81-661: The Pale of Calais was a territory in northern France ruled by the monarchs of England from 1347 to 1558. The area, which centred on Calais , was taken following the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the subsequent Siege of Calais , and was confirmed at the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, in the reign of Edward III of England . It became an important economic centre for England in Europe's textile trade centered in Flanders . The Pale, which
162-534: A coup d'etat had himself crowned instead of Matilda. The period which followed is known as The Anarchy , as parties supporting each side fought in open warfare both in Britain and on the continent for the better part of two decades. Matilda was declared heir presumptive by her father, Henry I, after the death of her brother on the White Ship , and acknowledged as such by the barons. Upon Henry I's death,
243-482: A descendant of Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp ). The House of York claimed the right to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp , but it inherited its name from Edward's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley , first Duke of York . The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. The Tudors descended in
324-595: A distraught Mary, lying on her death bed, graphically confided to her family her feelings: "When I am dead and opened, you shall find 'Calais' lying in my heart". Subsequently, the English wool market adjusted and the English textile trade moved to the Habsburg Netherlands . During English governance, the weavers of the Pale maintained their output, which industry was a distinctive mark of Flemish culture. At
405-420: A few different kings thought to have controlled enough Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to be deemed the first king of England. For example, Offa of Mercia and Egbert of Wessex are sometimes described as kings of England by popular writers, but it is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England. Historian Simon Keynes states, for example, that "Offa
486-539: A greater right to another than he himself has), and the throne was given to the male line heir, Philip, Count of Valois , a first cousin of the deceased king. At the time, Edward paid homage to Philip VI for his Duchy of Aquitaine . In 1337, however, Edward, in his capacity as Duke of Aquitaine, refused to pay homage to Philip. The French king's response was to confiscate what was left of lands in English-held Aquitaine, namely Gascony , thus precipitating
567-529: A monarch for more than a hundred years, since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones from his first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I . The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). In addition, many of the pre-Norman kings assumed extra titles, as follows: In
648-492: A month, "King Louis" controlled more than half of the country and enjoyed the support of two-thirds of the barons. However, he suffered military defeat at the hands of the English fleet. By signing the Treaty of Lambeth in September 1217, Louis gained 10,000 marks and agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England. "King Louis" remains one of the least known kings to have ruled over a substantial part of England. It
729-594: A need to. There had been no shortage of sons for more than three centuries from the inception of the House of Capet until the early 14th century, when new precedents concerning female inheritance finally had to be introduced. In 1314, Philip IV the Fair was succeeded by his son Louis X . However, Louis' death in 1316, immediately followed by the death of Louis' son John I the Posthumous , meant it had to be decided whether
810-549: A pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into effect the Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706. The acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate sovereign states , with separate legislatures but with the same monarch ) into the Kingdom of Great Britain . England, Scotland, and Ireland had shared
891-553: Is from the time of Henry III, after the loss of most of the family's continental possessions, that the Plantagenet kings became more English in nature. The Houses of Lancaster and York are cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet. This house descended from Edward III's third surviving son, John of Gaunt . Henry IV seized power from Richard II (and also displaced the next in line to the throne, Edmund Mortimer (then aged 7),
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#1732765927036972-650: Is that when Edward died, Ælfweard was declared king in Wessex and Æthelstan in Mercia. England came under the control of Sweyn Forkbeard , a Danish king , after an invasion in 1013, during which Æthelred abandoned the throne and went into exile in Normandy . Following the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Æthelred the Unready returned from exile and was again proclaimed king. His son succeeded him after being chosen king by
1053-789: The Calais constituency . During the reign of Mary I of England , the Pale was unexpectedly retaken by the French following a siege in 1558 during their campaigns against the Spaniards (whose king was also married to queen Mary) in the County of Flanders . Subsequently, the English textile trade abandoned Calais and moved to the Habsburg Netherlands . The pale is a "jurisdiction, area" (see 'pale' , English: Etymology 2.6. on Wiktionary). English "Cales" (now supplanted by French Calais ) derives from Caleti , an ancient Celtic people who lived along
1134-696: The House of Valois , a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty , was ultimately victorious and retained control of France, except for Calais (which England later lost in 1558 ) and the Channel Islands (which had also historically formed part of the Duchy of Normandy ). Following the Hundred Years War , English and British monarchs continued to call themselves kings of France, and used the French fleur-de-lis as their coat of arms, quartering
1215-548: The Hundred Years' War and Edward's revival of his claim to the throne and title of King of France in 1340. The decision to assume the title of "King of France" was made at the solicitation of his Flemish allies, who had signed a treaty that they would no longer attack the French king. They said that if Edward took the French royal title, then the Flemish would be able to keep their honour, since they would not be attacking
1296-561: The Isle of Thanet , off the north Kent coast, on 21 May 1216, and marched more or less unopposed to London, where the streets were lined with cheering crowds. At a grand ceremony in St. Paul's Cathedral, on 2 June 1216, in the presence of numerous English clergy and nobles, the Mayor of London and Alexander II of Scotland, Prince Louis was proclaimed King Louis of England (though not crowned). In less than
1377-613: The Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great , who initially ruled Wessex , one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886, and while he was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English , his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex . Arguments are made for
1458-530: The Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland to a new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . George III chose this opportunity to drop his claim to the now defunct French throne, whereupon the fleurs-de-lis , part of the coat of arms of all claimant Kings of France since the time of Edward III, was also removed from the British royal arms. Britain recognised the French Republic by
1539-642: The Norman conquest of England . After the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, William the Conqueror made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London . Following the death of Harold Godwinson at Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot elected as king Edgar Ætheling , the son of Edward the Exile and grandson of Edmund Ironside. The young monarch was unable to resist
1620-401: The Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Angliae ("King of England"). The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum ("Lady of the English"). From the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Angliae . In 1604 James I , who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted
1701-455: The Strait of Dover afforded convenient garrison and supply by sea. However, the lack of natural inland defences necessitated the construction and maintenance of military fortifications, at some expense. A critical factor in the stability of English government there over the centuries was the rivalry of France and Burgundy , both of which coveted the strategic position of the city; each left it to
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#17327659270361782-581: The Treaty of Amiens of 1802. Although the fleurs-de-lys were completely removed from the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom , they were later included in the arms of Canada , a British dominion , where they symbolise the heritage of the French Canadians , rather than the former British claim to the French throne. While the position of King of France was restored between 1814 and 1848, subsequent British monarchs did not pursue
1863-477: The "true King of France" (Edward III). Edward continued to use this title until the Treaty of Brétigny on 8 May 1360, when he abandoned his claims in return for substantial lands in France. After the resumption of hostilities between the English and the French in 1369, Edward resumed his claim and the title of King of France. His successors also used the title until the Treaty of Troyes on 21 May 1420, in which
1944-735: The English rather than to concede it to each other. Eventually, political strategies shifted at the division of Burgundian territory in the Low Countries between France and Spain and, when Henry VIII suffered setbacks in the Sieges of Boulogne , the approach to Calais opened to the south. Then in 1550, the Crown, in a crisis of royal succession, withdrew from Boulogne . The Pale of Calais remained part of England until unexpectedly lost by Mary I to France in 1558. After secret preparations, 30,000 French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise , took
2025-487: The English recognised Charles VI as King of France, but with his new son-in-law King Henry V of England as his heir (disinheriting Charles VI's son, the Dauphin Charles ). Henry V then adopted the title Heir of France instead. Henry V and Charles VI died within two months of each other in 1422, and Henry V's infant son (Charles VI's grandson) Henry VI became King of France. He was the only English king who
2106-563: The English was Calais which they held until 1558 and the Channel Islands . Following a year-long episode of catatonia on the part of Henry VI of England in 1453 and the subsequent outbreak of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), the English were no longer in any position to pursue their claim to the French throne and lost all their land on the continent, except for Calais . Calais was ruled by eight more English monarchs, who claimed to also rule France, until 8 January 1558: Ill feeling between
2187-501: The French port of Le Havre in 1561. French forces ejected the English in 1563, and the Treaty of Troyes (1564) , recognised French ownership of Calais, in return for payment to England of 120,000 crowns. Elizabeth died childless. Her successor was her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots ' son James VI of Scotland . The thrones of England and Scotland were joined in a dynastic union until 1707. The seven monarchs of this period continued to use
