British Monarchy

The tumultuous sagas of the British Monarchy are deeply reflected in the country's history and an understanding of who's who will help on your visit to the many historic sites around Britain and the abbeys and cathedrals where the many Kings and Queens of Britain are buried.

Saxons & Danes

The Normans

The Plantagenets

The Houses of Lancaster & York

House of Tudor

House of Stuart

House of Hanover

House of Windsor

Saxons & Danes

Throughout the Dark Ages, England was ruled as separate kingdoms, until Alfred the Great , King of Wessex united them. However for a long period England passed from Anglo-Saxon and Danish rule, known as Danelaw.

The Saxon Kings:

Alfred the Great 871-899

Edward the Elder 899-924

Athelstan 924-939

Edmund I 939-946

Edred 946-955

Edwy 955-959

Edgar 959-975

Edward the Martyr 975-978

Ethelred II 978-1016

Edmund II 1016

The Danelaw:

Svein, King of Denmark 1013-1014

Canute I King of Denmark & Norway 1014-1035

Harold I 1035-1040

Canute II 1040-1042

Saxon Restoration:

Edward the Confessor 1042-1066

Harold II 1066

The Normans

When Harold was killed in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the victor William of Normandy took the throne and the Norman Conquest that followed brought about huge social change throughout England and Wales .

William I (the Conqueror) 1066-1087

William II 1087-1100

Henry I 1100-1135

Stephen 1135-1154

 

The Plantagenets

During the Plantagenet dynasty, another powerful Norman line, England's power and influence steadily grew. This was the era of the crusades, it was when King John signed the Magna Carta and when Edward I , known as Longshanks and Hammer of the Scots, built many great castles and brutally established English rule in Wales and Scotland .


Henry II 1154-1189

Richard I (the Lionheart) 1189-1199

John 1199-1216

Henry III 1216-1272

Edward I 1272-1307

Edward II 1307-1327

Edward III 1327-1377

Richard II 1377-1399

 

Houses of Lancaster & York

The civil war known as the War of the Roses was thought between these two Plantagenet households. Both held strong claims to the throne, which passed between them during this time. This period was also when Richard III allegedly murdered his young nephews, Edward V, the rightful heir and young Richard, in the Tower of London .

House of Lancaster:

Henry IV 1399-1413

Henry V 1413-1422

Henry VI 1422-1461 and 1470-1471

House of York:

Edward IV 1461-1470 and 1471-1483

Edward V, (uncrowned) 1483

Richard III 1483-1485

House of Tudor

Henry Tudor of Welsh descent, ended the War of the Roses by defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, establishing one of England's most tempestuous dynasties, noted for its religious strife and prominent monarchs, Henry VIII with his many wives, ‘Bloody' Mary I and Elizabeth I , the virgin Queen.

Henry VII (Tudor) 1485-1509

Henry VIII 1509-1547

Edward VI 1547-1553

Mary I 1553-1558

Elizabeth I 1558-1603

House of Stuart

When Elizabeth died without an heir the line passed to the royal Scottish house, the Stuart dynasty, which was to combine Scotland, England and Wales and later divide the nation in the Civil War under Charles I . After Charles was executed by Parliament, Oliver Cromwell established a Republic. This was abandoned and the monarchy was restored under Charles II , only to be sunk in crisis again under James II.

James I (James VI of Scotland) 1603-1625

Charles I 1625-1649

Charles II 1660-1685

James II (James VII of Scotland) 1685-1688

William III (of Orange) & Mary II (1689-1694)

William III of Orange 1694-1702

Anne 1702-1714

House of Hanover

Despite the Catholic descendants of James II laying claim to the British crown, George of Hanover, a German who spoke no English, but was the nearest Protestant claimant to the throne, was made king. The Hanoverian dynasty successfully established itself in which time Britain's territories were widened throughout the world. The Golden Age of the British Empire came under Queen Victoria , Britain's longest ruling monarch. Saxe-Coburg was the house of her husband Prince Albert, taken by her son and heir.

George I 1714-27

George II 1727-1760

George III 1760-1820

George IV (formerly Prince Regent) 1820-1830

William IV 1830-1837

Victoria 1837-1901

House of Saxe-Coburg:

Edward VII 1901-1910

House of Windsor

The name of Saxe-Coburg was changed to Windsor by George V in 1917, choosing a more English sounding name, when the nation was at war with the Germans. His successor Edward VIII abdicated the throne after less than a year, to marry American Ms. Wallis Simpson. The current monarch Queen Elizabeth II is his niece.

George V 1910-1936

Edward VIII 1936

George VI 1936-1952

Elizabeth II 1953 to present