Kings and Queens of England & Britain ************************************* There have arguably been around 69 Rulers of England and Britain, spread over a period of about 1500 years. KINGS OF ENGLAND THE SAXON KINGS OFFA 757 - 796 ************** Name: King Offa Born: c.730 Parents: Thingfrith (Father) House of: Mercia Became King: 757 Married: Cynethryth Children: Ælfflaed, Ecgfrith, Eadburh Died: July 29, 796 Offa (son of Thingfrith, son of Eanulf), King of Mercia, was one of the leading figures of Saxon history. He obtained the throne of Mercia in 757, after the murder of his cousin, King Æthelbald, by Beornraed. After spending fourteen years in consolidating and ordering his territories he engaged in conquests which made him the most powerful king in England. After a successful campaign against the Hestingi, he defeated the men of Kent at Otford (776); the West Saxons at Bensington in Oxfordshire (779); and finally the Welsh, depriving the last-named of a large part of Powys, including the town of Pengwern. To repress the raids of the Welsh he built Offa's dyke, 150 miles long and roughly indicating for the first time what has remained the boundary between England and Wales. From 776 Offa was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king until Alfred the Great. He ruled over Kent, Sussex, East Anglia and the Midlands, and allied with Beorhtric of Wessex. His rule never extended to Northumbria but his daughter married the King of Northumbria. Offa died in 796. This year Offa's dyke is completed. The death of Offa marks the end of Mercian supremacy in England. His son Ecgfrith reigns for less than 6 months ECGFRITH of Mercia 796 ********************** Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. He was the son of Offa, the greatest king of Mercia, and Cynethryth. In 787, Ecgfrith had been consecrated king, the first known consecration of an English king, probably arranged by Offa in imitation of the consecration of Charlemagne's sons by the pope in 781. According to the Croyland Chronicle: "he (Ecgfrith) was seized with a malady, and departed this life" His reign lasted 141 days. Ecgfrith was succeeded by a distant relative, Coenwulf, presumably because Offa had arranged the murder of nearer relatives in order to eliminate dynastic rivals. According to a contemporary letter from Alcuin of York, an English deacon and scholar who spent over a decade at Charlemagne's court as one of his chief advisors: "That most noble young man has not died for his sins, but the vengeance for the blood shed by the father has reached the son. For you know how much blood his father shed to secure the kingdom upon his son" Alcuin added: "This was not a strengthening of the kingdom, but its ruin." COENWULF of Mercia 796 - 821 **************************** Coenwulf (also spelled Cenwulf, Kenulf, or Kenwulph) was a descendant of a brother of King Penda, who had ruled Mercia in the middle of the 7th century. Coenwulf ascended to the throne in the same year that Offa died. In the early years of Coenwulf's reign he had to deal with a revolt in Kent, which had been under Offa's control. Eadberht Præn returned from exile in Francia to claim the Kentish throne, and Coenwulf was forced to wait for papal support before he could intervene. When Pope Leo agreed to anathematize Eadberht, Coenwulf invaded and retook the kingdom. Eadberht was taken prisoner, was blinded, and had his hands cut off. Coenwulf also appears to have lost control of the kingdom of East Anglia during the early part of his reign, as an independent coinage appears under King Eadwald. Coenwulf's coinage reappears in 805, indicating that the kingdom was again under Mercian control. Several campaigns of Coenwulf's against the Welsh are recorded, but only one conflict with Northumbria, in 801, though it is likely that Coenwulf continued to support the opponents of the Northumbrian king Eardwulf. Coenwulf came into conflict with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury over the issue of whether laypeople could control religious houses such as monasteries. The breakdown in the relationship between the two eventually reached the point where the archbishop was unable to exercise his duties for at least four years. A partial resolution was reached in 822 with Coenwulf's successor, King Ceolwulf, but it was not until about 826 that a final settlement was reached between Wulfred and Coenwulf's daughter, Cwoenthryth, who had been the main beneficiary of Coenwulf's grants of religious property. He was succeeded by his brother, Ceolwulf; a post-Conquest legend claims that his son Cynehelm was murdered to gain the succession. Within two years Ceolwulf had been deposed, and the kingship passed permanently out of Coenwulf's family. Coenwulf was the last king of Mercia to exercise substantial dominance over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Within a decade of his death, the rise of Wessex had begun under King Egbert, and Mercia never recovered its former position of power. CEOLWULF I of Mercia 821 - 823 ****************************** Ceolwulf I was King of Mercia, East Anglia and Kent. He was the brother of Coenwulf, his predecessor, and was deposed by Beornwulf. William of Malmesbury declared that, after Coenwulf: "the kingdom of the Mercians declining, and if I may use the expression, nearly lifeless, produced nothing worthy of historical commemoration." Actually, Mercia did have a moment of glory that William was unaware of. Indicating the year 822, the 'Annales Cambriae' states: "The fortress of Degannwy (in Gwynedd) is destroyed by the Saxons and they took the kingdom of Powys into their own control." A later charter depicts a disturbed state of affairs during Ceolwulf's reign: "After the death of Coenwulf, king of the Mercians, many disagreements and innumerable disputes arose among leading persons of every kind - kings, bishops, and ministers of the churches of God - concerning all manner of secular affairs". In 823, sometime after 26 May, on which date he granted land to Archbishop Wulfred in exchange for a gold and silver vessel, Ceolwulf was overthrown. His replacement was one Beornwulf, whose pedigree is not known. Ceolwulf had ruled Kent directly - in his two charters, he is styled as 'king of the Mercians and of the men of Kent'. Beornwulf would place a kinsman, Baldred, on the Kentish throne. BEORNWULF of Mercia 823 - 826 ***************************** Beornwulf's short reign saw the collapse of Mercia's supremacy over the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. A man named Beornwulf is mentioned as having witnessed a charter of King Coenwulf in 812 and another of King Ceolwulf in 823, but his position on each of these charters suggests he was not of an exceptionally high rank. Beornwulf deposed Ceolwulf I in 823. Beornwulf rebuilt the Abbey of St. Peter (later Gloucester Cathedral) and he presided over two synods at Clofesho (an unknown location believed to be near London) with archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury, in 824 and 825. In 825 Beornwulf marched against the West Saxons, Beornwulfs army met them at Ellandun now present day Wroughton near Swindon in Wiltshire, the battle ended in a disastrous defeat for the Mercian's and is seen by historians as the end of the so-called Mercian Supremacy. subsequently in 826 Ecgbert's son Æthelwulf invaded Kent and drove out its pro-Mercian king, Baldred. In the wake of these events, Mercia's dominance of southern England rapidly unravelled. Essex and Sussex switched their loyalty to Egbert. also in consequence the East Anglians asked for Egbert's protection against the Mercians in the same year. Beornwulf was killed by the East Anglians in battle while attempting to put down a rebellion. A Kentish charter shows that Beornwulf still had authority in Kent on 27 March 826 - S1267, issued on that date, is said to be in the third year of Beornwulf's reign. A silver penny coinage of Beornwulf was struck during his reign. These coins are very rare, with only around twenty-five examples known to exist. LUDECA of Mercia 826 - 827 ************************** Ludeca became king after the death of Beornwulf in battle against the rebellious East Angles, but he too was killed in another failed attempt to subjugate them in the next year. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' simply states that he "was slain, and his five Ealdormen with him", but Florence of Worcester (who, incidentally carries the same two year error as the earlier 'Chronicles' Both place this event in 825 instead of 827) fleshes out the story: "Ludecan (Ludeca), king of the Mercians, mustered his forces and led an army into the province of the East Angles, for the purpose of taking vengeance for the death of king Beornulf (Beornwulf), his predecessor. He was quickly met by the natives and their king, who in a severe battle slew him and five of his Ealdormen, and very many of his troops, and put to flight the remainder. Wiglaf succeeded to his splendid kingdom." Prior to his rule, he was mentioned in two charters from 824 as a dux under Beornwulf, also the Fitzwilliam Museum hold a coin minted during Ludeca's reign, It is thought the silver penny was minted at Ipswich and the moneyer's name was Wærbeald. EGBERT 827 - 839 **************** Name: King Egbert (Ecgberht) Born: c.769 Parents: Ealhmund of Kent (Father) Relation to Elizabeth II: 34th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Became King: 802 Married: Redburh of Francia Children: Æthelwulf Died: 839 Buried at: Winchester Succeeded by: his son Æthelwulf Egbert (Ecgherht in Anglo Saxon) was the first of our monarchs to establish a stable and extensive rule over all of Anglo-Saxon England. He was the son of a Kentish noble but claimed descent from Cerdic (reigned 519-34), founder of Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons in southern England. After returning from exile at the court of Charlemagne in 802, he regained his kingdom of Wessex. Following his conquest of Mercia in 827, he controlled all of England south of the Humber. He conquered the neighbouring kingdoms of Kent, Cornwall, and Mercia, and by 830 he was also acknowledged as sovereign of East Anglia, Sussex, Surrey, and Northumbria and was given the title of Bretwalda (Anglo-Saxon, "ruler of the British"). During following years Egbert led expeditions against the Welsh and the Vikings. The year before his death he defeated a combined force of Danes and Cornish at Hingston Down in Cornwall. He is buried at Winchester in Hampshire. He was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf, the father of Alfred. ÆTHELWULF 839-856 ***************** Name: King Æthelwulf Born: 795 at Aachen Parents: Egbert and Redburh Relation to Elizabeth II: 33rd great-grandfather House of: Wessex Became King: 839 Crowned: 839 at Kingston-upon-Thames Married: (1) c 830, Osburh, dau. Oslac of Hampshire (2) Judith, dau. Charles the Bald, king of the Franks Children: 6 children including Æthelbald, Æthelbert, Æthelred, and Alfred Died: January 13, 858 at Steyning, Sussex Buried at: Winchester Succeeded by: his son Æthelbald King of Wessex, son of Egbert and father of Alfred the Great and a sub-king of Kent. In 851 Æthelwulf defeated a Danish army at the battle of Oakley while his eldest son Althelstan fought and beat the Danes at sea off the coast of Kent, in what is believed to be the first naval battle. A highly religious man, Æthelwulf travelled to Rome with his son Alfred to see the Pope in 855. His reign is characterized by Viking invasions and repulsions common to all English rulers of the time, but the making of war was not his chief claim to fame. Æthelwulf is remembered, however dimly, as a religious man who cared about the establishment and preservation of the church. He was also a wealthy man and controlled vast resources. Out of these resources, he gave generously, to Rome and to religious houses that were in need. ÆTHELBALD 856 - 860 ******************* Name: King Æthelbald Born: c.831 Parents: Æthelwulf and Osburh Relation to Elizabeth II: 32nd great-granduncle House of: Wessex Became King: 858 Crowned: 858 at Kingston-upon-Thames Married: Judith, dau. Charles the Bald, king of the Franks. She was his step mother. Children: None Died: December 20, 860 at Wessex Buried at: Sherbourne Abbey Succeeded by: his brother Æthelbert The eldest son of Æthelwulf, Æthelbald was born around 834. He was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in south-west London, after forcing his father to abdicate upon his return from pilgrimage to Rome. Following his fathers death in 858, he married his widowed stepmother Judith, but under pressure from the church the marriage was annulled after only a year. Perhaps Æthelbald's premature power grab was occasioned by impatience, or greed, or lack of confidence in his father's succession plans. Whatever the case, he did not live long to enjoy it. He died in 860, passing the throne to his brother, Æthelbert. He is buried at Sherbourne Abbey in Dorset. While his father, Æthelwulf, was on pilgrimage to Rome in 855, Æthelbald plotted with the Bishop of Sherbourne and the ealdorman of Somerset against him. The details of the plot are unknown, but upon his return from Rome, Æthelwulf found his direct authority limited to the sub-kingdom of Kent, while Æthelbald controlled Wessex. ÆTHELBERT 860 - 866 ******************* Name: King Æthelbert Born: c.834 Parents: Æthelwulf and Osburh Relation to Elizabeth II: 32nd great-granduncle House of: Wessex Became King: 860 Crowned: 860 at Kingston-upon-Thames Children: 2 sons Aldhelm, Æthelweard Died: 866 Buried at: Sherbourne Succeeded by: his brother Æthelred Became king of Wessex following the death of his brother Æthelbald. Like his brother and his father, Æthelbert was crowned at Kingston-Upon-Thames. Shortly after his succession a Danish army landed either via the Thames or on the south coast and advanced as far as Winchester. They proceeded to sack Winchester but two contingents of Saxons defeated them. Towards the end of his reign a more organized force arrived under the command of Ragnar Lodbrok. His fleet had been attacking the east coast of England, particularly Northumbria, and in the winter of 864/5 they stayed in Thanet. Although the Saxons made a pact with them, the Danes plundered east Kent, before advancing back up the east coast. Æthelbert died in 866 and is buried at Sherborne Abbey. ÆTHELRED I 866 - 871 ******************** Name: King Æthelred I Born: c.837 Parents: Æthelwulf and Osburh Relation to Elizabeth II: 32nd great-granduncle House of: Wessex Became King: 866 Married: Wulfrida Children: 2 sons Died: April 23, 871 at Witchampton, Dorset Buried at: Wimbourne Succeeded by: his brother Alfred Æthelred succeeded his brother Æthelbert. Æthelred's reign was one long struggle against the Danes. Ivarr the Boneless and his brother Halfdan based in Dublin attacked and occupied York in 866 which became a Viking kingdom (Jorvik). The Danes marched south and occupied Nottingham. In 869 they sailed to East Anglia where they killed the local king Edmund. Wessex was then threatened and Æthelred and his brother Alfred were engaged in a series of battles with the Danes Ivarr, Halfdan and Guthrun at Reading, Ashdown and Basing. During 870/871 the Danes sacked and plundered their way through the countryside. The next major engagement was at Meretun, in Hampshire, which was an indecisive battle. Æthelred was seriously injured in the battle and died of his wounds at Witchampton, near Wimbourne, where he was buried. ALFRED THE GREAT 871 - 899 (Arguably the first genuine King of England) *********************************************************************** Name: King Alfred the Great Born: c.849 at Wantage, Berkshire Parents: Æthelwulf and Osburh Relation to Elizabeth II: 32nd great-grandfather House of: Wessex Became King: 871 Married: Ealhswith of Mercia Children: 5 children, Ælfthryth, Æthelflaed, Æthelgifu, Edward, Æthelweard Died: October 26, 899 Buried at: Winchester Succeeded by: his son Edward Anglo-Saxon king 871–899 who defended England against Danish invasion and founded the first English navy. He succeeded his brother Æthelred to the throne of Wessex in 871, and a new legal code came into force during his reign. He encouraged the translation of scholarly works from Latin (some he translated himself), and promoted the development of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This ensured that his deeds were recorded in history as legends and we know more about him than any other Anglo Saxon King. Alfred was born at Wantage, historically in Berkshire but currently in Oxfordshire, the youngest son of Æthelwulf (d. 858), king of the West Saxons. In 870 Alfred and his brother Æthelred fought many battles against the Danes. Alfred gained a victory over the Danes at Ashdown in 871, and succeeded Æthelred as king in April 871 after a series of battles in which the Danes had been defeated. Not all his campaigns were so successful; on a number of occasions he had to resort to buying off the Danes for a brief respite. Five years of uneasy peace followed while the Danes were occupied in other parts of England. In 876 the Danes attacked again, and in 878 Alfred was forced to retire to the stronghold of Athelney which was at that time an island in the Somerset Levels. The legend of him burning the cakes probably comes from this period. His come back and great victory at Edington in 878 secured the survival of Wessex, and the Treaty of Wedmore with the Danish king Guthrum in 886 established a boundary between the Danelaw, east of Watling Street, and the Saxons to the west. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that following his capture of London in 886 'all the English people submitted to him, except those who were in captivity to the Danes'. In some respects, therefore, Alfred could be considered the first king of England. A new landing in Kent encouraged a revolt of the East Anglian Danes, which was suppressed 884–86, and after the final foreign invasion was defeated 892–96, Alfred strengthened the navy to prevent fresh incursions. During periods of peace Alfred reformed and improved his military organization. He divided his levies into two parts with one half at home and the other on active service, giving him a relief system he could call on to continue a campaign. He also began to build burhs (fortified strong-points) throughout the kingdom to form the basis of an organized defensive system. Alfred is popularly credited as being the founder of the Royal Navy; he did build a fleet of improved ships manned by Frisians and on several occasions successfully challenged the Danes at sea. EDWARD (The Elder) 899 - 924 **************************** Name: King Edward The Elder Born: c.871 Parents: Alfred the Great and Ealswith of Mercia Relation to Elizabeth II: 31st great-grandfather House of: Wessex Crowned: June 8, 900 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.29 Married: (1) Ecgywn (2) Elfleda and (3) Edgiva. Children: 5 sons and 11 daughters Died: July 17, 924 at Farndon-on-Dee Buried at: Winchester Succeeded by: his son Athelstan Succeeded his father Alfred the Great. Edward retook southeast England and the Midlands from the Danes. Following the the death of his sister Æthelflaed of Mercia, Edward unites the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. In 923, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles record that the Scottish King Constantine II recognises Edward as "father and lord". The following year, Edward is killed in a battle against the Welsh near Chester. His body is returned to Winchester for burial. By the time of his death his kingdom was the most powerful in the British Isles. He was succeeded by his son Athelstan. Edward extended the system of burghal defence begun by Alfred, building new burhs, for example at Hertford and Buckingham, and twin burghs at Bedford and Stamford ATHELSTAN 924 - 939 ******************* Name: King Athelstan Born: c.895 Parents: Edward the Elder and Ecgywn Relation to Elizabeth II: 30th great-granduncle House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: July 17, 924 Crowned: September 4, 925 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.30 Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: October 27, 940 at Gloucester Buried at: Malmesbury Reigned for: 16 years, 3 months, and 10 days Succeeded by: his half brother Edmund Son of Edward the Elder, Athelstan brought about English unity by ruling both Mercia and Wessex. He defeated an invasion by Scots, Irish, and the men of Strathclyde at Brunanburh in 937 in what is said to be one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on British soil, claiming the title of King of all Britain. He overcame the Scandinavian kingdom based in York and increased English power on the Welsh and Scottish borders. The battle saw for the first time individual Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being brought together to create a single and unified England. Athelstan is buried in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. EDMUND 939 - 946 **************** Name: King Edmund Born: c.922 Parents: Edward the Elder and Edgiva Relation to Elizabeth II: 30th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: October 27, 940 Crowned: November 29, 940 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.18 Married: 1) Elgiva (2) Ethelfleda Children: 2 sons Edwy and Edgar Died: May 26, 946 at Pucklechurch near Bath (murdered) Buried at: Glastonbury Reigned for: 5 years, 6 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his brother Edred King of England 939–46. The son of Edward the Elder, he succeeded his half-brother, Athelstan, as king in 939 having already fought alongside him at the Battle of Brunanburh two years earlier. He succeeded in regaining control of Mercia, which on his accession had fallen to the Norse inhabitants of Northumbria, and of the Five Boroughs, an independent confederation within the Danelaw. He then finally extended his rule as far as southern Scotland. As well as uniting England, he bolstered his authority by allowing St Dunstan to reform the Benedictine order. Aged just 25, and whilst celebrating the feast of Augustine, Edmund was stabbed by a robber in his royal hall at Pucklechurch near Bath. His two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, were perhaps considered too young to become kings. EADRED 946 - 955 **************** Name: King Edred Born: c.923 Parents: Edward the Elder and Edgiva Relation to Elizabeth II: 30th great-granduncle House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: May 26, 946 Crowned: August 16, 946 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.23 Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: November 23, 955 at Frome, Somerset Buried at: Winchester Reigned for: 9 years, 5 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his nephew Edwy The son of Edward the Elder by his third marriage to Eadgifu, Eadred succeeded his brother Edmund following his premature death. He followed in the family tradition of defeating Norsemen, expelling the last Scandinavian King of York, Eric Bloodaxe, in 954. A deeply religious man, Eadred suffered a serious stomach ailment that would eventually prove fatal (he could barely eat). Eadred died in his early 30s on November 23, 955, unmarried and without an heir, at Frome in Somerset. He is buried in Winchester. He was succeeded by his nephew, King Edwy. EADWIG 955 - 959 **************** Name: King Edwy (Eadwig) Born: c.940 Parents: Edmund and Elgiva Relation to Elizabeth II: 29th great-granduncle House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: November 23, 955 Crowned: January 26, 956 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.15 Married: Ælgifu Children: None Died: October 1, 959 at Gloucester Buried at: Gloucester Reigned for: 3 years, 10 months, and 7 days Succeeded by: his brother Edgar The eldest son of Edmund I, Eadwig was about 16 when he was crowned king at Kingston-upon-Thames in south-East London. Historians have not treated Eadwig well, and it is unfortunate for him that he ran afoul of the influential Bishop Dunstan early in his reign. Legend has it that his coronation had to be delayed to allow Bishop Dunstan to prise Eadwig from his bed, and from between the arms of his "strumpet" and the strumpets' mother. Dunstan was, after that incident, never exactly a favourite of Eadwig's, and it may be fair to say that Eadwig even hated Dunstan, for he apparently exiled him soon after this. Eadwig went on to marry Ælgifu, the girl with whom he was keeping company at the time of Dunstan's intrusion. For her part, the "strumpet" was eventually referred to as among "the most illustrious of women", and Eadwig, in his short reign, was generous in making grants to the church and other religious institutions. Eadwig died in Gloucester when he was just 20, the circumstances of his death are not recorded, but he was reportedly murdered by Canute. EDGAR 959 - 975 *************** Name: King Edgar Born: c.943 Parents: Edmund and Elgiva Relation to Elizabeth II: 29th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: October 1, 959 Crowned: May 11, 973 at Bath Abbey, aged c.30 Married: (1) Ethelfleda, (2) Elfrida Children: 3 sons including Edward and Ethelred, 1 illegitimate daughter Died: July 8, 975 at Winchester Buried at: Glastonbury Reigned for: 15 years, 9 months, and 6 days Succeeded by: his son Edward The youngest son of Edmund I, Edgar had been in dispute with his brother concerning succession to the throne for some years. Following Eadwig's mysterious death, Edgar immediately recalled Dunstan from exile, making him Archbishop of Canterbury as well as his personal adviser. Following his carefully planned (by Dunstan) coronation in Bath in 973, Edgar marched his army north to Chester. His navy meets him there via the Irish Sea. This show of strength persuades the Northern Kings to submit to his overlord-ship. Legend says he is rowed across the Dee by Kings Kenneth of Alba, Malcolm of the Cumbrians, Magnus of Man & the Isles, Donald of Strathclyde, Iago of Gwynedd, Princes Hywel of Gwynedd, Ithel and Siferth. He recalled St. Dunstan from exile and made him Archbishop of Canterbury and his closest personal adviser. His reign was prosperous and peaceful and he is generally credited with the revival of the English church. EDWARD THE MARTYR 975 - 978 *************************** Name: King Edward The Martyr Born: c.963 Parents: Edgar and Ethelfleda Relation to Elizabeth II: 28th great-granduncle House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: July 8, 975 Crowned: 975 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.13 Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: March 18, 978 at Corfe Castle (murdered) Buried at: Wareham reburied Shaftesbury Reigned for: 2 years, 8 months, and 10 days Succeeded by: his half brother Ethelred Eldest son of Edgar, Edward was crowned king when aged just 12. Although supported by Archbishop Dunstan, his claim to the throne was contested by supporters of his much younger half-brother Æthelred. The resulting dispute between rival factions within the church and nobility almost led to civil war in England. Edward's short reign ended in 978 when he was murdered at Corfe Castle by followers of Æthelred, after just two and half years as king. The title 'martyr' was a consequence of him being seen as a victim of his stepmother's ambitions for her own son Æthelred. ÆTHELRED II THE UNREADY 978 - 1016 ********************************** Name: King Æthelred II The Unready Born: c.968 Parents: Edgar and Elfrida Relation to Elizabeth II: 28th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: March 18, 978 Crowned: April, 978 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.10 Married: (1) Elfleda, (2) Emma Children: 9 sons including Edmund and Edward, and 4 daughters Died: April 23, 1016 at London Buried at: St Paul's Reigned for: 38 years, 1 month, and 5 days Succeeded by: his son Edmund King of England from 978, Æthelred became king aged about 10 following the murder of his half-brother, Edward the Martyr. He was son of King Edgar. Æthelred tried to buy off the Danish raiders by paying Danegeld. In 1002 he ordered the massacre of the Danish settlers, provoking an invasion by Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. Æethelred fled to Normandy in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard invaded, and in 1013 King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark was proclaimed king of England on Christmas Day and made his capital at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He died just 5 weeks later. Æthelred was recalled home in 1014 on the death of Sweyn. War with Sweyn's son, Canute, occupied the rest of Æthelred's reign. His nickname is a corruption of the Old English 'unreed', meaning badly counselled or poorly advised. EDMUND II IRONSIDE 1016 - 1016 ****************************** Name: King Edmund II lronside Born: c.990 Parents: Æthelred II and Elfleda Relation to Elizabeth II: 27th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: April 23, 1016 Crowned: 25 April, 1016 at Old St Paul's Cathedral, aged c.26 Married: Ealdgyth Children: 2 sons Died: November 30, 1016 at London Buried at: Glastonbury Reigned for: 7 months, and 7 days Succeeded by: by Canute son of Sweyn who claimed the throne by conquest The son of Æthelred II, Edmund had led the resistance to Canute's invasion of England since 1015. Following the death of his father, he was chosen king by the good folk of London. The Witan (the king's council) however elected Canute. In the struggle for the throne, Canute defeated Edmund at Ashingdon (or Assandun), and they divided the kingdom between them with Canute ruling the North and Edmund ruling the South. When Edmund died (probably assassinated) the same year, Canute ruled the whole kingdom. CANUTE (CNUT THE GREAT) THE DANE 1016 - 1035 ******************************************** Name: King Cnut (Canute) Born: c.995 at Denmark Parents: Sweyn I (Forkbeard) and Gunhilda Relation to Elizabeth II: husband of the 27th great-grandaunt House of: Denmark Ascended to the throne: November 30, 1016 Crowned: January, 1017 at Old St Paul's Cathedral, aged c.22 Married: (1) Emma of Normandy (2) Elfigfu Children: 3 sons including Harold I and Harthacnut, 1 daughter, several illegitimate children Died: November 12, 1035 at Shaftesbury Buried at: Winchester Reigned for: 18 years, 11 months, and 11 days Succeeded by: his son Harold King of England from 1016, Denmark from 1018, and Norway from 1028. Having invaded England in 1013 with his father, Sweyn, king of Denmark, he was acclaimed king on Sweyn's death in 1014 by his Viking army. Canute defeated Edmund (II) Ironside at Assandun, Essex, in 1016, and became king of all England on Edmund's death. In 1017, Canute married Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred II. He succeeded his brother Harold as king of Denmark in 1018, compelled King Malcolm to pay homage by invading Scotland in about 1027, and conquered Norway in 1028. He was succeeded by his illegitimate son Harold I. Under Canute's rule English trade improved, and he gained favour with his English subjects by sending soldiers back to Denmark. Canute and Edmund Ironside divided England into the four earldoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex. Perhaps inspired by his pilgrimage to Rome in 1027, legend (first told by Henry of Huntingdon in 1130) has it that he wanted to demonstrate to his subjects that as a king he was not a god, he ordered the tide not to come in, knowing this would fail. Canute ruled Mercia and Northumbria until he inherited the whole kingdom. The empire collapsed on his death. He was buried at Winchester. HAROLD I 1035 - 1040 ******************** Name: King Harold I (Harefoot) Born: c.1016 Parents: Cnut and Elfigfu Relation to Elizabeth II: 27th great-granduncle House of: Denmark Ascended to the throne: November 12, 1035 Crowned: 1037 at Oxford, aged c.28 Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: March 17, 1040 at Oxford Buried at: Westminster reburied Southwark Reigned for: 4 years, 4 months, and 4 days Succeeded by: his half brother Harthacnut Known as Harold Harefoot, in recognition of his speed and skill as a hunter. Harold was the illegitimate son of Canute, he claimed the English crown on the death of his father whilst his half-brother Harthacanute, the rightful heir, was in Denmark fighting to protect his Danish kingdom. Harold died three years into his reign, just weeks before Harthacanute was due to invade England with an army of Danes. He was buried in Westminster Abbey before Harthacanute had his body dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the Thames. His bits were later gathered and re-buried at St. Clement Danes in London. HARTHACANUTE 1040 - 1042 ************************ Name: King Harthacnut Born: c.1018 Parents: Cnut and Emma of Normandy Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 28 times removed House of: Denmark Ascended to the throne: March 17, 1040 Crowned: June, 1040 at Canterbury Cathedral, aged c.22 Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: June 8, 1042 at Lambeth, London Buried at: Winchester Reigned for: 2 years, 2 months, and 21 days Succeeded by: his half brother Edward The son of Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy, Harthacanute sailed to England with his mother, accompanied by a fleet of 62 warships, and was immediately accepted as the heir to the English crown. Perhaps to appease his mother, the year before he died Harthacanute invited his half-brother Edward, Emma's son from her first marriage to Æthelred the Unready, back from exile in Normandy. Harthacanute died at a wedding whilst toasting the health of the bride; he was aged just 24 and was the last Danish king to rule England. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR 1042-1066 ****************************** Name: King Edward The Confessor Born: c.1004 at Islip Parents: Ethelred II and Emma of Normandy Relation to Elizabeth II: 27th great-granduncle House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: June 8, 1042 Crowned: April 3, 1043 at Winchester Cathedral, aged c.39 Married: Edith, Daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex Children: None Died: January 5, 1066 at Westminster Buried at: Westminster Abbey Reigned for: 23 years, 6 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his brother-in-law Harold Following the death of Harthacanute, Edward restored the rule of the House of Wessex to the English throne. A deeply pious and religious man, he presided over the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey, leaving much of the running of the country to Earl Godwin and his son Harold. Edward died childless, eight days after the building work on Westminster Abbey had finished. Edward died in January 1066 and his childlessness led to a struggle for power. The succession went first to Harold Godwinson and then to the conquest by William of Normandy nine months later at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066. Edward was canonized in 116. HAROLD II 1066 ************** Name: King Harold II Born: c.1020 Parents: Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and Gytha of Denmark Relation to Elizabeth II: husband of the 30th great-grandmother House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: January 5, 1066 Crowned: January 6, 1066 at Westminster Abbey, aged c.43 Married: (1) Eadgyth (Swan-neck), Daughter of Earl of Mercia (2) Ealdyth widow of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Children: 1 or 2 sons and several illegitimate children Died: October 14, 1066 at Senlac Abbey, Sussex, of wounds following the Battle of Hastings Buried at: Pevensey reburied Waltham Abbey Reigned for: 9 months, and 8 days Succeeded by: Edgar the Æthling, and then Edward the Confessor's 2nd cousin William of Normandy Last Anglo-Saxon king of England, January to October 1066. He was defeated and killed by William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) at the Battle of Hastings. Harold had no bloodline to the throne but his sister Edith was married to King Edward the Confessor. Harold Godwin was elected king by the Witan (a council of high ranking nobles and religious leaders), following the death of Edward the Confessor. The election result failed to meet with the approval of one William, Duke of Normandy, who claimed that his relative Edward had promised the throne to him several years earlier. Meanwhile, Harold's brother Tostig, who had quarrelled with Harold, joined the king of Norway Harald Hardrada in invading Northumbria. Harold routed and killed them all at Stamford Bridge, near York, on 25 September. Three days later William landed at Pevensey, Sussex, and Harold and his army marched quickly South to face him. The Battle of Hastings took place on 14 October 1066. Harold's army was defeated and he was killed in the battle. The death of Harold at the Battle Of Hastings meant the end of the English Anglo-Saxon kings and the beginning of the Normans. Edgar the Æthling 1066 (uncrowned) ********************************** The Witan elected 15 year-old Edgar the Æthling, a grandson of King Edmund II Ironside, as the next Anglo-Saxon King. However he was the uncrowned King for only a few weeks from 15 October to 10 December 1066 when William of Normandy entered London and declared himself king. The Witan and Edgar were forced to submit to William of Normandy at Berkhamstead Castle in Hertfordshire. NORMAN KINGS WILLIAM I (The Conqueror) 1066- 1087 ************************************ Name: King William I The Conqueror Born: September 1028 at Falaise, Normandy Parents: Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and Arlette daughter of Fulbert (illegitimate) Relation to Elizabeth II: 25th great-grandfather House of: Normandy Ascended to the throne: December 25, 1066 aged 38 years Crowned: December 25, 1066 at Westminster Abbey Married: Matilda, Daughter of Count of Flanders Children: 4 sons including William II and Henry I, and 6 daughters Died: September 9, 1087 at Rouen, France, aged 59 years, and 7 days Buried at: St Stephens Abbey, Caen, Normandy Reigned for: 20 years, 8 months, and 14 days Succeeded by: his son William II Also known as William the Bastard (but not normally to his face!), King of England from 25 December 1066. He was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert the Devil whom he succeeded as Duke of Normandy in 1035. Claiming that his 2nd cousin King Edward the Confessor had bequeathed him the English throne, William invaded England in September 1066, defeating Harold II Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. William's coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. He completed the establishment of feudalism in England, compiling detailed records of land and property in the Domesday Book, and kept the barons firmly under control. He died in Rouen after a fall from his horse and is buried in Caen, France. He was succeeded by his son William II. William's early years were marked by violence and disorder. In 1046 his cousin, Guy of Burgundy, led a revolt which forced the young duke to seek the aid of his overlord, Henry I of France. With Henry's help, William defeated Guy at Val-és-Dunes, and firmly secured control over Normandy. In 1051–52 William and Henry besieged and captured Domfront castle and Alençon in Maine, France. Almost immediately afterwards, William, Count of Arques, rebelled against the duke with the support of Henry I, who was increasingly concerned about Normandy's growing power. William quickly besieged the rebel Arques-la-Bataille castle and it was surrendered to him in 1053. In 1054 Henry I and Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy, but the annihilation of part of their force at Mortimer forced them to withdraw. Their second invasion, in 1057, was defeated at Varaville. In 1051 Edward the Confessor had nominated William as heir to the English throne, but when he died in January 1066 Harold (II) Godwinson was crowned. William