2268-600: The French to take the islands (culminating with the Battle of Jersey in 1781), have remained under continuous English and British sovereignty, with the exception of a period of German occupation during the Second World War. The change was not acknowledged by Jacobite claimants . The Jacobite pretenders were the deposed James II of England and his successors, continuing to style themselves "Kings of England, Scotland, France and Ireland" past their deposition in 1689. All four pretenders continued to actively claim
2349-555: The French were continually retaking small pieces of the territory, particularly land in the southwest. The Pale of Calais is roughly within the modern French communes of Andres , Ardres , Balinghem , Bonningues-lès-Calais , Calais , Campagne-lès-Guines , Coquelles , Coulogne , Fréthun , Guemps , Guînes , Les Attaques , Hames-Boucres , Hervelinghen , Marck , Nielles-lès-Calais , Nouvelle-Église , Offekerque , Oye-Plage , Peuplingues , Pihen-lès-Guînes , Sangatte , Saint-Pierre , Saint-Tricat , and Vieille-Église . Calais
2430-729: The House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed. By the late 15th century, the Tudors were the last hope for the Lancaster supporters. Edmund Tudor's son became king as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, winning the Wars of the Roses. King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV, thereby uniting the Lancastrian and York lineages. (See family tree .) Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir in his will, overruling
2511-527: The House of Plantagenet, which was the name given to the dynasty after the loss of most of their continental possessions, while cadet branches of this line became known as the House of Lancaster and the House of York during the War of the Roses . The Angevins formulated England's royal coat of arms , which usually showed other kingdoms held or claimed by them or their successors, although without representation of Ireland for quite some time. Dieu et mon droit
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2592-643: The Royal House of Lancaster . John Beaufort's granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort was married to Edmund Tudor . Tudor was the son of Welsh courtier Owain Tudur (anglicised to Owen Tudor ) and Catherine of Valois , the widow of the Lancastrian King Henry V . Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI . When
2673-635: The Treaty of Bretigny in 1360, the Channel Islands, Aquitaine, and other English possessions in France ceased to be under the suzerainty of the Kings of France. In the remaining years of the Hundred Years' War, France reconquered all the English territories on the French mainland except Calais, which was finally taken in 1558. However, the Channel Islands, despite a few unsuccessful attempts by
2754-454: The Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor , the eldest daughter of Henry VII and wife of James IV of Scotland . In 1604, he adopted the title King of Great Britain . However, the two parliaments remained separate until the Acts of Union 1707 . No monarch reigned after the 1649 execution of Charles I . Between 1649 and 1653, there was no single English head of state , as England
2835-543: The arms of England in positions of secondary honour. This continued until 1802 when Britain recognised the French Republic and therefore the abolition of the French monarchy. The Jacobite claimants , however, did not explicitly relinquish the claim. The title was first assumed in 1340 by Edward III of England , the Kingdom of England being ruled by the Plantagenet dynasty at the time. Edward III claimed
2916-580: The citizens of London and a part of the Witan , despite ongoing Danish efforts to wrest the crown from the West Saxons . Following the decisive Battle of Assandun on 18 October 1016, King Edmund signed a treaty with Cnut (Canute) under which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Cnut. Upon Edmund's death just over a month later on 30 November, Cnut ruled the whole kingdom as its sole king for nineteen years. After Harthacnut , there
2997-462: The city , which quickly capitulated under the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559). In England, blame was attached to the Queen, entrenching Protestant resolve against her. Although the loss of the Pale of Calais was a lesser blow to the English economy than was feared, the retreat of English power was a permanent blot to her reign. Indeed, the chronicler Raphael Holinshead records that a few months later
3078-581: The claim to the French throne, whether of the Kingdom of France or of the French Empire . The Channel Islands , originally part of the Duchy of Normandy, have been held by the Kings of England since the Norman Conquest. By the Treaty of Paris of 1259, the Kings of England ceased to be Dukes of Normandy but continued to hold the Channel Islands "as peer of France and Duke of Aquitaine". By
3159-510: The coast of the English Channel . The area of the Pale of Calais is difficult to delineate because boundaries frequently changed and often included ill-defined marsh and waterways. Over those wetlands, the territory was roughly divided in low hills on the west and the lower coastlands to the east. The Pale roughly encompassed the land between Gravelines and Wissant , which was about 20 square miles (52 km). Throughout its history,
3240-565: The death of Edward the Confessor ), Harald Hardrada (King of Norway who claimed to be the rightful heir of Harthacnut) and Duke William II of Normandy (vassal to the King of France, and first cousin once-removed of Edward the Confessor). Harald and William both invaded separately in 1066. Godwinson successfully repelled the invasion by Hardrada, but ultimately lost the throne of England in
