aragon, a fictional autobiography of Henry VIII, and The Queen's Fool. and... that didn't help me a whole lot with years :P

I was drawing a blank until I remembered that Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and of course my American education has left me with the year 1492 to associate with them. So I knew Elizabeth must have taken the throne some time in the 16th century. The decade was a lucky estimate based on a vague memory from the books that Henry and Catherine were married in the first decade of the 16th century.

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

It's interesting because that's one of the things I can't do at all - trace back my knowledge of this stuff. It's just under the category of "cultural knowledge, always been there" in my head. Like I assume you guys would be able to tell me who was president during the Civil War and so on.

[boredinsomniac.livejournal.com]

Thinking over how I arrived at my answer is just as interesting to me as the question itself :) and yeah, we could tell you who was president during the Civil War, but I'm not sure the success rate would be very good if you quizzed random Americans on the years of his term in office.