immediately began preparations for an invasion of England. On 28 September his forces landed unopposed at Pevensey, Sussex. Harold was in the north of England defeating an invasion led by Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, but immediately marched south to meet William. Their armies clashed in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. Harold was slain and William achieved a decisive victory. In 1067 William forcibly brought South-West England under his control. In 1068 he marched north and east to establish a number of strategic fortifications. In the summer of 1069 Swein Estrithson of Denmark landed with a considerable force in the Humber and was welcomed by the northern English earls who joined him in expelling the Norman garrison at York. William immediately marched north, destroying everything in his path, and reoccupied York. He undertook a systematic harrying of the north, setting his troops to kill and burn in order to leave nothing that could support future rebellion. The Danish fleet was bought off and departed. In 1072 William led an invasion that forced King Malcolm of Scotland to surrender hostages and swear fealty. In 1073 he was back in France suppressing rebellion in Maine. His regents dealt with a rebellion by the English earls in 1075, and in the latter years of his reign, William twice faced rebellion in Normandy led by his eldest son, Robert (II) Curthose. In 1087 William sacked the French-controlled town of Nantes in the Vexin. In the fighting he suffered a fatal internal injury after being thrown against the pommel of his saddle. He was taken to the priory of Saint-Gervais near Rouen where on 9 September he died. WILLIAM II (Rufus) 1087- 1100 ***************************** Name: King William II Rufus Born: c.1056 at Normandy Parents: William I and Matilda of Flanders Relation to Elizabeth II: 24th great-granduncle House of: Normandy Ascended to the throne: September 9, 1087 Crowned: September 26, 1087 at Westminster Abbey Married: Unmarried Children: None Died: August 2, 1100 at New Forest, Hampshire Buried at: Winchester Reigned for: 12 years, 10 months, and 22 days Succeeded by: his brother Henry William was not a popular king, given to extravagance and cruelty. King of England from 1087, the third son of William (I) the Conqueror. He spent most of his reign attempting to capture Normandy from his brother Robert (II) Curthose, Duke of Normandy. His extortion of money led his barons to revolt. Malcolm III of Scotland twice invades England in 1091 and 1093 before Malcolm is defeated and killed at the Battle of Alnwick. William also had to deal with rebellions in Northumbria and along the Welsh border. He never married and was killed in the New Forest by a stray arrow whilst out hunting, maybe accidentally, or possibly shot deliberately on the instructions of his younger brother Henry. Walter Tyrrell, one of the hunting party, was blamed for the deed. The Rufus Stone in The New Forest, Hampshire, marks the spot where he fell. HENRY I 1100-1135 ***************** Name: King Henry I Born: September, 1068 at Selby, Yorkshire Parents: William I and Matilda of Flanders Relation to Elizabeth II: 24th great-grandfather House of: Normandy Ascended to the throne: August 3, 1100 aged 31 years Crowned: August 6, 1100 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Edith (Matilda), Daughter of Malcolm III (2) Adelicia, Daughter of Geoffrey VII, count of Louvain Children: Daughter Matilda, son William, and reputedly around 20 illegitimate children Died: December 2, 1135 at St Denis le Fermont, Normandy, aged 67 years, 2 months, and 29 days Buried at: Reading Reigned for: 35 years, 3 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his nephew Stephen Henry Beauclerc was the youngest son of William I. Well educated, he founded a zoo at Woodstock in Oxfordshire to study animals. He was called the 'Lion of Justice' as he gave England good laws, even if the punishments were ferocious. He won the support of the Saxons by granting them a charter and marrying a Saxon princess, Edith, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. She was known as Matilda after her marriage, a name more acceptable to the Norman Barons than her Saxon name Edith. Henry's daughter was also called Matilda. He was an able administrator, and established a professional bureaucracy and a system of travelling judges. He was called Beauclerc because of his scholarly interests. In 1101 his elder brother Robert, Duke of Normandy, attempted to seize the crown by invading England. However, after the Treaty of Alton, Robert agreed to recognise his brother Henry as King and returned to Normandy. They fought again in 1106 at Battle of Tinchebrai at which Robert was captured and Henry became Duke of Normandy as well as King of England. Henry's only legitimate son and heir, William, was drowned in 1120 in wreck of the White Ship and Henry tried to settle the succession on his daughter Matilda and her son Henry (later Henry II). However, Matilda widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, was unpopular when she re-married into the House of Anjou rival of the House of Normandy. The throne was taken by Henry's nephew Stephen, who, towards the end of his reign, agreed to adopt Matilda's son as his heir. Henry died in Normandy in 1135 of food poisoning according to legend from eating a 'surfeit of Lampreys' (an eel type fish). STEPHEN 1135-1154 ***************** Name: King Stephen Born: c.1097 at Blois, France Parents: Stephen, Count of Blois, and Adela (daughter of William I) Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 25 times removed House of: Blois Ascended to the throne: December 22, 1135 Crowned: December 26, 1135 at Westminster Abbey Married: Matilda, Daughter of Eustace III, Count of Boulogne Children: 3 sons and 2 daughters, plus at least 5 illegitimate children Died: October 25, 1154 at Dover, Kent Buried at: Faversham, Kent Reigned for: 18 years, 10 months, and 3 days Succeeded by: Henry II his 1st cousin once removed King of England from 1135. A grandson of William the Conqueror, he was elected king in 1135, although he had previously recognized Henry I's daughter Matilda as heiress to the throne. Matilda apparently agreed with him and landed in England in 1139, and civil war disrupted the country with fighting between Stephen and forces loyal to Matilda. Stephen was a very weak king and the whole country was almost destroyed by the constant raids by the Scots and the Welsh. Stephen was briefly taken prisoner and Matilda declared Queen until she was defeated at the Battle of Farringdon in 1145. In 1153 Stephen acknowledged Matilda's son, Henry II, as his own heir. During Stephen's reign the Norman barons wielded great power, extorting money and looting town and country. A decade of civil war known as The Anarchy ensued when Matilda invaded from Anjou in 1139. A compromise was eventually decided, under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster Matilda's son Henry Plantagenet would succeed to the throne when Stephen died. PLANTAGENET KINGS HENRY II 1154-1189 ****************** Name: King Henry II Born: March 5, 1133 at Le Mans, France Parents: Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and Empress Matilda Relation to Elizabeth II: 22nd great-grandfather House of: Angevin Ascended to the throne: October 25, 1154 aged 21 years Crowned: December 19, 1154 at Westminster Abbey Married: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine Children: Five sons including Richard I and John, three daughters and several illegitimate children Died: July 6, 1189 at Chinon Castle, Anjou, aged 56 years, 4 months, and 1 day Buried at: Fontevraud, France Reigned for: 34 years, 8 months, and 11 days Succeeded by: his son Richard King of England 1154–89. The son of Matilda and Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, he succeeded King Stephen (c. 1097–1154). Henry of Anjou was a strong king. A brilliant soldier, he extended his French lands until he ruled most of France. Henry was lord of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and Count of Anjou, Brittany, Poitou, Normandy, Maine, and Gascony. He claimed Aquitaine through marriage to the heiress Eleanor in 1152. Henry's many French possessions caused him to live for more than half his reign outside England. This made it essential for him to establish a judicial and administrative system which would work during his absence. He laid the foundation of the English Jury System and raised new taxes (scutage) from the landholders to pay for a militia force. He curbed the power of the barons, and his chancellor and friend, Becket, was persuaded to become archbishop of Canterbury in 1162 in the hope that he would help the king curb the power of the ecclesiastical courts. However, once consecrated, Becket felt bound to defend church privileges and Henry's attempt to bring the church courts under control was abandoned after the murder of said Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 29th December 1170. The English conquest of Ireland began during Henry's reign. In 1171 Henry invaded Ireland and received homage from the King of Leinster. His sons turned against him, even his favourite John. On several occasions his sons rebelled, notably 1173–74. In 1174 his three sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey led an unsuccessful rebellion against their father. Henry was succeeded by his son Richard (I) the Lionheart. RICHARD I (The Lionheart) 1189 - 1199 ************************************* Name: King Richard I The Lion Heart Born: September 6, 1157 at Beaumont Place, Oxford Parents: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Relation to Elizabeth II: 21st great-granduncle House of: Angevin Ascended to the throne: July 6, 1189 aged 31 years Crowned: 2/3 September, 1189 at Westminster Abbey Married: Berengaria, Daughter of Sancho V of Navarre Children: Two illegitimate sons Died: April 6, 1199 at Limousin, France, aged 41 years, 6 months, and 29 days Buried at: Fontevraud, France Reigned for: 9 years, 8 months, and 30 days Succeeded by: his brother John Richard was the third son of Henry II. By the age of 16, he was leading his own army putting down rebellions in France. He twice rebelled against his father before he became King of England in 1189, but based himself in his Duchy in Aquitaine inherited from his mother Eleanor. He spent only six months of his reign in England and spoke only French. He appointed William Longchamp as Chancellor of England during his absence but he was overthrown by Richard’s brother John. Richard acquired a reputation as a leader and warrior becoming known as Richard ‘The Lion Heart’ or ‘Coeur de Lion’. His experience in warfare came from controlling rebellions in Poitou in the 1170s and against his father, Henry II, in 1183. He took up Henry's plans to recover Jerusalem on his accession in 1189 and set out to establish bases for crusades in Sicily in 1190 and Cyprus, which he took in 1191. Engaging in the siege of Acre, which he brought to a swift conclusion, he set off down the coast to Jaffa, conducting a fighting march against Saladin. In the third Crusade 1191–92 he won victories at Cyprus, Acre, and Arsuf (against Saladin), but failed to recover Jerusalem. While returning overland he was captured by the Duke of Austria, who handed him over to the emperor Henry VI. He was held prisoner until a large ransom was raised. The amount paid for his safe return almost bankrupted the country. On his release he returned briefly to England, where his brother John had been ruling in his stead. His later years were spent in warfare in France, where he was killed by a crossbow bolt while besieging Châlus-Chabrol in 1199. He left no heir. JOHN 1199 -1216 *************** Name: King John Born: December 24, 1166 at Beaumont Palace : Oxford Parents: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Relation to Elizabeth II: 21st great-grandfather House of: Angevin Ascended to the throne: April 6, 1199 aged 32 years Crowned: May 27, 1199 at Westminster Abbey Married: 1) Isabella of Gloucester, (annulled 1199), (2) Isabella, Daughter of Count of Angouleme Children: Two sons including Henry III, three daughters and several illegitimate children Died: October 18, 1216 at Newark Castle, aged 49 years, 9 months, and 24 days Buried at: Worcester Reigned for: 17 years, 6 months, and 13 days Succeeded by: his son Henry III John Lackland was the fourth child of Henry II. Short and fat, he was jealous of his dashing brother Richard I whom he succeeded. He was cruel, self-indulgent, selfish and avaricious, and the raising of punitive taxes united all the elements of society, clerical and lay, against him. John was nicknamed Lackland, probably because, as the youngest of Henry II's five sons, it was difficult to find a portion of his father's French possessions for him to inherit. He was acting king from 1189 during his brother Richard the Lion-Heart's absence on the Third Crusade. The legend of Robin Hood dates from this time in which John is portrayed as Bad King John. He was involved in intrigues against his absent brother, but became king in 1199 when Richard was killed in battle in France. Most of his reign was dominated by war with France. Following the peace treaty of Le Goulet there was a brief peace, but fighting resumed again in 1202. John had lost Normandy and almost all the other English possessions in France to Philip II of France by 1204. He spent the next decade trying to regain these without success and was finally defeated by Philip Augustus at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He was also in conflict with the Church. In 1205 he disputed the pope's choice of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict, suspending all religious services, including baptisms, marriages, and burials. John retaliated by seizing church revenues, and in 1209 was excommunicated. Eventually, John submitted, accepting the papal nominee, and agreed to hold the kingdom as a fief of the papacy; an annual monetary tribute was paid to the popes for the next 150 years by successive English monarchs. His repressive policies and ruthless taxation to fund the war in France brought him into conflict with his barons which became known as the Barons War. In 1215 rebel baron leaders marched on London where they were welcomed by an increasing band of defectors from John’s royalist supporters. Their demands were drawn up in a document which became the known as Magna Carta. John sought peace and met them at Runnymede where on 15th June 1215 he agreed to their demands and sealed Magna Carta. It was a remarkable document which set limits on the powers of the king, laid out the feudal obligations of the barons, confirmed the liberties of the Church, and granted rights to all freemen of the realm and their heirs for ever. It was the first written constitution. His concessions did not buy peace for long and the Barons War continued. The barons sought French aid and Prince Louis of France landed in England supported by attacks from the North by Alexander II of Scotland. John fled and according to legend lost most of his baggage and the crown jewels when crossing the tidal estuaries of the Wash. John died - from over-eating - a fugitive from all his enemies at Newark Castle in October 1216. HENRY III 1216 -1272 ******************** Name: King Henry III Born: October 1, 1207 at Winchester Parents: King John and Isabella of Angouleme Relation to Elizabeth II: 20th great-grandfather House of: Plantagenet Ascended to the throne: October 18, 1216 aged 9 years Crowned: October 28, 1216 at Gloucester and May 17, 1220 at Westminster Abbey Married: Eleanor of Provence, Daughter of Raymond Berenger Children: Six sons including Edward I, and three daughters Died: November 16, 1272 at Westminster, aged 65 years, 1 month, and 16 days Buried at: Westminster Abbey Reigned for: 56 years, and 29 days Succeeded by: his son Edward King of England from 1216, Henry was 9 years old when he became king when he succeeded John, but the royal powers were exercised by a regency until 1232, and by two French nobles, Peter des Roches and Peter des Rivaux, until the barons forced their expulsion in 1234 marking the start of Henry's personal rule. He was a weak man, dominated by churchmen and easily influenced by his wife's French relations. Brought up by priests he became devoted to church, art and learning. His financial commitments to the papacy and his foreign favourites antagonized the barons who issued the Provisions of Oxford in 1258, limiting the king's power. Henry's refusal to accept the provisions led to the second Barons' War in 1264, a revolt of nobles led by his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort. Henry was defeated at Lewes, Sussex, and imprisoned, but restored to the throne after the royalist victory at Evesham in 1265. He was forced to set up a 'Parlement' at Westminster, the start of the House of Commons. Henry was the greatest of all patrons of medieval architecture and ordered the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style. On his release Henry was weak and senile and his eldest son, Edward, took charge of the government. THE KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND AND WALES EDWARD I 1272 - 1307 ******************** Name: King Edward I Longshanks Born: June 17, 1239 at Westminster Parents: Henry III ad Eleanor of Provence Relation to Elizabeth II: 19th great-grandfather House of: Plantagenet Ascended to the throne: November 20, 1272 aged 33 years Crowned: August 19, 1274 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Eleanor, Daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile, (2) Margaret, Daughter of Philip III of France Children: Six sons including Edward II,and twelve daughters Died: July 7, 1307 at Burgh-by-Sands, Nr Carlisle, Cumbria, aged 68 years, and 19 days Buried at: Westminster Abbey Reigned for: 34 years, 7 months, and 14 days Succeeded by: his son Edward II King of England from 1272, son of Henry III (1207–72), Edward Longshanks was a statesman, lawyer and soldier. He led the royal forces against Simon de Montfort (the Younger) in the Barons' War of 1264–67, and was on a crusade when he succeeded to the throne. He established English rule over all of Wales in 1282–84, and secured recognition of his overlord-ship from the Scottish king, although the Scots under Sir William Wallace and Robert (I) the Bruce fiercely resisted actual conquest. He married Eleanor of Castile (1254–90) and in 1299 married Margaret, daughter of Philip III of France. He formed the Model Parliament in 1295, bringing the knights, clergy and nobility, as well as the Lords and Commons together for the first time. Aiming at a united Britain, he defeated the Welsh chieftains and created his eldest son Prince of Wales. He was known as the 'Hammer of the Scots' for his victories in Scotland and brought the famous coronation stone from Scone to Westminster. When his first wife Eleanor died, he escorted her body from Grantham in Lincolnshire to Westminster, setting up Eleanor Crosses at every resting place. He died on the way to fight Robert Bruce. He was succeeded by his son Edward II (1284–1327). Edward was a noted castle builder, including the northern Welsh Conway castle, Caernarvon castle, Beaumaris castle, and Harlech castle. He was also responsible for building bastides to defend the English position in France. EDWARD II 1307 - deposed 1327 ***************************** Name: King Edward II Born: April 25, 1284 at Caernarvon, Wales Parents: Edward I and Eleanor of Castile Relation to Elizabeth II: 18th great-grandfather House of: Plantagenet Ascended to the throne: July 8, 1307 aged 23 years Crowned: February 25, 1308 at Westminster Abbey Married: Isabella, Daughter of Philip IV of France Children: Two sons and two daughters Died: September 21, 1327 at Berkeley Castle (murdered), aged 43 years, 4 months, and 25 days Buried at: Gloucester Reigned for: 20 years, 2 months, and 14 days Succeeded by: his son Edward III King of England from 1307, son of