3321-631: The dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Its king, Alfred the Great, was overlord of western Mercia and used the title King of the Angles and Saxons , but he never ruled eastern and northern England, which was then known as the Danelaw , having earlier been conquered by the Danes from southern Scandinavia. His son Edward the Elder conquered the eastern Danelaw, but Edward's son Æthelstan became the first king to rule
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3402-431: The female line from John Beaufort , one of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III), by Gaunt's long-term mistress Katherine Swynford . Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort's birth). In view of
3483-545: The first to call himself "King of England". In the Norman period "King of the English" remained standard, with occasional use of "King of England" or Rex Anglie . From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of "King" or "Queen of England". The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301 King Edward I invested his eldest son,
3564-517: The future King Edward II , as Prince of Wales . Since that time, the eldest sons of all English monarchs, except for King Edward III , have borne this title. After the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, her cousin King James VI of Scotland inherited the English crown as James I of England, joining the crowns of England and Scotland in personal union . By royal proclamation, James styled himself "King of Great Britain", but no such kingdom
3645-935: The invaders and was never crowned. William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day 1066, in Westminster Abbey , and is today known as William the Conqueror, William the Bastard or William I. Henry I left no legitimate male heirs, his son William Adelin having died in the White Ship disaster of 1120. This ended the direct Norman line of kings in England. Henry named his eldest daughter, Matilda (Countess of Anjou by her second marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , as well as widow of her first husband, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor ), as his heir. Before naming Matilda as heir, he had been in negotiations to name his nephew Stephen of Blois as his heir. When Henry died, Stephen travelled to England, and in
3726-549: The joining of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to a new Kingdom of Great Britain . The Kingdom had four Monarchs until 1801. They also styled themselves Queen/King of France; however, none of them made any official move to depose Louis XIV and his successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI , or the First French Republic that followed them: During the French Revolution , the monarchy
3807-412: The kings and queens of England and Ireland (and, later, of Great Britain ) also claimed the throne of France . The claim dates from Edward III , who claimed the French throne in 1340 as the sororal nephew of the last direct Capetian , Charles IV . Edward and his heirs fought the Hundred Years' War to enforce this claim, and were briefly successful in the 1420s under Henry V and Henry VI , but
3888-471: The marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year. Parliament did the same in an Act in 1397. A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son, King Henry IV , also recognised the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to inherit the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other descendants,
3969-535: The order of succession laid down by Parliament in the Third Succession Act . Four days after his death on 6 July 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen—the first of three Tudor women to be proclaimed queen regnant. Nine days after the proclamation, on 19 July, the Privy Council switched allegiance and proclaimed Edward VI's Catholic half-sister Mary queen. Jane was later executed for treason. Under
4050-619: The same time, the Pale performed as an integral part of England in election of its members to Parliament, and as English citizens the Pale sent and received people to and from various parts of the British Isles. The hardships endured during the prolonged siege of 1346–1347 are the subject of Auguste Rodin 's poignant sculpture of 1889, The Burghers of Calais . 50°56′53″N 1°51′23″E / 50.94806°N 1.85639°E / 50.94806; 1.85639 Monarchs of England This list of kings and reigning queens of
4131-414: The signing of the Treaty of Wallingford , in which Stephen recognised Henry , son of Matilda and her second husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , as the designated heir. The royal house descended from Matilda and Geoffrey is widely known by two names, the House of Anjou (after Geoffrey's title as Count of Anjou) or the House of Plantagenet , after his sobriquet . Some historians prefer to group
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#17327659270364212-569: The style King/Queen of France, though their claim was merely nominal. None of them was willing to engage in military campaigns for France against the actual Kings of France Henry IV , Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France . Indeed, Charles I married a sister of Louis XIII , and his son Charles II spent much of his exile during the Interregnum in France (at which time, even if not formally abandoning his claim for its throne, he certainly did not emphasise it). The Act of Union 1707 declared
4293-532: The subsequent kings into two groups, before and after the loss of the bulk of their French possessions, although they are not different royal houses. The Angevins (from the French term meaning "from Anjou") ruled over the Angevin Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland. They did not regard England as their primary home until most of their continental domains were lost by King John . The direct, eldest male line from Henry II includes monarchs commonly grouped together as
