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The History of the English Monarchy

www.royal.gov.uk is the official website of British Monarchy

5 Ad to 1066 The Anglo-Saxons
1066 to 1154 The Normans
1154 to 1215 The Angevins
1215 to 1381 The Plantagenet
1381 to 1461 The Lancastrian
1461 to 1486 The Yorkists
1486 to 1603 The Tudors
1603 to 1714 The Stuarts
1714 to 1837 The Hanoverians
1837 to 1917 The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
1917 to Present The House of Windsor

5 Ad to 1066 The Anglo-Saxons

In the Dark Ages during the fifth and sixth centuries, communities of peoples in Britain inhabited homelands with ill-defined borders. Such communities were organised and led by chieftains or kings. Following the final withdrawal of the Roman legions from the provinces of Britannia in around 408 AD these small kingdoms were left to preserve their own order and to deal with invaders and waves of migrant peoples such as the Picts from beyond Hadrian's Wall, the Scots from Ireland and Germanic tribes from the continent. (King Arthur, a larger-than-life figure, has often been cited as a leader of one or more of these kingdoms during this period, although his name now tends to be used as a symbol of British resistance against invasion.) The invading communities overwhelmed or adapted existing kingdoms and created new ones - for example, the Angles in Mercia and Northumbria. Some British kingdoms initially survived the onslaught, such as Strathclyde, which was wedged in the north between Pictland and the new Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.

By 650 AD, the British Isles were a patchwork of many kingdoms founded from native or immigrant communities and led by powerful chieftains or kings. In their personal feuds and struggles between communities for control and supremacy, a small number of kingdoms became dominant: Bernicia and Deira (which merged to form Northumbria in 651 AD), Lindsey, East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex and Kent. Until the late seventh century, a series of warrior-kings in turn established their own personal authority over other kings, usually won by force or through alliances and often cemented by dynastic marriages.

According to the later chronicler Bede, the most famous of these kings was Ethelberht, king of Kent (reigned c.560-616), who married Bertha, the Christian daughter of the king of Paris, and who became the first English king to be converted to Christianity (St Augustine's mission from the Pope to Britain in 597 during Ethelberht's reign prompted thousands of such conversions). Ethelberht's law code was the first to be written in any Germanic language and included 90 laws. His influence extended both north and south of the river Humber: his nephew became king of the East Saxons and his daughter married king Edwin of Northumbria (died 633).

In the eighth century, smaller kingdoms in the British Isles continued to fall to more powerful kingdoms, which claimed rights over whole areas and established temporary primacies: Dalriada in Scotland, Munster and Ulster in Ireland. In England, Mercia and later Wessex came to dominate, giving rise to the start of the monarchy. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the succession was frequently contested, by both the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and leaders of the settling Scandinavian communities. The Scandinavian influence was to prove strong in the early years. It was the threat of invading Vikings which galvanised English leaders into unifying their forces, and, centuries later, the Normans who successfully invaded in 1066 were themselves the descendants of Scandinavian 'Northmen'.

King Athelstan (succedded ??? )(lived 895 - 939)(king of Wessex 924-939 and the first monarch to take the title of king of England
King Edmund I (succedded his his half-brother, King Athelsta)(lived 921 - 946)(ruled 939 - 946)
King Eadwig (succedded his uncle, King Edmund I)(lived ? - 959)(ruled 955 - 959)
King Edgar, The Peaceful (succedded his brother, King Eadwig)(lived 944 - 975)(ruled 959 - 975)
King Ethelred II (the Unready) (succedded his father, )(lived 968 - 1016)(ruled 978 - 1016)
King Edmund II (succedded his father, King Ethelred II (the Unready))(lived 981 - 1016)(ruled 1016)
King Canute II (succedded King Edmund II, by conquering England)(lived 994 - 1035)(ruled 1016 - 1035)
King Harold I (succedded his father, King Canute II)(lived ? - 1040)(ruled 1037 - 1040)
King Hardecanute (the last Danish king of England)(succedded his half brother, King Harold I)(lived 1019 - 1042)(ruled 1040 - 1042)
King Edward the Confessor (succedded his half brother, King Hardecanute)(lived 1002 - 1066)(ruled 1042 - 1066)

1066 to 1154 The Normans

The Normans came to govern as a result of one of the most famous battles in English history, the Battle of Hastings in 1066. From 1066 to 1154 four kings ruled. The Domesday Book, that great source of English landholding, was published, the forests were extended, the Exchequer was founded and a start was made on the Tower of London. In religious affairs, the Gregorian reform movement gathered pace and forced concessions, while the machinery of government developed to support the country while Henry was fighting abroad. Meanwhile, the social landscape was altered, as the Norman aristocracy came to prominence. Many of the nobles struggled to keep a hold on both Normandy and England, as divided rule meant the threat of conflict.