Edward I. Born at Caernarfon Castle, he was created the first Prince of Wales in 1301. Incompetent and frivolous, and unduly influenced by his favourite, Piers Gaveston, Edward struggled throughout his reign with discontented barons, who attempted to restrict his power through the Ordinances of 1311. His invasion of Scotland in 1314 to suppress revolt resulted in defeat at Bannockburn. When he fell under the influence of a new favourite, Hugh le Depenser, he was deposed in 1327 by his wife Isabella (1292–1358), daughter of Philip IV of France, and her lover Roger de Mortimer, and murdered in Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire - as legend has it, by having a red-hot poker thrust up his anus! His beautiful tomb in Gloucester Cathedral was erected by his son, Edward III. He was succeeded by his son, Edward III. EDWARD III 1327 - 1377 ********************** Name: King Edward III Born: November 13, 1312 at Windsor Castle Parents: Edward II and Isabella of France Relation to Elizabeth II: 17th great-grandfather House of: Plantagenet Ascended to the throne: January 25, 1327 aged 14 years Crowned: January 29, 1327 at Westminster Abbey Married: Philippa, Daughter of Count of Hainault Children: Seven sons and five daughters (plus at least 3 illegitimate by Alice Perrers) Died: June 21, 1377 at Sheen Palace, Surrey, aged 64 years, 7 months, and 6 days Buried at: Westminster Abbey Reigned for: 50 years, 4 months, and 25 days Succeeded by: his grandson Richard II Son of Edward II, King of England from 1327, son of Edward II, he reigned for 50 years. His ambition to conquer Scotland and France plunged England into the Hundred Years War, beginning in 1338. The two great victories at Crecy and Poitiers made Edward and his son, the Black Prince, the most renowned warriors in Europe, however the war was very expensive. The outbreak of bubonic plague, the 'Black Death' in 1348-1350, killed half the population of England. He assumed the government in 1330 from his mother, through whom in 1337 he laid claim to the French throne and thus began the Hundred Years' War. Edward was the victor of Halidon Hill in 1333, Sluys in 1340, Crécy in 1346, and at the siege of Calais 1346–47, and created the Order of the Garter. He was succeeded by his grandson Richard II. Edward's early experience was against the Scots, including the disastrous Weardale campaign in 1327. Forcing them to battle outside Berwick at Halidon Hill he used a combination of dismounted men-at-arms and archers to crush the Scots. Apart from the naval victory of Sluys his initial campaigns against France were expensive and inconclusive. Resorting to chevauchée (raids through enemy territory), he scored a stunning victory at Crécy, which delivered the crucial bridgehead of Calais into English hands. Due to the brilliant success of his son Edward of Woodstock (Edward the Black Prince) at Poitiers in 1356, and later campaigns, (Edward was the victor of Halidon Hill in 1333, Sluys in 1340, Crécy in 1346, and at the siege of Calais 1346–47, and created the Order of the Garter). Edward achieved the favourable Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. He gave up personal command in the latter part of his reign. An inspiring leader, his Order of the Garter was a chivalric club designed to bind his military nobility to him, and was widely imitated. In 1360 Edward surrendered his claim to the French throne, but the war resumed in 1369. During his last years his son John of Gaunt acted as head of government. RICHARD II 1377 - deposed 1399 ****************************** Name: King Richard II Born: January 6, 1367 at Bordeaux, France Parents: Edward, the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent Relation to Elizabeth II: 16th great-granduncle House of: Plantagenet Ascended to the throne: June 22, 1377 aged 10 years Crowned: July 16, 1377 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Anne of Bohemia, (2) Isabella, nine year old daughter of Charles VI of France Children: None Died: February 14, 1400 at Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire, aged 33 years, 1 month, and 8 days Buried at: Langley reburied Westminster Reigned for: 22 years, 7 months, and 23 days Succeeded by: his cousin Henry IV King of England from 1377, effectively from 1389, son of Edward the Black Prince. He reigned in conflict with Parliament; they executed some of his associates in 1388, and he executed some of the opposing barons in 1397, whereupon he made himself absolute. Two years later, forced to abdicate in favour of Henry IV, he was jailed and was murdered by starvation, in Pontefract Castle in 1400.. In 1381 Richard was faced with the Peasants' Revolt, a result of the imposition of the Poll Tax in 1380. The leader of the Revolt, Watt Tyler, was stabbed and killed at Smithfield by the Lord Mayor of London, fearing for the safety of the king. Richard's apparent courage in facing the mobs gathered at Mile End and Smithfield also contributed to the failure of the uprising. Richard was born in Bordeaux. He succeeded his grandfather Edward III when only ten, the government being in the hands of a council of regency. His fondness for favourites resulted in conflicts with Parliament, and in 1388 the baronial party, headed by the Duke of Gloucester, had many of his friends executed. The sudden death of his first wife Anne of Bohemia completely unbalanced Richard and his extravagance, acts of revenge and tyranny turned his subjects against him. Richard recovered control in 1389, and ruled moderately until 1397, when he had Gloucester murdered and his other leading opponents executed or banished, and assumed absolute power. In 1399 his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford (later Henry IV), returned from exile to lead a revolt; Richard II was deposed by Parliament and imprisoned in Pontefract Castle, where he died of starvation. HOUSE OF LANCASTER HENRY IV 1399 - 1413 ******************** Name: King Henry IV Born: April 4, 1366 at Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire Parents: John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster Relation to Elizabeth II: 16th great-granduncle House of: Lancaster Ascended to the throne: September 30, 1399 aged 33 years Crowned: October 13, 1399 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Mary de Bohun, (2) Joan, Daughter of Charles II of Navarre Children: Five sons including Henry V, and two daughters Died: March 20, 1413 at Westminster Abbey, aged 46 years, 11 months, and 14 days Buried at: Canterbury Reigned for: 13 years, 5 months, and 18 days Succeeded by: his son Henry V King of England from 1399, the son of John of Gaunt (third son of Edward III). In 1398 he was banished by Richard II but Henry returned from exile in France to reclaim his estates previously seized by Richard II; in 1399 he headed a revolt and was accepted as king by Parliament. Henry spent most of his 13 year reign defending himself against plots, rebellions and assassination attempts. In Wales Owen Glendower declared himself Prince of Wales and led a national uprising against English rule. Back in England, Henry had great difficulty in maintaining the support of both the clergy and Parliament and between 1403-08 the Percy family launched a series of rebellions against him. In order to win support he had to conciliate the Church by a law for the burning of heretics, and to make many concessions to Parliament. The Percy family was finally defeated at Shrewsbury in 1403, and the Earl of Northumberland was beaten at Bramham Moor in 1408. Henry, the first Lancastrian king, died exhausted, probably of leprosy, at the age of 45. He was succeeded by his son Henry V. HENRY V 1413 - 1422 ******************* Name: King Henry V Born: August 9, 1387 at Monmouth Castle Parents: Henry IV and Mary de Bohun Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 17 times removed House of: Lancaster Ascended to the throne: March 20, 1413 aged 25 years Crowned: April 9, 1413 at Westminster Abbey Married: Catherine de Valois Children: One son Henry VI Died: August 31, 1422 at Vincennes, France, aged 35 years, and 21 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 9 years, 5 months, and 11 days Succeeded by: his son Henry VI King of England 1413–22, son of Henry IV, he was a pious, stern and skilful soldier. Henry had honed his fine soldiering skills putting down the many rebellions launched against his father and had been knighted when aged just 12. He pleased his nobles by renewing the war with France in 1415. Invading Normandy in 1415 (during the Hundred Years' War), he captured Harfleur and in the face of tremendous odds he beat the French at the Battle of Agincourt, losing just 400 of his own soldiers with more than 6,000 Frenchmen killed. On a second expedition in 1417–19, Henry captured Rouen, was recognised as the next King of France and married Catherine of Valois in 1420, the daughter of the lunatic French King. Henry died of dysentery whilst campaigning in France and before he could succeed to the French throne, leaving his 10-month old son as King of England and France. Henry was knighted aged 12 by Richard II on his Irish expedition 1399, and experienced war early. He was wounded in the face by an arrow fighting against his military tutor Harry 'Hotspur' at Shrewsbury. Campaigns in Wales against Owen Glendywr taught him the realities of siege warfare. He was succeeded by his son Henry VI. Henry was a cold and ruthless soldier, respected by contemporaries as a chivalric warrior. Determined to revive the war in France, his invasion of 1415 was impressively organized but his siege of Harfleur took too long, reducing his intended grand chevauchée (raid through enemy territory) to a reckless dash to Calais. Although his tiny, bedraggled army was cut off by a superior French force, it achieved a surprising victory at Agincourt. When Henry returned it was with serious intent to reduce Normandy, which he did, including a long, bitter siege of Rouen. Military pressure on Paris ensured the favourable Treaty of Troyes in 1420, making him heir to the French throne, but he contracted dysentery conducting the siege of Meaux. HENRY VI 1422 - deposed 1461 Beginning of the Wars of the Roses *************************************************************** Name: King Henry VI Born: December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle Parents: Henry V and Catherine of Valois Relation to Elizabeth II: 14th great-granduncle House of: Lancaster Ascended to the throne: September 1, 1422 Crowned: November 6, 1429 at Westminster Abbey, aged 7. St Pauls Cathedral, aged 48. (Also crowned Henri II of France, December 1431, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, aged 10). Married: Margaret, Daughter of Count of Anjou Children: One son Died: May 21, 1471 at Tower of London (murdered), aged 49 years, 5 months, and 13 days Buried at: Chertsey, reburied in 1485 when his body was moved to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Reigned for: 39 years, 1 month, and 18 days, Deposed March 4, 1461, Restored Oct 3, 1470 Succeeded by: his distant cousin Edward IV King of England from 1422, son of Henry V. Gentle and retiring, he came to the throne as a baby and inherited a losing war with France, the Hundred Years War, finally ending in 1453 with the loss of all French lands except for Calais. He assumed royal power 1442 and sided with the party opposed to the continuation of the Hundred Years' War with France. After his marriage 1445, he was dominated by his wife, Margaret of Anjou. The king had an attack of mental illness that was hereditary in his mother's family in 1454 and Richard Duke of York was made Protector of the Realm. The House of York challenged Henry VI's right to the throne and England was plunged into civil war. The Battle of St Albans in 1455 was won by the Yorkists. He was deposed 1461 in the Wars of the Roses; was captured 1465, and was restored to the throne briefly in 1470 but again imprisoned 1471. Henry's son, Edward, Prince of Wales was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury one day before Henry was murdered in the Tower of London in 1471. Henry founded both Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, and every year the Provosts of Eton and King's College lay roses and lilies on the altar which now stands where he died. Henry was eight months old when he succeeded to the English throne, and shortly afterwards, by the death in 1422 of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, he became titular king of France. Unlike his father, Henry was disinclined to warfare, and when Joan of Arc revived French patriotism the English gradually began to lose their French possessions. By 1453 only Calais remained of his father's conquests. The unpopularity of the government, especially after the loss of the English conquests in France, encouraged Richard, Duke of York, to claim the throne, and though York was killed 1460, his son Edward IV proclaimed himself king 1461. HOUSE OF YORK EDWARD IV 1461- 1483 ******************** Name: King Edward IV Born: April 28, 1442 at Rouen, France Parents: Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville Relation to Elizabeth II: 14th great-grandfather House of: York Ascended to the throne: March 4, 1461 aged 18 years Crowned: June 28, 1461 at Westminster Abbey Married: Elizabeth, Daughter of Richard Woodville Children: Three sons including Edward V and Richard Duke of York (the Princes in the Tower), Seven daughters and four illegitimate children Died: April 9, 1483 at Westminster Abbey, aged 40 years, 11 months, and 11 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 21 years, 5 months, and 18 days, Deposed October 3, 1470, Restored May 21, 1471 Succeeded by: his son Edward V King of England 1461–70 and from 1471. He was the son of Richard Duke of York and Cicely Neville, and not a popular king, temporarily losing his throne to Henry when Edward fell out with his adviser Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. His morals were poor (he had many mistresses and had at least one illegitimate son) and even his contemporaries disapproved of him. Edward had his rebellious brother George, Duke of Clarendon, murdered in 1478 on a charge of treason. During his reign the first printing press was established in Westminster by William Caxton. Edward died suddenly in 1483 leaving two sons aged 12 and 9, and five daughters. Edward was a fine warrior and intelligent strategist, with victories at Mortimer's Cross and Towton in 1461, Empingham in 1470, and Barnet and Tewkesbury in 1471. He was succeeded by his son Edward V. Edward was known as Earl of March until his accession. After his father's death he occupied London 1461, and was proclaimed king in place of Henry VI by a council of peers. His position was secured by the defeat of the Lancastrians at Towton 1461 and by the capture of Henry. He quarrelled, however, with Warwick, his strongest supporter, who in 1470–71 temporarily restored Henry, until Edward recovered the throne by his victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury. EDWARD V 1483 - 1483 ******************** Name: King Edward V Born: November 4, 1470 at Westminster Parents: Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville Relation to Elizabeth II: 13th great-granduncle House of: York Ascended to the throne: April 9, 1483 aged 12 years Crowned: Not crowned Married: Never Married Children: None Died: September, 1483 at Tower of London (murdered), aged 12 years, 9 months, and 27 days Buried at: Tower of London Reigned for: 4 months, and 23 days Succeeded by: his uncle Richard III Edward was actually born in Westminster Abbey, were his mother Elizabeth Woodville had sought sanctuary from Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses. The eldest son of Edward IV, he succeeded to the throne at the tender age of 13 and reigned for only two months, the shortest-lived monarch in English history. He and his brother Richard were murdered in the Tower of London - it is said on the orders of his uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester. Richard (III) declared The Princes in the Tower illegitimate and named himself rightful heir to the crown. RICHARD III 1483 - 1485 End of the Wars of the Roses **************************************************** Name: King Richard III Born: October 2, 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire Parents: Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily Neville Relation to Elizabeth II: 14th great-granduncle House of: York Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1483 aged 30 years Crowned: July 6, 1483 at Westminster Abbey Married: Anne Neville, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales and daughter of Earl of Warwick Children: One son, plus several illegitimate children before his marriage Died: August 22, 1485 at Battle of Bosworth, Leicestershire, aged 32 years, 10 months, and 19 days Buried at: Leicester Reigned for: 2 years, 1 month, and 27 days Succeeded by: his distant cousin Henry VII King of England from 1483, brother of Edward IV. he was created Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward IV, and distinguished himself in the Wars of the Roses. On Edward's death 1483 he became protector to his nephew Edward V, and soon secured the crown for himself on the plea that Edward IV's sons were illegitimate. The ruthless extinction of all those who opposed him and the alleged murders of his nephews made his rule very unpopular (the suspicion that he had murdered Edward V and his brother undermined his popularity). In 1485 Henry Richmond (later Henry VII), descendant of John of Gaunt, father of Henry IV, landed in west Wales, gathering forces as he marched into England. At the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire he defeated and killed Richard in what was to be the last important battle in the Wars of the Roses. Archaeological investigations at a car park in Leicester during 2012 revealed a skeleton which was thought to have been that of Richard III, and this was confirmed on the 4th February 2013. His body is due to be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in early 2014. After Richard's death on the battlefield his rival was crowned King Henry VII and became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty which lasted until 1603. Richard was the last English king to die in battle. His body was taken to Leicester where it was buried at Greyfriars Church in a Franciscan Friary which was subsequently destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 to 1541. In September 2012 archaeologists uncovered remains of the church buried underneath a car park and found a skeleton of a male showing curvature of the spine, a major head wound, and an arrowhead lodged in his spine. On 4 Feb 2013 experts announced that DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the kings's family. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard". His reburial was delayed by claims that as a son of the House of York he should be buried in York cathedral. However his remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on Thursday 26 March 2015. THE TUDORS HENRY VII 1485 - 1509 ********************* Name: King Henry VII Born: January 28, 1457 at Pembroke Castle Parents: Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and Margaret Beaufort Relation to Elizabeth II: 13th great-grandfather House of: Tudor Ascended to the throne: August 22, 1485 aged 28 years Crowned: October 30, 1485 at Westminster Abbey Married: Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV Children: Three sons and four daughters. Only 4 of whom survived; Arthur, Margaret, Henry and Mary Died: April 21, 1509 at Richmond Palace, Surrey, aged 52 years, 2 months, and 21 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 23 years, 7 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his son Henry VIII When Richard III fell at the Battle of Bosworth, his crown was picked up and placed on the head of Henry Tudor. Henry was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who died before Henry was born, and Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of Edward III through John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Although the Beaufort line, which was originally illegitimate, had been specifically excluded (1407) from all claim to the throne, the death of the imprisoned Henry VI (1471) made Henry Tudor head of the house of Lancaster. At this point, however, the Yorkist Edward IV had established himself securely on the throne, and Henry, who had been brought up in Wales, fled to Brittany for safety. The death of Edward IV (1483) and accession of Richard III, left Henry the natural leader of the party opposing Richard, whose rule was very unpopular. Henry made an unsuccessful attempt to land in England during the abortive revolt (1483) of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. Thereafter he bided his time in France until 1485 when, aided by other English refugees, he landed in Wales. At the battle of Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, he defeated the royal forces of Richard, who was killed. Henry advanced to London, was crowned, and in 1486 fulfilled a promise made earlier to Yorkist dissidents to marry Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York. He thus united the houses of York and Lancaster, founding the Tudor royal dynasty. Although Henry's accession marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, the early years of his reign were disturbed by Yorkist attempts to regain the throne. The first serious attempt, an uprising in favour of the imposter Lambert Simnel, was easily crushed (1487). In 1494, Henry sent Sir Edward Poynings to Ireland to consolidate English rule there. Poynings drove out of Ireland the Yorkist pretender Perkin Warbeck, who then sought support from the Scottish king, James IV. James attempted (1496) to invade England, but the next year, under pressure from Spain, he expelled Warbeck. The latter was defeated shortly thereafter in an attempted invasion of Cornwall. A truce (1497) between England and Scotland was followed by the marriage (1503) of Henry's daughter Margaret Tudor to James a marriage that led ultimately to the union of the monarchies of England and Scotland. Henry succeeded in crushing the independence of the nobility by means of a policy of forced loans and fines. He was a skilful politician but avaricious. The material wealth of the country increased greatly. His chancellor, Cardinal Morton, was made responsible for the collection of these fines, and they were enforced by the privy councillors Empson and Dudley. Henry married his son Arthur to Catherine of Aragón, daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragón and Isabella of Castile, his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland, and his youngest daughter Mary to Louis XII of France. After Arthur died in 1502, an agreement was reached by which Catharine married Arthur's brother Henry (later Henry VIII). During Henry's reign playing cards were invented and the portrait of his wife Elizabeth has appeared eight times on every pack of cards for nearly 500 years. KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND, WALES AND IRELAND HENRY VIII 1509 - 1547 ********************** Name: King Henry VIII Born: June 28, 1491 at Greenwich Palace Parents: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York Relation to Elizabeth II: 12th great-granduncle House of: Tudor Ascended to the throne: April 21, 1509 aged 17 years Crowned: June 24, 1509 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Catherine of Aragon 1509-1533 Divorced (2) Anne Boleyn 1533-1536 Beheaded (3) Jane Seymour 1536-1537 Died (4) Anne of Cleves 1540 Divorced (5) Catherine Howard 1540-1542 Beheaded (6) Catherine Parr 1543-1547 Survived Children: Three legitimate who survived infancy; Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, and at least one illegitimate child, Henry Fitzroy. Died: January 28, 1547 at Whitehall Palace, London, aged 55 years, 7 months, Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 37 years, 9 months, and 7 days Succeeded by: his son Edward VI The best known fact about Henry VIII is that he had six wives - most British school children used to learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife: "Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived". King of England from 1509, when he succeeded his father Henry VII and married Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his elder brother Arthur. During the period 1513–29 Henry pursued an active foreign policy, largely under the guidance of his Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who shared Henry's desire to make England stronger. Wolsey was replaced by Thomas More in 1529 for failing to persuade the Pope to grant Henry a divorce. By this time Henry's policy had become dominated by his desire to divorce Catherine because she was too old to give him an heir and he was determined to marry Anne Boleyn. At first there seemed a possibility that the divorce might be granted. The papal legate journeyed to England to hear the case, but Catherine appealed direct to the pope and the court was adjourned. The position was complicated by the fact that Charles V, Catherine's nephew, controlled Rome. Henry then proceeded to act through Parliament, and had the entire body of the clergy in England declared guilty of treason in 1531. The clergy were suitably cowed and agreed to repudiate papal supremacy and recognize Henry as supreme head of the church in England. The English ecclesiastical courts then pronounced his marriage to Catherine null and void and he married Anne Boleyn in 1533. Henry through Thomas Cromwell continued his vicious attack on the church with the suppression of the monasteries (1536–39); their lands were confiscated and granted to his supporters. However, although he laid the ground for the English Reformation by the separation from Rome, he had little sympathy with Protestant dogmas. As early as 1521 a pamphlet which he had written against Lutheranism had won him the title of Fidei Defensor from the Pope, and Henry's own religious views are quite clearly expressed in the Statute of Six Articles in 1539 which instituted the orthodox Catholic tenets as necessary conditions for Christian belief. As a result Protestants were being burnt for heresy even while Catholics were being executed for refusing to take the oath of supremacy. Henry VIIIs Palace at Hampton Court Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536, ostensibly for adultery. Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, died in 1537. He married Anne of Cleves in 1540 in pursuance of Thomas Cromwell's policy of allying with the German Protestants, but rapidly abandoned this policy, divorced Anne, and beheaded Cromwell. His fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was beheaded in 1542, and the following year he married Catherine Parr, who survived him. Henry ended his reign with the reputation of a tyrant, despite the promise of his earlier years – in 1536 the rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace was viciously suppressed, and advisers of the calibre of More and Bishop John Fisher had died rather than sacrifice their own principles to Henry's will. But the power of the crown had been considerably strengthened by Henry's ecclesiastical policy, and the monastic confiscations gave impetus to the rise of a new nobility which was to become influential in succeeding reigns. EDWARD VI 1547 - 1553 ********************* Name: King Edward VI Born: October 12, 1537 at Hampton Court Parents: Henry VIII and Jane Seymour Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 13 times removed House of: Tudor Ascended to the throne: January 28, 1547 aged 9 years Crowned: February 19, 1547 at Westminster Abbey Married: Never Married Children: None Died: July 6, 1553 at Greenwich Palace, aged 15 years, 8 months, and 23 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 6 years, 5 months, and 7 days Succeeded by: his half sister Mary King of England from 1547, only son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward was a sickly boy; it is thought he suffered from tuberculosis. Edward succeeded his father at the age of 9, the government being carried on by a Council of Regency with his uncle, Duke of Somerset, styled Protector (who fell from power in 1549) and then to the Earl of Warwick, later created Duke of Northumberland. Even though his reign was short, many men made their mark. Cranmer wrote the Book of Common Prayer and the uniformity of worship helped turn England into a Protestant State. After Edward's death there was a dispute over the succession. Edward became a staunch Protestant, and during his reign the Reformation progressed. He died of tuberculosis, and his will, probably prepared by the Duke of Northumberland, set aside that of his father so as to exclude his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the succession. He nominated Lady Jane Grey, a granddaughter of Henry VII, who had recently married Northumberland's son Lord Guildford Dudley and wanted to maintain a Protestant succession. LADY JANE GREY ************** Jane was named in July 1553 as the next in line to the throne as Edwards half sister Mary was Catholic. Jane was just 16 years old but although proclaimed queen by Northumberland she was unwilling and not crowned. Meanwhile, Henry's catholic daughter Mary, Edwards half sister, was also proclaimed queen. The situation was resolved when 9 days later Mary and her supporters rode into London and Jane was taken to the Tower. She reigned for only those 9 days. She was executed in 1554, aged 17. MARY I (Bloody Mary) 1553 - 1558 ******************************** Name: Queen Mary I Born: February 18, 1516 at Greenwich Palace Parents: Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 13 times removed House of: Tudor Ascended to the throne: July 19, 1553 aged 37 years Crowned: October 1, 1553 at Westminster Abbey Married: Philip II of Spain Children: None Died: November 17, 1558 at St James Palace, London, aged 42 years, 8 months, and 29 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 5 years, 3 months, and 29 days Succeeded by: her half sister Elizabeth Queen of England from 1553. She was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragón. When Edward VI died, Mary secured the crown without difficulty in spite of the conspiracy to substitute Lady Jane Grey. A devout Catholic, in 1554 she married Philip of Spain. Mary attempted to enforce the wholesale conversion of England to Catholicism. She carried this out with the utmost severity. The Protestant bishops, Latimer, Ridley and Archbishop Cranmer were among those burnt at the stake. The place, in Broad Street Oxford, is marked by a bronze cross. The country was plunged into a bitter blood bath, and the vast number of executions earned her the name 'Bloody Mary'. She died in 1558 at Lambeth Palace in London. She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I. ELIZABETH I 1558-1603 ********************* Name: Queen Elizabeth I Born: September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace Parents: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 13 times removed House of: Tudor Ascended to the throne: November 17, 1558 aged 25 years Crowned: January 15, 1559 at Westminster Abbey Married: Never Married Children: None Died: March 24, 1603 at Richmond Palace, Surrey, aged 69 years, 6 months, and 15 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 44 years, 4 months, and 5 days Succeeded by: her 3rd cousin James of Scotland Queen of England (1558–1603), the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was a remarkable woman, noted for her learning and wisdom. From first to last she was popular with the people and had a genius for the selection of capable advisers. Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, the Cecils, Essex and many many more made England respected and feared. Through her Religious Settlement of 1559 she enforced the Protestant religion by law. She had Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587. Her conflict with Roman Catholic Spain led to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Elizabethan age was expansionist in commerce and geographical exploration, and arts and literature flourished. The rulers of many European states made unsuccessful bids to marry Elizabeth, and she used these bids to strengthen her power. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich, London on 7 September 1533. She was well educated in several languages. During her Roman Catholic half-sister Mary's (Mary I) reign, Elizabeth's Protestant sympathies brought her under suspicion, and she lived in seclusion at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, until on Mary's death she became queen. Her first task was to bring about a broad religious settlement. Many unsuccessful attempts were made by Parliament to persuade Elizabeth to marry or settle the succession. She found courtship a useful political weapon, and she maintained friendships with, among others, the courtiers Leicester, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Essex. She was known as the Virgin Queen. The arrival in England in 1568 of Mary Queen of Scots and her imprisonment by Elizabeth caused a political crisis, and a rebellion of the feudal nobility of the north followed in 1569. Friction between English and Spanish sailors hastened the breach with Spain. When the Dutch rebelled against Spanish tyranny Elizabeth secretly encouraged them; Philip II retaliated by aiding Catholic conspiracies against her. This undeclared war continued for many years, until the landing of an English army in the Netherlands in 1585 and Mary's execution in 1587, brought it into the open. Philip's Armada (the fleet sent to invade England in 1588) met with total disaster. The Spanish Armada was decisively defeated in 1588 and Raleigh's first Virginian colony was founded. The execution of Mary Queen of Scots marred what was a glorious time in English history. Shakespeare was also at the height of his popularity. The war with Spain continued with varying fortunes to the end of the reign, while events at home foreshadowed the conflicts of the 17th century. Among the Puritans discontent was developing with Elizabeth's religious settlement, and several were imprisoned or executed. Parliament showed a new independence, and in 1601 forced Elizabeth to retreat on the question of the crown granting manufacturing and trading monopolies. Yet her prestige remained unabated, as shown by the failure of Essex's rebellion in 1601. Elizabeth never married. She was succeeded by James I. KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND, WALES, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND THE STUARTS JAMES I and VI of Scotland 1603 -1625 ************************************* Name: King James I Born: June 19, 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland Parents: Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley Relation to Elizabeth II: 9th great-grandfather House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: March 24, 1603 aged 36 years Crowned: July 25, 1603 at Westminster Abbey, also as James VI of Scotland at Stirling Castle on July 29, 1567 Married: Anne, Daughter of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway Children: Three sons and five daughters, of whom three survived; Henry, Elizabeth and Charles Died: March 27, 1625 at Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, aged 58 years, 9 months, and 7 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 22 years, and 3 days, King of Scotland for 57 years 1567-1625 Succeeded by: his son Charles James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and her second husband Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. He was descended through the Scottish kings from Robert the Bruce, and the English Tudors through his great grandmother Margaret Tudor sister of Henry VIII. His parent’s marriage was short-lived and Darnley was found murdered 8 months after James was born in June 1566. His mother married again, but in 1567 was forced to renounce the throne of Scotland in favour of her infant son. James became King James VI of Scotland aged 13 months in July 1567, and was crowned at Stirling. Mary fled to England where she was eventually executed following Catholic plots against Elizabeth I in 1587. His childhood and adolescence were unhappy, abnormal, and precarious; he had various guardians, whose treatment of him differed widely. His education, although thorough, was weighted with strong Presbyterian and Calvinist political doctrine, and his character – highly intelligent and sensitive, but also fundamentally shallow, vain, and exhibitionist – reacted violently to this. He also sought solace with extravagant and unsavoury male favourites who, in later years, were to have a damaging effect on his prestige and state affairs. A suitable Queen was found for him in Anne of Denmark and they were married in 1589. As King of Scotland, he curbed the power of the nobility, although his attempts to limit the authority of the Kirk (Church of Scotland) were less successful. When Elizabeth I of England died in 1603 unmarried, James moved to London and was crowned King James I of England the first of the Stuart Kings of the combined crowns of England and Scotland. The English courtiers were wary of his Scottish favourites, affairs with male courtiers and uncouth ways. He was however a supporter of literature and arts. William Shakespeare was among the ‘Kings Men’ troupe of actors who performed plays for their patron James. He commissioned the King James Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, which remains one of the most important English translations of the Bible. Whilst James's reign saw the publication of the Authorised Version of the Bible, this caused problems with the Puritans and their attitude towards the established church. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers sailed for America in their ship The Mayflower. James initially acted mainly upon the advice of Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, but on Salisbury’s death all restraint vanished. His religious policy consisted of asserting the supreme authority and divine right of the crown and suppressing both Puritans and Catholics who objected. In 1605 the Gunpowder Plot was hatched: Guy Fawkes and his Catholic friends tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but were captured before they could do so. Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up Parliament produced an anti-Catholic reaction, which gave James a temporary popularity which soon dissipated. His foreign policy aimed primarily at achieving closer relations with Spain was not liked by Parliament who saw Spain as the Old Catholic enemy of the Armada and competitor for world trade. During his reign the East India Company expanded trade bringing spices from the East, and Jamestown was founded in Virginia. His willingness to compromise politically, even while continuing to talk in terms of absolutism, largely accounts for the superficial stability of his reign. However, the effects of many of his actions were long term, becoming fully obvious only after his death. James and Anne had 8 children only three of whom survived infancy. Their eldest son Henry died aged 18 of typhoid, and their 2nd son Charles became King Charles I. The marriage of their daughter Elizabeth to Frederic V, Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, was to result in the eventual Hanoverian succession to the British throne. CHARLES 1 1625 - 1649 English Civil War *************************************** Name: King Charles I Born: November 19, 1600 at Dunfermline Palace, Scotland Parents: James I (VI of Scots) and Anne of Denmark Relation to Elizabeth II: 8th great-granduncle House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: March 27, 1625 aged 24 years Crowned: February 2, 1626 at Westminster Abbey Married: Henrietta Maria, Daughter of Henri IV of France Children: Four sons and five daughters Died: January 30, 1649 at Whitehall, London (executed), aged 48 years, 2 months, and 11 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 23 years, 10 months, and 4 days Succeeded by: his son Charles II Charles was the 2nd son of James VI of Scotland (James 1 of England) and Anne of Denmark. He was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and became heir to the throne on the death of his brother Henry in 1612. Charles believed that he ruled by Divine Right. His father favoured marriage to the Spanish infanta Maria Anna, but Parliament was hostile to Spain and in 1625 he married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France. Their children included Charles and James (who became Charles II and James II), and Mary who married William II of Orange and was the mother of William III. When Charles I succeeded his father in 1625, friction with Parliament began at once. Charles sincerely believed in his divine right as king and struggled to control Parliament who resented his attempts at absolute rule. One of his first acts was to dissolve parliament in 1625, and again in 1626 after attempts to impeach the Duke of Buckingham over war against Spain and support of the French Huguenots. Charles forced an unpopular ‘Ship Money’ tax to raise funds without the consent of Parliament. In 1628 Charles was presented with the Petition of Right a declaration of the “rights and liberties of the subject", which he reluctantly agreed to. However, in 1629 he dissolved Parliament again, imprisoned its leaders and ruled without a Parliament from 1629 to 1640. His advisers Earl Strafford and Archbishop Laud persecuted the Puritans, and provoked the Presbyterian Scots Covenanters to revolt when Laud attempted to introduce the English Book of Common Prayer. The Short Parliament, which met April 1640, refused to grant money until grievances were redressed, and was dissolved after just 3 weeks. The Scots then advanced into England and forced their own terms on Charles. The Long Parliament assembled under in November 1640 under John Pym, passed an Act that prevented it from being dissolved without its own consent. Laud and other ministers were imprisoned, and Strafford condemned to death. There was now direct confrontation between Charles and Parliament. After the failure of his attempt to arrest five parliamentary leaders on 4 January 1642, Charles, confident that he had substantial support among those who believed that Parliament was becoming too Puritanical and zealous, withdrew from London, and on 22 August declared war on Parliament by raising his standard at Nottingham and beginning the English Civil War of 1642 to 1648. The Battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire, in October 1642 between Royalist forces and Parliamentary forces favoured the Royalists but the outcome was inconclusive. The war continued indecisively through 1643 and 1644. Charles's defeat at the Battle of Naseby, near Leicester, in June 1645 by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army ended all hopes of Royalist victory. In April 1646 Charles escaped the Siege of Oxford and surrendered at Newark, Nottinghamshire, to the Scots, who handed him over to Parliament in January 1647. In June the Cromwell’s army seized him and carried him off to Hampton Court palace, near London. While the army leaders strove to find a settlement, Charles secretly intrigued for a Scottish invasion. In November he escaped, but was recaptured and held at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. A Scottish invasion followed in 1648, but was shattered by Cromwell at Preston, Lancashire. In January 1649 the House of Commons set up a high court of justice, which tried Charles and condemned him to death. He was beheaded on 30 January 1649 in front of the Banqueting House in Whitehall, London. There followed a period known as the English Commonwealth ruled by Cromwell through parliament. THE COMMONWEALTH - Declared May 19th 1649 OLIVER CROMWELL, Lord Protector 1653 - 1658 ******************************************* Cromwell was born at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in 1599, the son of a small landowner. He entered Parliament in 1629 and became active in events leading to the Civil War. A leading Puritan figure, he raised cavalry forces and organised the New Model Army, which he led to victory over the Royalists at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Failing to gain agreement on constitutional change in government with Charles I, Cromwell was a member of a 'Special Commission' that tried and condemned the king to death in 1649. Cromwell declared Britain a republic 'The Commonwealth' and he went on to become its Lord Protector. Cromwell went on to crush the Irish clans and the Scots loyal to Charles II between 1649 and 1651. In 1653 he finally expelled the corrupt English parliament and with the agreement of army leaders became Lord Protector (King in all but name) RICHARD CROMWELL, Lord Protector 1658 - 1659 ******************************************** Richard was the third son of Oliver Cromwell, he was appointed the second ruling Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, serving for just nine months. Unlike his father, Richard lacked military experience and as such failed to gain respect or support from his New Model Army. Richard was eventually 'persuaded' to resign from his position as Lord Protector and exiled himself to France until 1680, when he returned to England. THE RESTORATION CHARLES II 1660 - 1685 ********************** Name: King Charles II Born: May 29, 1630 at St. James Palace Parents: Charles I and Henrietta Maria Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 9 times removed House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: May 29, 1660 aged 30 years Crowned: April 23, 1661 at Westminster Abbey, and at Scone as King of Scots, 1 January 1651 Married: Catherine of Braganza Children: About 17 illegitimate children by at least 8 different mistresses Died: February 6, 1685 at Whitehall Palace, London, aged 54 years, 8 months, and 10 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 24 years, 8 months, and 9 days Succeeded by: his brother James II Son of Charles I, also known as the Merry Monarch, Charles II was born in St James's Palace, London. During the Civil War he lived with his father in Oxford 1642–45, and after the victory of Cromwell's Parliamentary forces he was in exile in France. Accepting the Scottish Covenanters' offer to make him King, he landed in Scotland in 1650, and was crowned at Scone on 1 January 1651. An attempt to invade England was ended on 3 September 1651 by Cromwell's victory at the Battle of Worcester. Charles escaped according to legend by hiding in an oak tree, and for nine years he was in exile in Holland, France, Germany, Flanders, and Spain. The death of Cromwell and the collapse of the English Commonwealth lead to opening of negotiations in 1659 by George Monk for the restoration of the monarchy. In April 1660 Charles issued the Declaration of Breda, promising a general amnesty and freedom of conscience. Parliament accepted the Declaration and he was proclaimed King on 8 May 1660. Charles landed at Dover on 26 May 1660, and entered London three days later. He was crowned at Westminster on 23 April 1661. Despite the Declaration there was retribution. The body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up and posthumously decapitated, Charles I was venerated a Saint by the Anglican Church, and all legal documents were post-dated as though Charles II had succeeded on his father’s death in 1649. The Act of uniformity required all Puritans to accept the doctrines of the Church of England. Many who refused sought a new life in the colonies in North America. The Restoration brought liberalizing social changes including the re-opening of theatres and study of sciences that had been banned by the Puritans. The Royal Society for the study of Science was established and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. In May 1662 Charles married the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza. Her dowry brought Tangiers and Bombay to British control, but despite four pregnancies she produced no children. He had 13 known mistresses, one of whom was Nell Gwyn. He fathered numerous illegitimate children but no heir to the throne. Charles had at least 17 illegitimate children by his various mistresses who included Lady Castlemaine, Lady Portsmouth, and Lucy Walter. England was at war with Holland and in 1664 seized the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam in North America and renamed it New York. However the Dutch Navy sailed up the River Medway and humiliated the Royal Navy by capturing the English flagship and burning other ships. In 1665 the Great Plague struck London killing over 60,000 people, and was followed in 1666 by the Fire of London which destroyed a large part of the city including St Paul’s cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to rebuild the cathedral. The Dutch war furnished an excuse for banishing Lord Clarendon who was made a scapegoat in 1667, and he was replaced by the Cabal of Clifford and Arlington, both secret Catholics, and Buckingham, Ashley (Lord Shaftesbury), and Lauderdale. In 1670 Charles signed the Secret Treaty of Dover, whereby he promised Louis XIV of France he would declare himself a Catholic, re-establish Catholicism in England, and support the French king's projected war against the Dutch; in return Louis was to finance Charles and in the event of resistance to supply him with troops. The third Dutch War followed in 1672, and at the same time Charles issued the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending all penal laws against Catholics and Dissenters. In 1673, Parliament forced Charles to withdraw the Indulgence and accept a Test Act excluding all Catholics from office, and in 1674 to end the Dutch war. The Test Act broke up the Cabal, while Shaftesbury, who had learned the truth about the treaty, assumed the leadership of the opposition. In 1678 Titus Oates's announcement of a 'Popish plot' released a general panic, which Shaftesbury exploited to introduce his Exclusion Bill, excluding Charles’s brother James, Duke of York, from the succession as he was openly Catholic and instead he hoped to substitute Charles's illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth. Charles dissolved Parliament in 1679 declaring there would be no talk of change of succession. He now ruled as absolute monarch without a parliament, financed by Louis XIV. When the Whigs plotted a revolt, their leaders were executed, and Shaftesbury and Monmouth fled to the Netherlands to William of Orange. Charles died in 1685, and was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed. He was succeeded by his brother James II. JAMES II and VII of Scotland 1685 - 1688 **************************************** Name: King James II Full Name: James Stuart Born: October 14, 1633 at St. James Palace Parents: Charles I and Henrietta Maria Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 9 times removed House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: February 6, 1685 aged 51 years Crowned: April 23, 1685 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Anne Hyde, (2) Mary, Daughter of Duke of Modena Children: Eight by his first wife Anne, of whom only Mary and Anne survived, and Five by his 2nd wife Mary of whom only a son James (Old Pretender) and Louise Maria survived. Died: September 6, 1701 at St Germain-en-Laye, France, aged 67 years, 10 months, and 21 days Buried at: Chateau de Saint Germain-en-Laye, Near Paris, Reigned for: 3 years, 10 months, and 3 days, Abdicated: December 11, 1688 Succeeded by: his daughter Mary and son-in-law William of Orange James II was the second surviving son of Charles I and younger brother of Charles II. He was created Duke of York, and was in Oxford during the Civil War. James had been exiled following the Civil War and served in both the French and Spanish Army. After the defeat of the Royalists he escaped with his mother and brother to The Hague and then exile in France. His father was executed in 1649. After the death of Cromwell and the restoration of the monarchy he returned to England where his brother had been crowned Charles II. James became very unpopular because of his persecution of the Protestant clergy and was generally hated by the people. James was created Lord High Admiral and warden of the Cinque Ports, and commanded the Royal Navy during the 2nd and 3rd Anglo-Dutch wars. He created controversy when in 1660 he married Anne Hyde a commoner and daughter of Charles’s chief minister Edward Hyde. They had 7 children but only two survived infancy - Mary (later Queen Mary II) and Anne (later Queen Anne). His daughters were raised as Protestants but, influenced by his time in France and Spain, James converted to Catholicism in 1670. Following Anne Hyde’s death in 1671, he married Mary of Modena a 15 year old Italian Catholic princess. James’s critics described her as ‘an agent of the Pope’. Parliament became alarmed at the prospect of Catholic succession and in 1673 passed the Test Act which excluded Catholics from political office. In 1679 Shaftesbury attempted to introduce an Exclusion Bill to exclude James from the succession and substitute Charles’s illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth, but this was rebutted by Charles who dissolved Parliament. James became King James II on the death of his brother in 1685. He soon faced two rebellions intent on removing him in Scotland by the Duke of Argyll, and from an army raised by the Duke of Monmouth which was defeated by John Churchill (6th great grandfather of Winston Churchill) in July 1685 at the Battle of Sedgemoor in Somerset. The Monmouth rebels were brutally punished by Judge Jeffrey’s Bloody Assizes. James, believing his Divine Right as King, issued the Declaration of Indulgence to suspend the Test Act and promote his Catholic supporters in Parliament. The Archbishop of Canterbury and seven other bishops were arrested and tried for sedition. Amidst widespread alarm, and the Bloody Assizes of Judge Jeffries, the birth in 1688 of his Catholic heir James (James Edward Stuart) prompted a group of nobles to invite Prince William of Orange (who had married James daughter Mary) from the Netherlands to England to restore Protestantism and democracy. William of Orange landed at Torbay on 5 November 1688 in 463 ships unopposed by the Royal Navy, and with an army of 14,000 troops which gathering local support grew to over 20,000 and advanced on London in what became known as ‘The Glorious Revolution’. Many from James’s army including Churchill and James’s daughter Anne defected to support William. James lost his nerve and fled to France throwing the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames. His daughter Mary was declared Queen, but she insisted on joint rule with her husband and they were crowned King William III and Queen Mary II. James and his wife and son lived in exile in France as guests of Louis XIV. James landed in Ireland in 1689 with French troops in an attempt to regain the throne and advanced on Londonderry, but was defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. He lived the rest of his life in exile where he died in 1701. His son James Edward Stuart (The Old Pretender) and grandson Charles (Bonnie Prince Charlie) made unsuccessful attempts to restore the Jacobite throne in 1715 and 1745. WILLIAM III 1689 - 1702 and MARY II 1689 - 1694 *********************************************** Name: King William III and Queen Mary II Full Name: William Henry Stuart Born: November 14, 1650 at William: The Hague, Netherlands; Mary: St James Palace, London Parents: William: William II of Orange and Mary Stuart; Mary: James II and Anne Hyde Relation to Elizabeth II: 2nd cousin 8 times removed House of: Orange Ascended to the throne: February 13, 1689 aged 38 years Crowned: April 11, 1689 at Westminster Abbey, when William was 38 and Mary was 26 Married: William married Mary, daughter of James II Children: Three stillborn Died: March 8, 1702 at Kensington Palace (William), aged 51 years, 3 months, and 21 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 13 years, and 21 days Succeeded by: Mary's sister Anne William was born in The Hague in the Netherlands. He was an only child and never knew his father William II who died of smallpox before his birth. His mother was Mary eldest daughter of Charles I of England. William was appointed Stadtholder (chief magistrate) and captain-general of the Dutch forces in 1672 to resist the French invasion of the Netherlands. He forced Louis XIV to make peace in 1678 and then concentrated on building up a European alliance against France. In 1677 he married his cousin Mary, eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, the future James II. The marriage was intended to repair relations between England and The Netherlands following the Anglo-Dutch wars. William was a successful soldier, but had several male favourites, was dour, asthmatic, 12 years older and several inches shorter than his English wife Mary who was a reluctant bride. In 1688 they were invited by the parliamentary opposition to Mary’s father James II to take the crown on England and were assured of English support. On the 5 November 1688, William of Orange sailed his fleet of over 450 ships, unopposed by the Royal Navy, into Torbay harbour and landed his troops in Devon. With an army of 14,000 troops which, gathering local support, grew to over 20,000 and advanced on London in what became known as ‘The Glorious Revolution’. Many of James II's army had defected to support William, as well as James's other daughter Anne. James fled to France, and in February 1689 William and his wife were crowned King William III and Queen Mary II. William and Mary were to reign jointly, and William was to have the Crown for life after Mary died in 1694. Parliament passed the Bill of Rights which prevented Catholics for succeeding to the throne ensuring that Mary’s sister Anne would become the next queen, and after the autocratic rules of Kings Charles II and his brother James II limited the powers of monarchs so that they could neither pass laws nor levy taxes with parliamentary consent. William and Mary were faced in 1689 with two Jacobite attempts to regain the throne. In Scotland government troops were defeated at Killiekrankie by Scottish Jacobites but won shortly afterwards at Dunkeld, and James II landed in Ireland with French troops and laid siege to Londonderry. William’s navy relieved the siege and he led is army to victory at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. James fled back to France. William returned several times to the Netherlands but found the English parliament reluctant to support his continuing war with France. The Bank of England was founded in 1694 to control public expenditure. Williamsburg and the college of William and Mary in Virginia, were named after the King and Queen in 1693. Mary died of smallpox in 1694 and had no surviving children. William now ruled alone. The Peace of Rijswijk in 1697 marked the end of the war with in Flanders with Louis XIV. William formed an alliance between England, Holland and Austria to prevent the union of the French and Spanish crowns. This became known as the ‘War of Spanish Succession’. In 1701 following death of Prince William, the only surviving son of Mary’s sister Anne, the Act of Settlement was passed ensuring succession of Protestant heirs of Sophie of Hanover instead of the Catholic heirs of James. William died on 1702 of pneumonia following a broken collar bone after a fall from his horse. Because his horse had reputedly stumbled on a mole’s burrow Jacobites toasted... 