4374-440: The succession. Although it had come to be accepted that a woman could not possess the French throne in her own right, Edward III, the nephew of the deceased king and thus the nearest adult male relative, based his claim on the theory that a woman could transmit a right of inheritance to her son. This claim was rejected by French jurists under the principle Nemo plus juris ad alium transfere potest quam ipse habet (no one can transfer
4455-399: The talks collapsed. In the Commons' discussion of the negotiations, Sir John Sinclair called the demand "frivolous" and "hardly worth contending for"; William Pitt the Younger called the title "a harmless feather, at most, in the crown of England"; French Laurence called it an "ancient dignity" the ceding of which would lose honour and bring disgrace. In 1800, the Act of Union joined
4536-417: The terms of the marriage treaty between Philip I of Naples (later Philip II of Spain from 15 January 1556) and Queen Mary I, Philip was to enjoy Mary's titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including Acts of Parliament , were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. An Act of Parliament gave him
4617-417: The throne (as was the custom in France, but not in England). The Pope and the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 23, during his father's lifetime, and so never became king in his own right. The House of Plantagenet takes its name from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , husband of Empress Matilda and father of Henry II. The name Plantagenet itself
4698-452: The throne of France after the death of his uncle Charles IV of France . At the time of Charles IV's death in 1328, Edward was his nearest male relative through Edward's mother Isabella of France . Since the election of Hugh Capet in 987, the French crown had always passed based on male-line relations (father to son until 1316). There was no precedent for someone succeeding to the French throne based on his maternal ancestry, nor had there been
4779-400: The throne of France". This was later said to have been based on the 5th century Salic law , but it is now known that the Salic law was only rediscovered later and used by the lawyers of the Valois kings to fortify their masters' title with an additional aura of authenticity. Claimants to the French throne in 1328: At the time of Charles's death in 1328, there was once again a dispute over
4860-433: The throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois . During the ensuing Anarchy , Matilda controlled England for a few months in 1141. She was the first woman to do so, but was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England. Count Eustace IV of Boulogne (c. 1130 – 17 August 1153) was appointed co-king of England by his father, King Stephen , on 6 April 1152, in order to guarantee his succession to
4941-428: The throne, all Catholics (such as James II's son and grandson, James Francis Edward and Charles respectively) were barred from the throne by the Act of Settlement 1701 , enacted by Anne , another of James's Protestant daughters. With the Acts of Union 1707 , England as a sovereign state ceased to exist, replaced by the new Kingdom of Great Britain ; see List of British monarchs . The Acts of Union 1707 were
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#17327659270365022-476: The throne. The Monarchy was restored under the rule of Charles II . James II was ousted by Parliament less than four years after ascending to the throne, beginning the century's second interregnum. To settle the question of who should replace the deposed monarch, a Convention Parliament elected James' daughter Mary II and her husband (also his nephew) William III co-regents , in the Glorious Revolution . While James and his descendants continued to claim
5103-425: The title Lord Protector . It was within the power of the Lord Protector to choose his heir and Oliver Cromwell chose his eldest son, Richard Cromwell, to succeed him. Richard Cromwell was forcibly removed by the English Committee of Safety in May 1659. England again lacked any single head of state. After almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was formally restored when Charles II returned from France to accept
5184-400: The title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain . The English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707 under Queen Anne (who was Queen of Great Britain rather than king). English claims to the French throne From the year 1340 to 1802, excluding two brief intervals in the 1360s and the 1420s,
5265-406: The title King of France as well as that of King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 until 1807: James II for the last twelve years of his life and his son, the Old Pretender, until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, were actually pensioners of Louis XIV at the very time they were claiming his title. The Jacobite succession has continued since 1807 but none of the eight subsequent holders of
5346-409: The title of king and stated that he "shall aid her Highness ... in the happy administration of her Grace's realms and dominions" (although elsewhere the Act stated that Mary was to be "sole queen"). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife. Elizabeth's cousin, King James VI of Scotland , succeeded to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns . James was descended from
5427-448: The two nations continued well into the 16th century. Calais was captured by French troops under Francis, Duke of Guise on 7 January 1558. Mary and Philip continued, however, to be styled Queen and King of France for the rest of her reign, as did Mary I's half-sister and successor Elizabeth I , despite her abandonment of her claims to Calais in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis of 1559. Elizabeth I revived England's claims to Calais and took
5508-400: The whole of England when he conquered Northumbria in 927, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king of England. The title "King of the English" or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928. The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was "King of the English". In 1016 Cnut the Great , a Dane, was
5589-446: The young daughter of Louis X, Joan , or Louis' brother, Philip , would now succeed to the throne. Philip arranged for his coronation, and became Philip V of France . He was challenged by the supporters of the Princess Joan , who disputed Philip's right to the throne. In response, Philip V convened an assembly of prelates, barons, and burgesses at Paris, who acknowledged him as their lawful king, and declared that "Women do not succeed to
5670-412: Was a Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066. After King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings , the Witan elected Edgar Ætheling as king, but by then the Normans controlled the country and Edgar never ruled. He submitted to King William the Conqueror. In 1066, several rival claimants to the English throne emerged. Among them were Harold Godwinson (recognised as king by the Witenagemot after
5751-432: Was a prize of war won in the Battle of Crécy of 1346 by Edward III of England after a long siege . Its capture gave England not only a key stronghold in the world’s textile trade centred in Flanders, but provided a strategic, defensible military outpost for England to regroup in future wars on the continent; the city's position on the English Channel could be reinforced over the short distance by sea. English sovereignty
5832-531: Was abolished on 21 September 1792, replaced with the French Republic . In the War of the First Coalition British–French negotiations were held in Lille from July to November 1797. The French demanded that the English monarch drop the title; James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury , was prepared to omit it from the king's signature to the envisaged peace treaty but had not conceded further by the time
5913-486: Was actually created until 1707, when England and Scotland united during the reign of Queen Anne to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain , with a single British parliament sitting at Westminster . This marked the end of the Kingdom of England as a sovereign state. There is some evidence that Ælfweard of Wessex may have been king in 924, between his father Edward the Elder and his half brother Æthelstan, although he
5994-509: Was confirmed under the Treaty of Brétigny , signed on 8 May 1360, when Edward renounced the throne of France in return for substantial lands, namely Aquitaine and the territory around Calais. By 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War , the Pale was the last part of mainland France in English hands. It served successfully as a base for English expeditions such as the Siege of Boulogne , launched by Henry VII in 1492. The short trip across
6075-491: Was de facto King of France, rather than using the style as a mere title of pretense. By 1429 Charles VII , with the support of Joan of Arc , had been crowned at Reims and begun to push the English out of northern France. In 1435, an end to the French civil war between Burgundians and Armagnacs allowed Charles to return to Paris the following year, and by 1453 the English had been driven out of their last strongholds in Normandy and Guyenne . The only French territory left to
6156-447: Was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy." This refers to a period in the late 8th century when Offa achieved a dominance over many of the kingdoms of southern England, but this did not survive his death in 796. Likewise, in 829 Egbert of Wessex conquered Mercia , but he soon lost control of it. It was not until the late 9th century that one kingdom, Wessex, had become
6237-515: Was first used as a battle cry by Richard I in 1198 at the Battle of Gisors , when he defeated the forces of Philip II of France . It has generally been used as the motto of English monarchs since being adopted by Edward III . The future Louis VIII of France briefly won two-thirds of England over to his side from May 1216 to September 1217 at the conclusion of the First Barons' War against King John . The then-Prince Louis landed on
6318-477: Was historically part of Flanders , also provided England with a permanent strategic, defensible outpost from which it could plan and launch military action on the continent. Its position on the English Channel meant it could be reinforced, garrisoned and supplied over the Straits of Dover . The territory was bilingual with English and Flemish commonly spoken. It was represented in the Parliament of England by
6399-474: Was not crowned. A 12th-century list of kings gives him a reign length of four weeks, though one manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says he died only 16 days after his father. However, the fact that he ruled is not accepted by all historians. Also, it is unclear whether—if Ælfweard was declared king—it was over the whole kingdom or of Wessex only. One interpretation of the ambiguous evidence
6480-664: Was ruled directly by the Rump Parliament with the English Council of State acting as executive power during a period known as the Commonwealth of England . After a coup d'etat in 1653, Oliver Cromwell forcibly took control of England from Parliament. He dissolved the Rump Parliament at the head of a military force and England entered The Protectorate period, under Cromwell's direct control with
6561-611: Was unknown as a family name per se until Richard of York adopted it as his family name in the 15th century. It has since been retroactively applied to English monarchs from Henry II onward. It is common among modern historians to refer to Henry II and his sons as the "Angevins" due to their vast continental empire, and most of the Angevin kings before John spent more time in their continental possessions than in England. King Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with
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