This was the case when William the Conqueror died. His eldest son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy, while the next youngest, William, became king of England. Their younger brother Henry would become king on William II's death. The uneasy divide continued until Henry captured and imprisoned his elder brother.

The question of the succession continued to weigh heavily over the remainder of the period. Henry's son died, and his nominated heir Matilda was denied the throne by her cousin, Henry's nephew, Stephen. There then followed a period of civil war. Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, who took control of Normandy. The duchy was therefore separated from England once again. A compromise was eventually reached whereby the son of Matilda and Geoffrey would be heir to the English crown, while Stephen's son would inherit his baronial lands. All this meant that in 1154 Henry II would ascend to the throne as the first undisputed King in over 100 years - proof of the dynastic uncertainty of the Norman period.

King William I the Conqueror (succedded his cousin, King Edward the Confessor)(lived 1027 - 1087)(ruled 1066 - 1087)
King William II (succedded his father, King William I the Conqueror)(lived 1056 - 1100)(ruled 1087 - 1100)
King Henry I (succedded his brother, King William II)(lived 1068 - 1135)(ruled 1100 - 1135)
King Stephen of Blois (succedded his uncle, King Henry I)(lived 1097 - 1154)(ruled 1135 - 1154)

1154 to 1215 The Angevins

Henry II, the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Henry I's daughter Matilda, was the first in a long line of 14 Plantagenet kings, stretching from Henry II's accession through to Richard III's death in 1485. Within that line, however, four distinct Royal Houses can be identified: Angevin, Plantagenet, Lancaster and York.

The first Angevin King, Henry II, began the period as arguably the most powerful monarch in Europe, with lands stretching from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. In addition, Ireland was added to his inheritance, a mission entrusted to him by Pope Adrian IV (the only English Pope). A new administrative zeal was evident at the beginning of the period and an efficient system of government was formulated. The justice system developed. However there were quarrels with the Church, which became more powerful following the murder of Thomas Becket.

As with many of his predecessors, Henry II spent much of his time away from England fighting abroad. This was taken to an extreme by his son Richard, who spent only 10 months of a ten-year reign in the country due to his involvement in the crusades. The last of the Angevin kings was John, whom history has judged harshly. By 1205, six years into his reign, only a fragment of the vast Angevin empire acquired by Henry II remained. John quarrelled with the Pope over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, eventually surrendering. He was also forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, which restated the rights of the church, the barons and all in the land. John died in ignominy, having broken the contract, leading the nobles to summon aid from France and creating a precarious position for his heir, Henry III.

King Henry II (succedded King Stephen of Blois, a cousin of King Henry's monther)(lived 1133 - 1189)(ruled 1154 - 1189)
King Richard I, the Lion-Hearted (succeeded his father King Henry II)(lived 1157 - 1199)(ruled 1189 - 1199)
King John (succeeded his brother, King Richard I, the Lion-Hearted)(lived 1167-1216)(ruled 1199-1216)

1215 to 1381 The Plantagenet

The Plantagenet period was dominated by three major conflicts at home and abroad. Edward I attempted to create a British empire dominated by England, conquering Wales and pronouncing his eldest son Prince of Wales, and then attacking Scotland. Scotland was to remain elusive and retain its independence until late in the reign of the Stuart kings. In the reign of Edward III the Hundred Years War began, a struggle between England and France. At the end of the Plantagenet period, the reign of Richard II saw the beginning of the long period of civil feuding known as the War of the Roses. For the next century, the crown would be disputed by two conflicting family strands, the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

The period also saw the development of new social institutions and a distinctive English culture. Parliament emerged and grew. The judicial reforms begun in the reign of Henry II were continued and completed by Edward I. Culture began to flourish. Three Plantagenet kings were patrons of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry. During the early part of the period, the architectural style of the Normans gave way to the Gothic, in which style Salisbury Cathedral was built. Westminster Abbey was rebuilt and the majority of English cathedrals remodelled. Franciscan and Dominican orders began to be established in England, while the universities of Oxford and Cambridge had their origins in this period.

Amidst the order of learning and art, however, were disturbing new phenomena. The outbreak of Bubonic plague or the 'Black Death' served to undermine military campaigns and cause huge social turbulence, killing half the country's population. The price rises and labour shortage which resulted led to social unrest, culminating in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.

King Henry III (succeeded his father, King John)(lived 1207 - 1272)(ruled 1216 - 1272)
King Edward I (succeeded his father, King Henry III)(lived 1239 - 1307)(ruled 1272 - 1307)
King Edward II (succeeded his father, King Edward I)(lived 1284 - 1327)(ruled 1307 - 1327)
King Edward III (succeeded his father, King Edward II)(lived 1312 - 1377)(ruled 1327 - 1377)
King Richard II (succeeded his grandfather, King Edward III)(lived 1367 - 1400)(ruled 1377 - 1399)

1381 to 1415 The Lancastrian

The accession of Henry IV sowed the seeds for a period of unrest which ultimately broke out in civil war. Fraught by rebellion and instability after his usurpation of Richard II, Henry IV found it difficult to enforce his rule. His son, Henry V, fared better, defeating France in the famous Battle of Agincourt (1415) and staking a powerful claim to the French throne. Success was short-lived with his early death.

By the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war broke out between rival claimants to the throne, dating back to the sons of Edward III. The Lancastrian dynasty descended from John of Gaunt, third son of Edward III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular Richard II. Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York asserted their legitimate claim to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son, but through a female line. The Wars of the Roses therefore tested whether the succession should keep to the male line or could pass through females.

Captured and briefly restored, Henry VI was captured and put to death, and the Yorkist faction led by Edward IV gained the throne.

King Henry IV (succeded King Richard II by revolution and election and founded the Lancastrian dynasty)(lived 1367 - 1413)(ruled 1399 - 1413)
King Henry V (succeded his father King Henry V)(lived 1387 - 1422)(ruled 1413 - 1422)
King Henry VI (succeded his father King Henry V)(lived 1421 - 1471)(ruled 1422 - 1461)(ruled 1470 - 1471)

1461 to 1486 The Yorkists

The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians in 1461 did not put an end to the Wars of the Roses, which rumbled on until the start of the sixteenth century. Family disloyalty in the form of Richard III's betrayal of his nephews, the young King Edward V and his brother, was part of his downfall. Henry Tudor, a claimant to the throne of Lancastrian descent, defeated Richard III in battle and Richard was killed. With the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth, the sister of the young Princes in the Tower, reconciliation was finally achieved between the warring houses of Lancaster and York in the form of the new Tudor dynasty, which combined their respective red and white emblems to produce the Tudor rose.

King Edward IV (successor of Henry VI, see War of the Roses)(lived 1442 - 1483)(ruled 1461 - 1470)(ruled 1471 - 1483)[King Henry VI was restored to the throne 1470 - 1471]
King Edward V (successor of his father King Edward IV)(lived 1470 - 1483)(ruled 1483 - 1483)
King Richard III (succeded King Edward V by throwing King Edward age 12 into the Tower of London where Edward V died that year, how did he die? unknown)(lived 1452 - 1485)(ruled 1483 - 1485)

1486 to 1603 The Tudors

The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house. Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years.

During this period, England developed into one of the leading European colonial powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh taking part in the conquest of the New World. Nearer to home, campaigns in Ireland brought the country under strict English control.

Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many changes. The Tudor court played a prominent part in the cultural Renaissance taking place in Europe, nurturing all-round individuals such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey. The Tudor period also saw the turbulence of two changes of official religion, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent believers of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The fear of Roman Catholicism induced by the Reformation was to last for several centuries and to play an influential role in the history of the Succession.

King Henry VII (succeeded King Richard III by being a a descendant of Edward III through his mother)(lived 1457 - 1509)(ruled 1485 - 1509)(founded the Tudor house)
King Henry VIII (second son and successor of Henry VII)(lived 1491 - 1547)(ruled 1509 - 1547)
King Edward VI (succeeded his father Henry VIII)(lived 1537 - 1553)(ruled 1547 - 1553)
Lady Jane Grey (lived 1537 - 1554)(ruled 07/10/1553 - 07/19/1553)(granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister and wife of duke of Northumberland's (John Dudley) son) (on Edward's death John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, arranged the short-lived usurpation of the throne by Lady Jane Grey; Mary, however, supported by an overwhelming number of loyal subjects, soon ascended the throne then was beheaded Queen Mary beheaded Lady Jane Grey)
Queen Mary I (succeeded her half-sister Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII)(lived 1516 - 1558)(ruled 1553 - 1558)
Queen Elizabeth I (succeeded her half-sister Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII)(lived 1533 - 1603)(ruled 1558 - 1603)

1603 to 1714 The Stuarts

The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James I of England who began the period was also King James VI of Scotland, thus combining the two thrones for the first time.

The Stuart dynasty reigned in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture but also much upheaval and instability, of plague, fire and war. It was an age of intense religious debate and radical politics. Both contributed to a bloody civil war in the mid-seventeenth century between Crown and Parliament (the Cavaliers and the Roundheads), resulting in a parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic execution of King Charles I. There was a short-lived republic, the first time that the country had experienced such an event. The Restoration of the Crown was soon followed by another 'Glorious' Revolution. William and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of James II's daughters.

The end of the Stuart line with the death of Queen Anne led to the drawing up of the Act of Settlement in 1701, which provided that only Protestants could hold the throne. The next in line according to the provisions of this act was George of Hanover, yet Stuart princes remained in the wings. The Stuart legacy was to linger on in the form of claimants to the Crown for another century.

King James I (succeeded Queen Elizabeth I by virtue of his descent from Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII)(lived 1566 - 1625)(ruled 1603 - 1625)
King Charles I (second son of James I and Anne of Denmark)(lived 1600 - 1649)(ruled 1625 - 1649)(he was beheaded on Jan. 30, 1649)
There was no king or queen between 1649 - 1714 so parliment ran the country. For information look up Civil War and Act of Settlement

1714 to 1837 The Hanoverians

The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant according the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed Stuart King, threatened to take the throne and were supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm.

The Hanoverian period for all that, was remarkably stable, not least because of the longevity of its Kings. From 1714 through to 1837, there were only five, one of whom, George III, remains the longest reigning King in British History. The period was also one of political stability, and the development of constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth century politics were dominated by the great Whig families, while the early nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime' Minister, Robert Walpole, dates from this period, while income tax was introduced. Towards the end of the reign, the Great Reform Act was passed, which amongst other things widened the electorate.

It was in this period that Britain came to acquire much of her overseas Empire, despite the loss of the American colonies, largely through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century. At the end of the Hanoverian period the British empire covered a third of the globe while the theme of longevity was set to continue, as the longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Victoria, prepared to take the throne.

King George I (succeeded Queen Anne under the provisions of the Act of Settlement of 1701)(lived 1660 - 1727)(ruled 1714 - 1727)
King George II (son of George I)(lived 1683 - 1760)(ruled 1727 - 1760)
King George III (grandson of George II)(lived 1738 - 1820)(ruled 1760 - 1820)
King George IV (oldest son of George III)(lived 1762 - 1830)(ruled 1820 - 1830)
King William IV (third son of George III, brother of George IV)(lived 1765 - 1837)(ruled 1830 - 1837)

1837 to 1917 The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to the British Royal Family in 1840 with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Queen Victoria herself remained a member of the House of Hanover.

The only British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years at the beginning of the modern age in the early years of the 20th century. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha survived in other European monarchies, including the current Belgian Royal Family and the former monarchies of Portugal and Bulgaria.

Queen Victoria (neice of King William IV)(lived 05/24/1819 - 01/22/1901)(ruled 1837 - 1901)
King Edward VII (oldest child of Queen Victoria and King Albert) (lived 1841 - 1910) (ruled 1901 - 1910)
King George V (son of King Edward VII) (lived - 1936) (ruled 1910 - 1936)(in 1917 changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to The House of Windsor)

1917 to Present The House of Windsor

The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal Family.

During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom have fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional monarchy. One of their most important roles was national figureheads lifting public morale during the devastating world wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45.

The period saw the modernization of the monarchy in tandem with the many social changes which have taken place over the past 80 years. One such modernization has been the use of mass communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public the world over. George V adopted the new relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in 1953, at The Queen's insistence; and the World Wide Web has been used for the past four years to provide a global audience with information about the Royal Family. During this period British monarchs have also played a vital part in promoting international relations, retaining ties with former colonies in their role as Head of the Commonwealth.

King George V (son of King Edward VII) (lived - 1936) (ruled 1910 - 1936)(in 1917 changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to The House of Windsor)
King George VI (second son of George V)(lived 1895 - 1952) (ruled 1936 - 1952)
Queen Elizabeth II (oldest daughter of King George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon)(born 1926 - Present)(rule 1952 - Present)

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