'The little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat.' MONARCHS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND ANNE 1702 - 1714 **************** Name: Queen Anne Full Name: Anne Stuart Born: February 6, 1665 at St. James Palace, London Parents: James II and Anne Hyde Relation to Elizabeth II: 2nd cousin 8 times removed House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: March 8, 1702 aged 37 years Crowned: April 23, 1702 at Westminster Abbey Married: George, son of Frederick III of Denmark Children: Eighteen, including miscarriages and still-born, of whom only one William survived to age of 11 Died: August 1, 1714 at Kensington Palace , aged 49 years, 5 months, and 22 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 12 years, 4 months, and 24 days Succeeded by: her 3rd cousin George of Hanover Anne was the second daughter of James, Duke of York, who became James II, and his first wife, Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. A staunch, high church Protestant, Anne was 37 years old when she succeeded to the throne. Anne and her elder sister Mary had received a Protestant upbringing although their father James converted to Catholicism and remarried. In 1683 Anne married Prince George of Denmark (1653–1708). She had between 16 and 18 pregnancies but only one child survived - William, Duke of Gloucester who died aged 11 of smallpox in 1700. Her sister Mary married William of Orange but Anne was forbidden by her father to visit her in the Netherlands. When William landed in England in 1688 to take the throne, Anne on the influence of her close friend Sarah Churchill (1650–1744) the wife of John Churchill (1650–1722), supported her sister and brother-in-law against her father James. Churchill was created Duke of Marlborough by William when he was crowned King William III and her sister Queen Mary II. Anne detested her brother-in-law, and the Churchills' influence led her briefly during William’s reign to engage in Jacobite intrigues. Mary died in 1694 and on William’s death in 1702 Anne succeeded to the throne as Queen Anne. When she was crowned in April 1702 Anne was 37 years old and after her many pregnancies had poor health and no longer her youthful figure. She was shy and stubborn and very different from her outgoing sister Mary. Anne and Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, remained close friends – Anne addressed Sarah as ‘Mrs Freeman’ and she called Anne ‘Mrs Morley’. Sarah’s husband the Duke of Marlborough commanded the English Army in the War of Spanish Succession, and won a series of victories over the French at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). The influence of the Churchill’s however began to decline and after a violent quarrel in 1710, Sarah Churchill was dismissed from court. Abigail Masham succeeded the duchess as Anne's favourite, using her influence to further the Tories. Towards the end of her life, Anne suffered from gout and she could hardly walk. On her death in 1714 her body had swollen so large that she was buried in an almost square coffin. On the question of succession, Anne's family loyalty had convinced her that this should fall to her father's son by his second wife (Mary of Modena), James Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender. However, the Act of Settlement in 1701 ensured Protestant succession to the throne, this was Sophia, daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia, James I 's only daughter, but she died a few weeks before Anne and so the throne succeeded to her son George, great-grandson of James I. THE HANOVARIANS GEORGE I 1714 -1727 ******************* Name: King George I Full Name: George Louis Born: May 28, 1660 at Osnabruck, Hanover Parents: Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Elector of Hanover, and Sophia Stuart Relation to Elizabeth II: 6th great-grandfather House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: August 1, 1714 aged 54 years Crowned: October 20, 1714 at Westminster Abbey Married: Sophia Dorothea of Celle Children: One son, one daughter, three illegitimate children Died: June 11, 1727 at Osnabruck, aged 67 years, and 12 days Buried at: Leineschlosskirche, Hanover Reigned for: 12 years, 10 months, and 9 days Succeeded by: his son George II He was the son of the first elector of Hanover, Ernest Augustus (1629–1698), great-grandson of James I and his wife Sophia who was a granddaughter of James I of England. He was heir through his father to t he hereditary lay bishopric of Osnabrück and the duchy of Calenberg, which was one part of the Hanoverian possessions of the house of Brunswick. He acquired the other part by his marriage in 1682 to his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle. They had two children George (who later became George II) and Sophia (who married Frederick William of Prussia in 1706 and was the mother of Frederick the Great). It was not a happy marriage. George had several mistresses, and his wife Sophia eloped with Swedish Count Philip Konigsmark who in 1694 mysteriously disappeared believed killed with George’s connivance and his body thrown in a river. Sophia was imprisoned in Castle Ahlden in Celle where she remained until she died 30 years later. In England Queen Anne had no surviving children and in 1701 Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to ensure a Protestant line of succession and oppose the claim of the Catholic James Edward Stuart. George’s mother Sophia became heiress to the British throne, but she died in May 1714 a few weeks before Queen Anne so when Anne died in August that year George became King George I of England and Scotland. George arrived in England aged 54 speaking only a few words of English, with 18 cooks and two mistresses one very fat and the other thin and tall who became nicknamed ‘Elephant and Castle’ after an area in London. In Hanover he was absolute ruler but in England found that he had to work with Parliament and his Whig ministers particularly Lord Townshend who was dismissed, Earl Stanhope and Robert Walpole. The king grew frustrated in his attempts to control Parliament and more and more dependent upon his advisers as scandal surrounded him; his supporters turned against him, demanding freedom of action as the price of reconciliation. George rarely attended meetings with his ministers, and particularly Walpole became powerful and effectively Britain’s first Prime Minister. Jacobite rebellions in Scotland in 1715 led by Lord Mar, and in 1719 supported by Spanish troops intending to place James Edward Stuart (‘The old Pretender’) on throne found little support and were quickly defeated. The ‘South Sea Bubble’ in which shares in companies were purchased in rash financial speculation before a stock market crash in 1720 left many investors ruined, and George was implicated in the scandal. Walpole’s management of the crisis by rescheduling debts and paying compensation using Government money helped return financial stability. George quarrelled with his son George (a trait inherited by successive Hanoverian kings) and became increasingly unpopular. He spent more and more time in Hanover where he died of a stroke in 1727. GEORGE II 1727 - 1760 ********************* Name: King George II Full Name: George Augustus Born: October 30, 1683 at Herrenhausen, Hanover Parents: George I and Sophia Dorothea Relation to Elizabeth II: 5th great-grandfather House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: June 11, 1727 aged 43 years Crowned: October 11, 1727 at Westminster Abbey Married: Caroline, daughter of Margrave of Brandenburg Children: Four sons and five daughters Died: October 25, 1760 at Kensington Palace, aged 76 years, 11 months, and 25 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 33 years, 4 months, and 15 days Succeeded by: his grandson George III George II was born in Hanover the son of George I and Sophia of Celle. Only son of George I. He was more English than his father, but still relied on Sir Robert Walpole to run the country. He married Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach in 1705 an attractive and intelligent women, and they had 9 children. In 1708 he took part in the Battle of Oudenarde in Belgium against the French. His father became King George I of England in 1714 and he became Prince of Wales. However his father’s treatment of his mother whom he had imprisoned left son George with a hatred of his father and they regularly quarrelled. He was even put under arrest by his father who excluded him from public ceremonies. When his father died in 1727 he became King George II and set about changing his father’s policies. Walpole was expected to be dismissed but survived on the intervention of Queen Caroline. The death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740 led to the European War of Austrian Succession in which the British and Dutch supported Marie Theresa’s claim to the Austrian throne against the Prussians and French. George II personally led his troops at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, becoming the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle. The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, in which Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’) landed in Scotland and marched with a Highland army into England, was routed at Culloden Moor by the army under the Duke of Cumberland, known as 'Butcher' Cumberland. Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to France with the help of Flora MacDonald, and finally died a drunkard's death in Rome. The Scottish opposition was brutally suppressed by George’s second son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. Like his father he quarrelled with his eldest son Frederick, Prince of Wales, over his marriage but Frederick died suddenly in 1751. The final years of his reign saw George retiring from active politics; however it was a period in which British dominance overseas grew. William Pitt became Prime Minister during the Seven years war against France which spread to India and North America. Robert Clive secured the Indian continent for Britain at the Battle of Plassey, and General Wolfe captured Quebec in Canada. George II died in 1760 of an aneurysm while seated on his water closet. He was succeeded by his grandson also called George. GEORGE III 1760 - 1820 ********************** Name: King George III Full Name: George William Frederick Born: June 4, 1738 at Norfolk House, St. James Square, London Parents: Frederick Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Relation to Elizabeth II: 3rd great-grandfather House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: October 25, 1760 aged 22 years Crowned: September 22, 1761 at Westminster Abbey Married: Charlotte, daughter of Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Children: Ten sons including George IV and William IV, and six daughters Died: January 29, 1820 at Windsor Castle, aged 81 years, 7 months, and 24 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 59 years, 3 months, and 2 days Succeeded by: his son George IV He was a grandson of George II and the first English-born and English-speaking monarch since Queen Anne. His reign was one of elegance and the age of some of the greatest names in English literature - Jane Austen, Byron, Shelley, Keats and Wordsworth. It was also the time of great statesmen like Pitt and Fox and great captains like Wellington and Nelson. George III, unlike his father and grandfather, was born in England. He became heir to the throne when his father Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751 from a lung abscess (believed to be caused by a blow on the chest from a cricket ball) before he could succeed his father. George was shy and stubborn but well educated in science and arts. He became King George III in 1760 following the death of his grandfather. In 1761, after an official search for a suitable wife, he married Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz whom he first met on his wedding day. The couple enjoyed a happy marriage and he never took a mistress. They had 16 children including George (later George IV) and William (who became William IV) and they were married for 57 years. In 1762 he purchased Buckingham House in London which later became Buckingham Palace. George had high moral standards, and appalled by the loose morals of his brothers introduced the Royal Marriage Act in 1772 which made it illegal for members of the Royal Family to marry without the consent of the Sovereign. He was interested in agricultural improvement, and during his reign there were advances in manufacturing mechanisation including the spinning frame and steam engine. George was determined to be thrifty with his own and public expenses. He handed Parliament the right of income from Crown Estates in return for a Civil List annuity for the support of his household and expenses, an arrangement that continues today. Britain had been fighting a colonial war against France since 1756 with military success but at high financial cost. George appointed Lord Bute to negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1762 to end the Seven years war. This caused patriotic outrage for the concessions it gave to the French including the rights of French colonists in North America to remain in Quebec and New Orleans. Lord North became Prime Minister determined to make the colonies pay for their own security. The Stamp Act of 1765 levied a tax on every official document in the British colonies and high customs duties introduced. These were mostly repealed in the face of American protests, with the exception of the tax on tea. In 1773 colonists threw chests of tea overboard in Boston harbour in a protest know as the ‘Boston tea party’. The American War of Independence began in April 1775 when colonists fought British troops at Lexington. George Washington was appointed commander of the Continental Army. On 4 July 1776 the Continental Congress under leadership of John Hancock declared independence. Fighting continued until 1781 when the British were defeated by Americans and French at Yorktown. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783 Britain agreed to recognise American independence. King George took the loss badly and considered abdication before facing the political and military realities. 1788 he suffered his first attack of insanity (now believed to be the result of the inherited disease porphyria) which was to plague him for the rest of his life. His son George, Prince of Wales, was made temporary regent an arrangement which became permanent in 1810. In 1789 France was shaken by revolution and King Louis XVI guillotined in 1793. Britain was once more at war with France. Attempted revolution by Catholics and French troops in Ireland was crushed and eventually union with Ireland was passed in 1801. By 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte was assembling a fleet for the invasion of England, but the French fleet was defeated by Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Napoleon defeated the Russians at Austerlitz but was forced to withdraw from Moscow by the Russian winter. The battles continued with the Peninsular War in which the British fought to drive the French from Spain. Napoleon was eventually defeated by British and German forces at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. George was well meaning but suffered from a mental illness due to intermittent porphyria and eventually became blind and insane. His son ruled as Prince Regent after 1811 until George's death. George III died at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign of almost 60 years - the third longest in British history, and was succeeded by his son George IV. GEORGE IV 1820 - 1830 ********************* Name: King George IV Full Name: George Augustus Frederick Born: August 12, 1762 at St. James Palace Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Relation to Elizabeth II: 3rd great-granduncle House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: January 29, 1820 aged 57 years Crowned: July 19, 1821 at Westminster Abbey Married: Caroline, daughter of Duke of Brunswick Children: One daughter,and at least two illegitimate children Died: June 26, 1830 at Windsor Castle, aged 67 years, 10 months, and 12 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 10 years, 4 months, and 26 days Succeeded by: his brother William IV George IV as Prince of Wales was Regent from 1810 to 1820 during his father’s period of insanity. Known as the 'First Gentleman of Europe'. He had a love of art and architecture but his private life was a mess, to put it mildly! He had several mistresses and in 1785 had secretly married a Catholic widow Maria Fitzherbert in contravention of the Act of Settlement and the Royal Marriage Act. They had at least two illegitimate children. Unlike his father he was extravagant with money and became badly in debt. He loved the fine things in life and undertook rebuilding of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Architect John Nash and others created many fine buildings in London, Brighton, Bath and Cheltenham during the ‘Regency Period’. He was forced to deny his marriage with Mrs Fitzherbert and in return for paying off his debts officially marry Caroline of Brunswick whom he detested, so much so that when he became King George IV on the death of his father in 1820 he refused to let her attend his coronation. They had one child Princess Charlotte, but George refused to recognise Caroline as Queen and tried several times to annul his marriage to her. She died in 1821 claiming on her death bed that she had been poisoned. George IV paid a state visit to Ireland but initially refused to support Catholic emancipation until 1829 when encouraged by the Duke of Wellington the Catholic Relief Act was passed. He visited Scotland in 1822, the first monarch to do so since Charles II, and encouraged by Sir Walter Scott wore full Highland regalia leading to a revival of Scottish tartan dress that had been banned after the Jacobite Rebellions. His heavy drinking, indulgent lifestyle and taste for huge amounts of food made him obese, and he became an unpopular figure of ridicule when he appeared in public. He suffered from gout and towards the end of his life became mentally unstable. He died of a heart attack at Windsor Castle in 1830. George was considered a great wit, but was also a buffoon and his death was hailed with relief! His only legitimate daughter Charlotte had died in childbirth in 1817 and next eldest brother Frederick died in 1827 so he was succeeded by his younger brother William IV. WILLIAM IV 1830 - 1837 ********************** Name: King William IV Full Name: William Henry Born: August 21, 1765 at Buckingham Palace Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Relation to Elizabeth II: 3rd great-granduncle House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1830 aged 64 years Crowned: September 8, 1831 at Westminster Abbey Married: Adelaide, daughter of Duke of Saxe-Meinigen Children: Four none of whom survived infancy, plus several illegitimate by Dorothy Jordan Died: June 20, 1837 at Windsor Castle, aged 71 years, 9 months, and 28 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 6 years, 11 months, and 24 days Succeeded by: his niece Victoria Known as the 'Sailor King' (for 10 years the young Prince William, brother of George IV, served in the Royal Navy), he was the third son of George III and not expected to become king. He was sent off to join the Royal Navy at 13 years old, and saw service at the Battle of St Vincent against the Spanish in 1780 and in New York during the American War of Independence. A supposed plot approved by George Washington to kidnap him was leaked and did not come to fruition. He was later stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, and left active service in 1790 as a Rear Admiral. He was created Duke of Clarence and from 1791 set up home with Dorothea Bland, an Irish actress known as ‘Mrs Jordan’. They lived contentedly together for 20 years, and had 5 sons and 5 daughters given the surname Fitzclarence. By 1817 William was in debt but, with the death of Princess Charlotte only daughter of his elder brother, he had become heir to the throne. Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was found for him as a suitable Protestant wife and they married in 1818. The marriage was happy and they had two daughters who did not live and after several more miscarriages there were no children who survived infancy. His London residence Clarence House was designed for him by John Nash in 1825. William was 64 years old and the oldest person to date to succeed to the throne when he became King on the death of his brother George IV in 1830. He distrusted foreigners and was noted for his informality. He hated pomp and wanted to dispense with the Coronation. The people loved him because of his lack of pretension. He regularly invited his friends for dinner, and when told that his carriage was not ready to take him to Parliament he is reported to have said ‘Then I will go by hackney cab’. In 1834 when fire destroyed the Houses of Parliament at Westminster he offered Buckingham Palace to Parliament. They declined and Westminster was rebuilt by Charles Barry in the Gothic style. He took his responsibilities seriously but was more used from his naval career to giving and receiving orders than the intrigues of politics. The Reform Act which sought to remove inequalities in the Electoral system, including the removal of ‘rotten boroughs’ which returned a disproportionate representation to actual voters, had a stormy passage through Parliament. It was only passed in 1832 after street protests and Lord Grey and his cabinet threatened to resign unless the king supported them against opposition from the House of Lords. He sought to repair Anglo-American relations following the war during his father’s reign but, despite his experience in the West Indies, argued against Wilberforce who was campaigning to abolish the slave trade. The Abolition of Slavery Act was eventually passed in 1833. William died in 1837 aged 71 of heart failure. He had no legitimate children and was succeeded by his niece Victoria. VICTORIA 1837 - 1901 ******************** Name: Queen Victoria Full Name: Alexandrina Victoria Born: May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace Parents: Edward, Duke of Kent (son of George III) and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Relation to Elizabeth II: great-great-grandmother House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: June 20, 1837 aged 18 years Crowned: June 28, 1838 at Westminster Abbey Married: Albert, son of Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Children: Four sons including Edward VII, and five daughters Died: January 22, 1901 at Osborne, Isle of Wight, aged 81 years, 7 months, and 29 days Buried at: Frogmore Reigned for: 63 years, 7 months, and 2 days Succeeded by: her son Edward VII Named Alexandrina Victoria but known as Victoria, she was the only child of Edward Duke of Kent and Victoria Saxe-Coburg. The throne Victoria inherited was weak and unpopular. Her Hanovarian uncles had been treated with irreverence. Her father died when she was 1 year old and her domineering mother kept her away from her ‘wicked’ uncles Kings George and William. She had a sheltered upbringing, and came to the throne shortly after her 18th birthday in 1837 on the death of her uncle William IV who had no surviving legitimate children. She was at the time unmarried and not crowned until June 28, 1838. In February 1840 she married her cousin and love of her life Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Albert exerted tremendous influence over the Queen and until his death was virtual ruler of the country. He was a pillar of respectability and left two legacies to England, the Christmas Tree and the Great Exhibition of 1851. With the money from the Exhibition several institutions were developed, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, Imperial College and the Royal Albert Hall. The British Empire was at the height of its power and she ruled over 450 million people, one quarter of the world’s population and approximately one quarter of the work’s landmass. It stretched so far around the globe from Canada to the Caribbean, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand that it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire. India was Jewel in the Crown and in 1876 she was given the title Empress of India. The Victorian era was a time of immense industrial, political, trade, scientific and military progress for Great Britain. In her early years she was dependent on her Prime Minister Lord Melbourne and her uncle King Leopold of Belgium for advice, but increasingly her husband Albert became her main adviser. He was involved in organising the Great Exhibition in 1851, and persuaded her to take a more constitutional role in leaving the rule of the nation and Empire to Parliament. She was strong willed and her relations with her prime ministers ranged from the affectionate (Melbourne and Disraeli) to the stormy (Peel, Palmerston, and Gladstone). Victoria and Albert had four sons, five daughters and 42 grandchildren who were married to royalty across Europe making her the ‘grandmother of Europe’. Her daughter Victoria was mother of the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, and her grand-daughter Alexandria was the wife of Nicholas II Emperor and last Tzar of Russia. The death of Albert from typhoid in 1861 plunged Victoria into mourning and she withdrew almost completely from public life spending her time at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Osborne house on the Isle of Wight where she spent time with her favourite Scottish servant John Brown. This encouraged republican sentiments and she was the target of several assassination attempts. However she kept control of affairs, refusing her son Edward, Prince of Wales (who became Edward VII) any active role. Her golden jubilee in 1887 and diamond jubilee in 1897 regained her popular support and matriarchal role as Queen of the nation and Empire. She died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901, and was buried at Windsor. Her reign lasted 63 years and 7 months which is the longest of any British monarch to date and the longest of any female monarch in history. She had nine children, 42 grand-children and 37 great-grandchildren, scattered all over Europe. EDWARD VII 1901 - 1910 ********************** Name: King Edward VII Full Name: Albert Edward Born: November 9, 1841 at Buckingham Palace Parents: Queen Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Relation to Elizabeth II: great-grandfather House of: Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Ascended to the throne: January 22, 1901 aged 59 years Crowned: August 9, 1902 at Westminster Abbey Married: Alexandra, daughter of Christian of Denmark Children: Three sons including George V, and three daughters Died: May 6, 1910 at Buckingham Palace, aged 68 years, 5 months, and 24 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 9 years, 3 months, and 12 days Succeeded by: his son George V He was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and known to his family as ‘Bertie’. As Prince of Wales he did not meet his parent’s expectations of duty and during his mother’s long reign devoted himself to being self-indulgent. A much loved king, the opposite of his dour father. He was likeable, sociable and outgoing but became known as a playboy interested in horse racing, shooting, eating, drinking and other men’s wives. This Edwardian Age was one of elegance. Edward had all the social graces and many sporting interests, yachting and horse-racing - his horse Minoru won the Derby in 1909. In 1863 he married Alexandra of Denmark and the marriage was a reasonably happy producing 6 children. Alexandra tolerated his succession of mistresses who included Lille Langtry (actress), Lady Churchill (mother of Winston Churchill), Sarah Bernhardt (actress) and Alice Keppel (great-grandmother of Camilla wife of Charles the current Prince of Wales). Having mistresses was at the time not uncommon amongst the aristocracy, but his mother despaired of him and kept him away from taking an active part in politics even after Albert's death and she was elderly and retired to Balmoral and Osborne. In 1871 Edward survived a serious illness of typhoid which had killed his father. His eldest son Albert who was engaged to Mary of Teck died of pneumonia. Edward was well received abroad and as heir-apparent toured India in 1875. When he finally became King Edward VII on the death of his mother in 1901, he frequently made trips to Europe including France where he contributed to the Anglo-French ‘Entente Cordiale’ signed in 1904, to Russia and the Triple Entente between Britain, Russia and France which a few years later would play an important role in affairs on the outbreak of World War I. He supported reform of the army following the Boer War, and Admiral Fisher’s expansion of the Royal Navy including building the new Dreadnought battleships. The Edwardian period was seen as golden age for the upper class in Europe and America, but society was changing – socialism, women suffragettes, the Labour party and trade unions were becoming powerful and the founding of Britain’s Welfare State. ‘We are all socialists now’ he is reported to have remarked. In an increasing democratic society Edward saw the importance of displaying the mystique of pomp and circumstance of the monarchy, and seeing and being seen by the people. A role he and his successors took to well. He died of pneumonia at Buckingham Palace in 1910 and was succeeded by his second son George V. When Edward died in 1910 it is said that Queen Alexandra brought his current mistress Mrs. Keppel to his bedside to take her farewell. HOUSE OF WINDSOR Name changed in 1917 GEORGE V 1910 - 1936 ******************** Name: King George V Full Name: George Frederick Ernest Albert Born: June 3, 1865 at Marlborough House, London Parents: Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark Relation to Elizabeth II: grandfather House of: Windsor Ascended to the throne: May 6, 1910 aged 44 years Crowned: June 22, 1911 at Westminster Abbey Married: Mary, the daughter of the Duke of Teck Children: Five sons including Edward VIII and George VI, and one daughter Died: January 20, 1936 at Sandringham, Norfolk, aged 70 years, 7 months, and 16 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 25 years, 8 months, and 15 days Succeeded by: his son Edward VIII George V was the second son of Edward VII. His mother was Alexandra of Denmark, sister of Empress Marie of Russia. He had joined the Navy as a cadet in 1877 and loved the sea. He was a bluff, hearty man with a 'quarter-deck' manner. He served until 1892 when he became heir to the throne on the death of his elder brother Albert, Duke of Clarence, who died of pneumonia. George had not expected to be king, but when his elder brother died he became the heir-apparent. In 1893, he married Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (known as ‘May’ to her family) who had previously been engaged to his brother. They became Duke and Duchess of York and lived on the Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk. The marriage was a success and George unlike his father never took a mistress. They had 6 children Edward, Albert, Mary, Henry, George and John. The youngest Prince John suffered from epilepsy and died aged 13. He became King George V on the death of his father Edward VII in 1910, and Mary became Queen consort. They toured India in 1911 as Emperor and Empress of India. the First World War in 1914 - 1918 and the troubles in Ireland which lead to the creation of the Irish Free State were considerable problems. During World War I he made several visits to the front, and Mary visited wounded serviceman in hospital. She was staunch supporter of her husband during difficult times that included not only the war with Germany, but also the Russian revolution and murder of George’s cousin Princess Alix who was Tsarina Alexandra wife of Tsar Nicholas II, civil unrest including the General Strike in England, the rise of socialism, and Irish and Indian nationalism. George V has been criticised for not rescuing the Russian Royal family but at the time there was serious concern that it would incite a similar revolution in the UK. He sent a ship in 1922 to rescue the Greek Royal family including 1 year old Prince Philip now the Duke of Edinburgh. In 1917 with anti-German sentiment running high, he changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (popularly known as Brunswick or Hanover) to Windsor, and he relinquished all German titles and family connections. George V enjoyed stamp collecting and although considered dull by biographers he became by his Silver Jubilee in 1935 a much loved King. In 1932 he started the tradition of the Royal Christmas broadcast which has continued ever since. His relationship deteriorated with this eldest son Edward (later Edward VIII) when he failed to settle down and had affairs with married women, but he was fond of his second son Albert (“Bertie” later George VI) and his granddaughter Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) whom he called ‘Lilibet’. She called him ‘Grandpa England’. His latter years were overshadowed by his concern about the Prince of Wales and his infatuation with Mrs. Simpson. He died of pleurisy in January 1936. EDWARD VIII June 1936 - abdicated December 1936 *********************************************** Name: King Edward VIII Full Name: Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Born: June 23, 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond, Surrey Parents: George V and Mary of Teck Relation to Elizabeth II: uncle House of: Windsor Ascended to the throne: Jan 20, 1936 aged 41 years Crowned: Uncrowned Married: Ms Wallis Simpson Children: None Died: May 28, 1972 at Paris, aged 77 years, 11 months, and 3 days Buried at: Frogmore Reigned for: 10 months, and 21 days, Abdicated: December 11, 1936 Succeeded by: his brother George VI Eldest son of King George V he was a popular Prince of Wales seen as a handsome young modernising influence on royal institutions. He served in the Army during World War I but was forbidden to go to the front line. He was known as David to his family, but his relationship with his parents deteriorated as he became a celebrity playboy who failed to settle down and had several affairs with married women. He became King Edward VIII in January 1936 on the death of his father George V. In November 1936 a constitutional crisis arose when Edward wished to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson; Edward was the most popular Prince of Wales England has ever had. Consequently when he renounced the throne to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson the country found it almost impossible to believe. The people as a whole knew nothing about Mrs. Simpson until early in December 1936. Mrs. Simpson was an American, a divorcee and had two husbands still living. This was unacceptable to the Church as Edward had stated that he wanted her to be crowned with him at the Coronation which was to take place the following May. Edward abdicated in favour of his brother and took the title, Duke of Windsor. It was felt that, as she had already divorced her first husband and at the time Edward and Wallis had met she was still married to her second husband, she was pursuing the King because of his wealth and position and would be unacceptable as queen. On 11 December Edward abdicated and left for France, where the couple were married in 1937. He was succeeded by his brother Albert as George VI. Edward and Wallis became The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, but were ostracised by his family who felt he had let them down and not done his duty. His views of appeasement on the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy and meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1937 led him to be given the role during World War II of Governor of the Bahamas out of the way of the war effort amid concerns of German plots to kidnap and use him. After the war they became mild celebrities in Europe and America but lived mostly in Paris where he died in 1972. They had no children. GEORGE VI 1936 - 1952 ********************* Name: King George VI Full Name: Albert Frederick Arthur George Born: December 14, 1895 at Sandringham, Norfolk Parents: George V and Mary of Teck Relation to Elizabeth II: father House of: Windsor Ascended to the throne: Dec 11, 1936 aged 40 years Crowned: May 12, 1937 at Westminster Abbey Married: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Children: Two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret Died: February 6, 1952 at Sandringham, Norfolk, aged 56 years, 1 month, and 22 days Buried at: Windsor Reigned for: 15 years, 1 month, and 25 days Succeeded by: his daughter Elizabeth II Second son of George V he was named Albert after his great grandfather Prince Albert. As The Duke of York he had never expected or wished to succeed to the throne. George was a shy and nervous man with a very bad stutter, the exact opposite of his brother the Duke of Windsor, but he had inherited the steady virtues of his father George V. He was very popular and well loved by the English people. He never lacked bravery or enterprise, and had a strong sense of Duty. He had fought as a young naval officer at the Battle of Jutland in World War I, and was the first member of the Royal Family to learn to fly. In 1923 he married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. They had two daughters Elizabeth, know as ‘Lilibet’ who later became Queen Elizabeth II, and Margaret Rose ‘Princess Margaret’. He became King George VI in December 1936 following the death of his father George V and the abdication of his brother. Fortified by the influence of his Queen, who swiftly acquired immense popularity in her own right, George VI coped with the aftermath of the abdication in a way that quickly restored confidence in the monarchy. When the horrors of World War II descended shortly after­wards on Britain in 1939, and on London in particular, the royal couple rose superbly to the occasion. Initially sceptical of Winston Churchill, the King and his Prime Minister soon developed a close personal working relationship and they met regularly to discuss the progress of the War. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stayed at what they and their subjects saw as their posts all through the Blitz, and showed love and care for their people in gestures that stilled the meanest critics. Throughout the King and Queen set an example of courage and fortitude. They remained at Buckingham Palace for the duration of the war in spite of the bombing. The Palace was bombed more than once. George was in close touch with the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill throughout the war and both had to be dissuaded from landing with the troops in Normandy on D-Day! Their daughters served in uniform, and the identification of the Royal Family with the national will was complete. The post-war years of his reign were ones of great social change and saw the start of the National Health Service. The whole country flocked to the Festival of Britain held in London in 1951, 100 years after the Great Exhibition during Victoria's reign. Following these changes Britain entered a time of economic austerity and the British Empire began to be replaced by the Commonwealth of Nations as former colonies including India became independent. The war effort had been crushing and the King’s health was permanently affected. He had been a heavy smoker and in 1951 had his left lung removed. He died suddenly in the winter of 1952. ELIZABETH II 1952 - ***************************** Name: Queen Elizabeth II Full Name: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Born: April 21, 1926 at 17, Bruton Street, London Parents: George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon House of: Windsor Ascended to the throne: February 6, 1952 aged 25 years Crowned: June 2, 1953 at Westminster Abbey Married: Philip Mountbatten Children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward