132-638: This list of kings and reigning queens of 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
264-559: A Celtic kingdom in what is now southwest Scotland and Cumbria. In doing so, he annexed what is now the county of Cumbria to England. In 1124, Henry I ceded what is now southeast Scotland (called Lothian ) to the Kingdom of Scotland , in return for the King of Scotland's loyalty. This final cession established what would become the traditional borders of England which have remained largely unchanged since then (except for occasional and temporary changes). This area of land had previously been
396-632: A Council of the North was set up for the northern counties of England. After falling into disuse, it was re-established in 1537 and abolished in 1641. A very short-lived Council of the West also existed for the West Country between 1537 and 1540. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the geld or property tax was first levied in response to Danish invasions but later became a regular tax. The majority of
528-534: 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,
660-506: A peerage on such basis, meaning a right to sit in the House of Lords , were not to be revived, nor any right of succession based on them. The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England . It assumed the lands held by the Princes of Gwynedd under the title " Prince of Wales " as legally part of the lands of England, and established shire counties on
792-557: A German army in 974. Sweyn built an alliance with Swedish king Olof Skötkonung and Eirik Hákonarson , Jarl of Lade , against Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason . The Kings' sagas ascribe the causes of the alliance to Olaf Tryggvason's ill-fated marriage proposal to Sigrid the Haughty and his problematic marriage to Thyri , sister of Sweyn Forkbeard. According to the sagas, Sigrid pushed Sweyn into war with Olaf because Olaf had slapped her. The allies attacked and defeated king Olaf in
924-595: A backlash against Christianity which undid much of Olaf Tryggvason 's missionary work. Sweyn apparently recruited priests and bishops from England, in preference to the Archbishopric of Bremen . In part, this reflected the fact that there were numerous Christian priests of Danish origin in the Danelaw , while Sweyn had few personal connections to Germany. Sweyn's preference for the English church may also have had
1056-688: A combined 26-year period (1016–1042). After Harthacnut's death, the English throne reverted to the House of Wessex under Æthelred's younger son Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–1066). Sweyn's daughter, Estrid Svendsdatter , was the mother of King Sweyn II of Denmark . Her descendants continue to reign in Denmark to this day. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg and the Encomium Emmae report Cnut's mother as having been Świętosława ,
1188-674: A daughter of Mieszko I of Poland . Norse sources of the High Middle Ages , most prominently Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson , also give a Polish princess as Cnut's mother, whom they call Gunhild and a daughter of Burislav , the king of Vindland . Since in the Norse sagas the king of Vindland is always Burislav, this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko (not his son Bolesław ). Adam of Bremen in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
1320-482: 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
1452-543: A local noble or bishop. The last such, the County Palatine of Durham , did not lose this special status until the 19th century. Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman Conquest, some counties were formed considerably later, up to the 16th century. Because of their differing origins the counties varied considerably in size . The county boundaries were fairly static between
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#17327764432391584-449: A major European war. A Treaty of Union was agreed on 22 July 1706, and following the Acts of Union of 1707 , which created the Kingdom of Great Britain , the independence of the kingdoms of England and Scotland came to an end on 1 May 1707. The Acts of Union created a customs union and monetary union and provided that any "laws and statutes" that were "contrary to or inconsistent with
1716-529: 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
1848-542: 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
1980-536: A new invasion. The ensuing war ended with an agreement in 1016 between Canute and Æþelræd's successor, Edmund Ironside , to divide England between them, but Edmund's death on 30 November of that year left England united under Danish rule. This continued for 26 years until the death of Harthacnut in June 1042. He was the son of Canute and Emma of Normandy (the widow of Æthelred the Unready) and had no heirs of his own; he
2112-494: 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
2244-679: A part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria . Lothian contained what later became the Scottish capital, Edinburgh . This arrangement was later finalized in 1237 by the Treaty of York . The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the Kingdom of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanctioned by
2376-666: A political motive, because German bishops were an integral part of the state. It has been suggested that Sweyn was seeking to pre-empt any diminution of his independence by German leaders. This may have been a reason for Adam of Bremen's apparent hostility in his accounts of Sweyn; by accentuating English ecclesiastical influence in his kingdom, Sweyn was effectively spurning the Archbishop of Bremen. The " Chronicle of John of Wallingford " (c. 1225–1250) records Sweyn's involvement in raids against England during 1002–1005, 1006–1007 and 1009–1012. According to Ashley (1998), Sweyn's invasion
2508-530: A rebellious pagan who persecuted Christians, betrayed his father and expelled German bishops from Scania and Zealand . According to Adam, Sweyn was sent into exile by his father's German friends and deposed in favour of king Eric the Victorious of Sweden, whom Adam wrote ruled Denmark until his death in 994 or 995. Sørensen (2001) argues that Adam's depiction of Sweyn may be overly negative, as seen through an "unsympathetic and intolerant eye". Adam's account
2640-409: A series of civil wars over possession of the throne between the House of Lancaster (whose heraldic symbol was the red rose) and the House of York (whose symbol was the white rose), each led by different branches of the descendants of Edward III. The end of these wars found the throne held by the descendant of an initially illegitimate member of the House of Lancaster, married to the eldest daughter of
2772-448: A unified England. Historian Simon Keynes states, for example, that "Offa 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
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#17327764432392904-676: A unitary legislative chamber with a new body, the Council of State becoming the executive. However the Army remained the dominant institution in the new republic and the most prominent general was Oliver Cromwell . The Commonwealth fought wars in Ireland and Scotland which were subdued and placed under Commonwealth military occupation. Meanwhile, relations with the Dutch Republic had deteriorated. Despite initial English support during
3036-501: 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),
3168-649: 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
3300-488: Is thus not seen as entirely reliable; the claimed 14 years' exile of Sweyn to Scotland does not seem to agree with Sweyn's building churches in Denmark throughout the same period, including the churches in Lund and Roskilde . According to Adam, Sweyn was punished by God for leading the uprising which led to king Harald's death, and had to spend fourteen years abroad (i.e. 986–1000). The historicity of this exile, or its duration,
3432-577: Is uncertain. Adam writes that Sweyn was shunned by all those with whom he sought refuge, but was finally allowed to live for a while in Scotland. Adam also suggests that Sweyn in his youth lived among heathens, and only achieved success as a ruler after accepting Christianity. Harald Bluetooth had already established a foothold in Norway, controlling Viken in c. 970 . He may have lost control over his Norwegian claims following his defeat against
3564-400: Is unique in equating Cnut's mother (for whom he also produced no name) with the former queen of Sweden , wife of Eric the Victorious and by this marriage mother of Olof Skötkonung . To complicate the matter, Heimskringla and other sagas also have Sweyn marrying Eric's widow, but she is distinctly another person in these texts, named Sigrid the Haughty , whom Sweyn married only after Gunhild,
3696-540: Is unknown. Some theorise that he was killed, whereas other sources say he died after falling off a horse. His embalmed body was returned to Denmark for burial in the church he had built. Tradition locates this church in Roskilde , but it is more plausible that it was actually located in Lund in Scania (now part of Sweden). Sweyn's elder son, Harald II , succeeded him as King of Denmark, while his younger son, Cnut ,
3828-512: The Encomium Emmae Reginae , an 11th-century Latin encomium in honour of his son king Cnut's queen Emma of Normandy , along with Chronicon ex chronicis by Florence of Worcester , another 11th-century author. According to Adam of Bremen , Sweyn was the son of Harald Bluetooth and a woman named "Gunhild". When Harald converted to Christianity, Sweyn was baptised "Otto" (in honour of German king Otto I ). Sweyn married
3960-671: The 1801 union between the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The counties of England were established for administration by the Normans , in most cases based on earlier shires established by
4092-564: The Angevin kings became "more English in nature"; the houses of Lancaster and York are both Plantagenet cadet branches, the Tudor dynasty claimed descent from Edward III via John Beaufort and James VI and I of the House of Stuart claimed descent from Henry VII via Margaret Tudor . The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown. Edward III (reigned 1327–1377) transformed
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4224-734: The Angles . They called their land Engla land , meaning "land of the English", by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia , from an original Anglia vetus , the purported homeland of the Angles (called Angulus by Bede ). The name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period ( Engle-land , Engelond ). The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra , the Old French and Anglo-Norman one Engleterre . The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John
4356-426: The Anglo-Saxons . They ceased to be used for administration only with the creation of the administrative counties in 1889. Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originally sheriffs and later
4488-590: The Bretwalda . Soon after the Norman Conquest of England , however, some Norman lords began to attack Wales. They conquered and ruled parts of it, acknowledging the overlordship of the Norman kings of England but with considerable local independence. Over many years these " Marcher Lords " conquered more and more of Wales, against considerable resistance led by various Welsh princes, who also often acknowledged
4620-729: The Elizabethan Religious Settlement , meanwhile establishing England as a great power and laying the foundations of the British Empire via colonization of the Americas . The accession of James VI and I in 1603 resulted in the Union of the Crowns , with the Stuart dynasty ruling the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland . Under the Stuarts, England plunged into civil war , which culminated in
4752-658: The English Civil War (1641–45), in which the king was defeated, and to the abolition of the monarchy under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum of 1649–1660. After the trial and execution of Charles I in January 1649, the Rump Parliament passed an act declaring England to be a Commonwealth on 19 May 1649. The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, and so the House of Commons became
4884-580: The Humber 's mouth, and so upward along the Trent till he came to Gainsborough . Earl Uchtred and all Northumbria quickly bowed to him, as did all the people of the Kingdom of Lindsey , then the people of the Five Boroughs . He was given hostages from each shire . When he understood that all the people had submitted to him, he bade that his force should be provisioned and horsed; he went south with
5016-561: 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
5148-626: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 ). Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and henceforth was represented in the Parliament of England . During the 1530s, Henry VIII overthrew the power of the Catholic Church within the kingdom, replacing the pope as head of his own English Church and seizing the Catholic Church's lands, thereby facilitating the creation of a variation of Catholicism that became more Protestant over time. This had
5280-694: 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
5412-401: 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
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5544-413: The Parliament of Ireland , with the aim of restoring such central authority as had been lost throughout the country during the previous two centuries. Calais , the last remaining continental possession of the Kingdom, was lost in 1558, during the reign of Philip and Mary I . Their successor, Elizabeth I , consolidated the new and increasingly Protestant Church of England . She also began to build up
5676-658: The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301 King Edward I invested his eldest son, 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
5808-567: The execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament. This concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its successor state the United Kingdom, functioned in effect as a constitutional monarchy . On 1 May 1707, under
5940-402: The lord-lieutenants – and their subordinate justices of the peace . Counties were used initially for the administration of justice , collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. Some outlying counties were from time to time accorded palatine status with some military and central government functions vested in
6072-531: The 16th century Laws in Wales acts and the Local Government Act 1888 . Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through assize courts . The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the statute of Quia Emptores . Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete (but not extinct) on
6204-523: The Anglo-Saxons , until his death in 899. During the course of the early tenth century, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united by Alfred's descendants Edward the Elder (reigned 899–924) and Æthelstan (reigned 924–939) to form the Kingdom of the English. In 927, Æthelstan conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York , making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. In 1016,
6336-470: The Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more." Alfred's restoration entailed reoccupying and refurbishing the nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames , and laying a new city street plan. During the following years Northumbria repeatedly changed hands between the English kings and the Norwegian invaders, but was definitively brought under English control by Eadred in 954, completing
6468-425: The Castilian Pero Niño . Though the English won numerous victories, they were unable to overcome the numerical superiority of the French and their strategic use of gunpowder weapons. England was defeated at the Battle of Formigny in 1450 and finally at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, retaining only a single town in France, Calais . During the Hundred Years' War an English identity began to develop in place of
6600-401: The Danes gained permission to sell their spoils of war in Normandy. Sweyn campaigned in Wessex and East Anglia in 1003–1004, but a famine forced him to return to Denmark in 1005. Further raids took place in 1006–1007, and in 1009–1012 Thorkell the Tall led a Viking invasion into England. Simon Keynes regards it as uncertain whether Sweyn supported these invasions, but "whatever the case, he
6732-459: The Dutch Republic in its wars against Louis XIV of France. In the Scottish case, the attractions were partly financial and partly to do with removing English trade sanctions put in place through the Alien Act 1705 . The English were more anxious about the royal succession. The death of William III in 1702 had led to the accession of his sister-in-law Anne to the thrones of England and Scotland, but her only surviving child had died in 1700, and
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#17327764432396864-414: The Dutch War of Independence against the Spanish, tensions arose as the Dutch Republic emerged as England's principal commercial and naval rival. By the mid-17th century, it had become the foremost trading nation. In response the English, alarmed by their waning competitiveness, implemented stricter trading policies to curb Dutch dominance. The First Anglo-Dutch War which followed, however, failed to resolve
6996-454: The English Act of Settlement 1701 had given the succession to the English crown to the Protestant House of Hanover . Securing the same succession in Scotland became the primary object of English strategic thinking towards Scotland. By 1704, the Union of the Crowns was in crisis, with the Scottish Act of Security allowing for the Scottish Parliament to choose a different monarch, which could in turn lead to an independent foreign policy during
7128-478: The English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general. The English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda , a high king over the other kings. The decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful, absorbing the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825. The kings of Wessex increasingly dominated
7260-404: The English model over those areas. The Marcher Lords were progressively tied to the English kings by the grants of lands and lordships in England. The Council of Wales and the Marches , administered from Ludlow Castle , was initially established by Edward IV of England to govern the lands held under the Principality of Wales in 1472. At the same time the Council of Wales was created in 1472,
7392-454: The Grandees in the Army, through the Council of State imposed a new constitutional arrangement under a written constitution called the Instrument of Government . Under the Instrument of Government executive power lay with a Lord Protector (an office to be held for the life of the incumbent) and there were to be triennial Parliaments, with each sitting for at least five months. Article 23 of the Instrument of Government stated that Oliver Cromwell
7524-508: 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
7656-479: 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
7788-406: The House of York: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York . Wales retained a separate legal and administrative system, which had been established by Edward I in the late 13th century. The country was divided between the Marcher Lords , who gave feudal allegiance to the crown, and the Principality of Wales . Under the Tudor monarchy, Henry VIII replaced the laws of Wales with those of England (under
7920-466: The Kingdom of England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties: Norman/Angevin 1066–1216, Plantagenet 1216–1485, Tudor 1485–1603 and Stuart 1603–1707 (interrupted by the Interregnum of 1649–1660). All English monarchs after 1066 ultimately descend from the Normans , and the distinction of the Plantagenets is conventional—beginning with Henry II (reigned 1154–1189) as from that time,
8052-471: The Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe; his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular the evolution of the English Parliament . From the 1340s, English claims to the French throne were held in pretense, but after the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their French claims and lost all their land on
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#17327764432398184-399: The Kingdom of Scotland. Despite the Union of the Crowns , the kingdoms remained separate and independent states: a state of affairs which lasted for more than a century. The Stuart kings overestimated the power of the English monarchy, and were cast down by Parliament in 1645 and 1688. In the first instance, Charles I 's introduction of new forms of taxation in defiance of Parliament led to
8316-420: The Normans continued collecting the geld regularly. They also introduced new sources of revenue based on concepts of feudalism . The king was entitled to collect a feudal aid when his eldest son was knighted, his eldest daughter married, or if the king needed to pay his own ransom. The heir to a fief was also required to pay the king a feudal relief before he could take possession of his inheritance. The king
8448-424: The Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066) when the news reached him. He decided to set out without delay and confront the Norman army in Sussex so marched southwards at once, despite the army not being properly rested following the battle with the Norwegians. The armies of Harold and William faced each other at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), in which the English army, or Fyrd ,
8580-495: The Papal bull Laudabiliter . At the time, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King claiming lordship over most of the other kings. The Duchy of Aquitaine came into personal union with the Kingdom of England upon the accession of Henry II , who had married Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine . The Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy remained in personal union until John Lackland , Henry II's son and fourth-generation descendant of William I, lost
8712-456: 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
8844-414: The Slavic princess who bore Cnut, had died. Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyn's wives (or wife) have been advanced (see Sigrid the Haughty and Gunhild ). But since Adam is the only source to equate the identity of Cnut's and Olof Skötkonung's mother, this is often seen as an error on Adam's part, and it is often assumed that Sweyn had two wives, the first being Cnut's mother, and
8976-411: The Swedish part consisted of Oppland and a part of Trondheim). He gave these to his son in law, Jarl Svein Hákonarson , to hold as a vassal. The rest of Norway was ruled by Eirik Hákonarson as King Svein's vassal. The Jarls Eirik and Svein proved strong, competent rulers, and their reign was prosperous. Most sources say that they adopted Christianity but allowed the people religious freedom, leading to
9108-637: The Tall , a Viking leader who had defected to Æthelred, personally held their ground against him in London itself. Sweyn then went west to Bath , where the western thanes submitted to him and gave hostages. The Londoners then followed suit, fearing Sweyn's revenge if they resisted any longer. King Æthelred sent his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy, and himself spent Christmas on the Isle of Wight , and then followed them into exile. Based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire , Sweyn began to organise his vast new kingdom, but he died there on 3 February 1014, having ruled England for only five weeks. Sweyn's cause of death
9240-403: 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
9372-512: The abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War , as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away knight-service and other legal rights. Tenure by knight-service was abolished and discharged and the lands covered by such tenures, including once-feudal baronies, were henceforth held by socage ( i.e. , in exchange for monetary rents). The English Fitzwalter Case in 1670 ruled that barony by tenure had been discontinued for many years and any claims to
9504-611: The allegiance of Eric , Earl of Lade , Sweyn ruled most of Norway . In 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of the English after a long effort. Historiographical sources on Sweyn's life include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (where his name is rendered as Swegen ), Adam of Bremen 's 11th-century Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg , and Snorri Sturluson 's 13th-century Heimskringla . Conflicting accounts of Sweyn's later life also appear in
9636-578: 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
9768-521: The commercial issues. In April 1653 Cromwell and the other Grandees of the New Model Army , frustrated with the members of the Rump Parliament who would not pass legislation to dissolve the Rump and to allow a new more representative parliament to be elected, stopped the Rump's session and declared the Rump dissolved. After an experiment with a Nominated Assembly ( Barebone's Parliament ),
9900-718: The continent, except for Calais . After the turmoils of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty ruled during the English Renaissance and again extended English monarchical power beyond England proper, achieving the full union of England and the Principality of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 . Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation , and his daughter Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603)
10032-672: The continental possessions of the Duchy to Philip II of France in 1204 and decisively after the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. A few remnants of Normandy , including the Channel Islands , remained in John's possession, together with most of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Up until the Norman Conquest of England, Wales had remained for the most part independent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , although some Welsh kings did sometimes acknowledge
10164-457: 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
10296-678: The disastrous Raid on the Medway and forced the humiliated Charles in to an unfavourable peace treaty . The treaty eliminated a number of long-standing issues, and in the long-term made it possible for the two countries to unite against the expansionist policies pursued by Louis XIV of France . In the short-term however, Charles' desire to avenge this setback led to the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672. Despite attaining French support this time, Dutch naval successes made Parliament unwilling to support Charles' war effort any further, and he
10428-464: The eastern Danelaw, but Edward's son Æthelstan became the first king to rule 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
10560-499: The effect of aligning England with Scotland, which also gradually adopted a Protestant religion, whereas the most important continental powers, France and Spain, remained Roman Catholic. The "Tudor conquest" (or reconquest ) of Ireland' took place under the Tudor dynasty. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas , the Earl of Kildare , in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland in 1542 by statute of
10692-431: 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
10824-935: 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
10956-474: The king's income derived from the royal demesne and the annual " farm " from each shire (the fixed sum paid by sheriffs for the privilege of administering and profiting from royal lands). Kings also made income from judicial fines and regulation of trade. People owed the king service in the form of the trinoda necessitas — fyrd service, burh building, and bridge building. After the Conquest of 1066,
11088-531: The kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great , a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway . The Norman Conquest in 1066 led to the transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster , and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre. Histories of
11220-559: The kingdom's naval strength, on the foundations Henry VIII had laid down. By 1588, her new navy was strong enough to defeat the Spanish Armada , which had sought to invade England to halt English support for the Dutch rebels and to put a Catholic monarch on the throne in her place. The House of Tudor ended with the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603. James I ascended the throne of England and brought it into personal union with
11352-475: The main part of the invasion force, while some of the invasion force, as well as the hostages, were with his son Cnut. After he came over Watling Street , they went to Oxford , and the town-dwellers soon bowed to him, and gave hostages. From there they went to Winchester , and the people did the same, then eastward to London . But the Londoners put up a strong resistance, because King Æthelred and Thorkell
11484-468: 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,
11616-492: The number of hides they owned. After the Norman Conquest, the king's household troops remained central to any royal army. The Anglo-Saxon fyrd also remained in use. But the Normans also introduced a new feudal element to the English military. The king's tenants-in-chief (his feudal barons ) were obligated to provide mounted knights for service in the royal army or to garrison royal castles . The total number of knights owed
11748-535: 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
11880-528: The other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore , briefly making Egbert the first king to reign over a united England. In 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "all of the English people ( all Angelcyn ) not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred." Asser added that "Alfred, king of
12012-404: The overlordship of the Norman kings of England. Edward I defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , and so effectively conquered Wales, in 1282. He created the title Prince of Wales for his heir, the future Edward II , in 1301. Edward I's conquest was brutal and the subsequent repression considerable, as the magnificent Welsh castles such as Conwy , Harlech , and Caernarfon attest. Edward III
12144-460: The previous division between the Norman lords and their Anglo-Saxon subjects. This was a consequence of sustained hostility to the increasingly nationalist French, whose kings and other leaders (notably the charismatic Joan of Arc ) used a developing sense of French identity to help draw people to their cause. The kingdom had little time to recover before entering the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487),
12276-461: The previous year, adopted the title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain . The Kingdom of England emerged from the gradual unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy : East Anglia , Mercia , Northumbria , Kent , Essex , Sussex , and Wessex . The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between
12408-414: 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
12540-704: 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
12672-510: The terms of the Acts of Union 1707 , the parliaments, and therefore Kingdoms, of both England and Scotland were mutually abolished. Their assets and estates united 'for ever, into the Kingdom by the name of Great Britain', forming the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Parliament of Great Britain . The Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn , originally names of
12804-417: 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
12936-602: The terms" of the Acts would "cease and become void". The English and Scottish Parliaments were merged into the Parliament of Great Britain , located in Westminster , London. At this point England ceased to exist as a separate political entity, and since then has had no national government . The laws of England were unaffected, with the legal jurisdiction continuing to be that of England and Wales , while Scotland continued to have its own laws and law courts. This continued after
13068-577: 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
13200-432: 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
13332-476: 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
13464-476: 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
13596-605: 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
13728-417: 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). Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early tenth century, when it
13860-455: 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
13992-521: The unification of England. At about this time, Lothian , a portion of the northern half of Northumbria ( Bernicia ), was ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland . On 12 July 927 the monarchs of Britain gathered at Eamont in Cumbria to recognise Æthelstan as king of the English. 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
14124-589: The western Baltic Sea when he was sailing home from an expedition, in the Battle of Svolder , fought in September 999 or 1000. The victors divided Norway among them. According to the account of the Heimskringla , Sweyn regained direct control of Viken district . King Olaf of Sweden received four districts in Trondheim as well as Møre , Romsdal and Rånrike (the Fagrskinna , by contrast, says that
14256-414: The whole of England, the House of Wessex . Arguments are made for 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
14388-534: The widow of Erik, king of Sweden , named "Gunhild" in some sources, or identified as an unnamed sister of Boleslaus, ruler of Poland . Historian Ian Howard describes Sweyn as "a competent military commander, politician and diplomat" who made "a formidable and successful king." In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987. Adam of Bremen depicted Sweyn as
14520-401: Was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). Cnut , a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". During the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Anglie ("King of England"). From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie . In 1604 James I , who had inherited the English throne
14652-467: Was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1013/14. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark , King Cnut the Great , and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter . In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father, Harald Bluetooth , and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987. In 1000, with
14784-490: Was "King of the English". England has remained in political unity ever since. During the reign of Æthelred the Unready (978–1016), a new wave of Danish invasions was orchestrated by Sweyn I of Denmark , culminating after a quarter-century of warfare in the Danish conquest of England in 1013. But Sweyn died on 2 February 1014, and Æþelræd was restored to the throne. In 1015, Sweyn's son Cnut (commonly known as Canute) launched
14916-415: Was "King of the English". In 1016 Cnut the Great , a Dane, was 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
15048-471: 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
15180-431: 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
15312-585: Was again forced to make peace. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, an attempt by James II to reintroduce Roman Catholicism—a century after its suppression by the Tudors—led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which he was exiled by the Dutch prince William of Orange . William and his wife Mary were subsequently crowned by Parliament. William reoriented England's foreign policy to support
15444-402: Was also entitled to his vassals military service, but vassals could pay scutage instead. In the Anglo-Saxon period, England had no standing army. The king and magnates retained professional household troops ( see housecarl ), and all free men were obligated to perform military service in the fyrd . In addition, holders of bookland were obligated to provide a certain number of men based on
15576-600: Was called the servitium debitum (Latin: "service owed"), and historian Richard Huscroft estimates this number was around 5,000. In reality, the servitium debitum was greater than any king would actually need in wartime. Its main purpose was for assessing how much scutage the king was owed. Scutage was used to pay for mercenaries , which were an important part of any Norman army. Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( Old Norse : Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg [ˈswɛinː ˈhɑrˌɑldsˌson ˈtjuːɣoˌskeɡː] ; Danish : Svend Tveskæg ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014)
15708-563: Was defeated, Harold and his two brothers were slain, and William emerged as victor. William was then able to conquer England with little further opposition. He was not, however, planning to absorb the Kingdom into the Duchy of Normandy . As a mere duke, William owed allegiance to Philip I of France , whereas in the independent Kingdom of England he could rule without interference. He was crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey , London. In 1092, William II led an invasion of Strathclyde ,
15840-512: 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
15972-473: 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
16104-464: Was not until the late 9th century that one kingdom, Wessex, had become 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
16236-482: Was partly motivated by the St. Brice's Day Massacre in November 1002, where Danes in England were massacred under orders from Æthelred the Unready , in which Sweyn's sister and brother-in-law are said to have been killed, but Lund (2001) argues that the main motivation for the raids was more likely the prospect of revenue. At the outset of the invasions, Sweyn negotiated an agreement with Duke Richard II of Normandy whereby
16368-646: Was proclaimed King of England by the people of the Danelaw. However, the English nobility sent for Æthelred, who upon his return from exile in Normandy in early 1014 managed to drive Cnut out of England. Cnut soon returned and became king of all England in 1016, following the deaths of Æthelred and his son Edmund Ironside ; he succeeded his brother as King of Denmark in 1019 and eventually also ruled Norway, parts of Sweden, Pomerania and Schleswig . Cnut and his sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut , ruled England over
16500-452: Was quick to exploit the disruption caused by the activities of Thorkell's army". Sweyn acquired massive sums of Danegeld through the raids. In 1013, he is reported to have personally led his forces in a full-scale invasion of England. The medieval Peterborough Chronicle (part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ) states: before the month of August came king Sweyn with his fleet to Sandwich . He went very quickly about East Anglia into
16632-589: Was recalled and there was a second period where the executive power lay with the Council of state. But this restoration of Commonwealth rule, similar to that before the Protectorate, proved to be unstable, and the exiled claimant, Charles II , was restored to the throne in 1660. In 1665 the unresolved commercial issues with the Dutch led to the Second Anglo-Dutch War , which culminated in
16764-600: 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
16896-606: Was succeeded by his half-brother, Æþelræd's son, Edward the Confessor . The peace lasted until the death of the childless Edward in January 1066. His brother-in-law was crowned King Harold , but his cousin William the Conqueror , Duke of Normandy, immediately claimed the throne for himself. William launched an invasion of England and landed in Sussex on 28 September 1066. Harold and his army were in York following their victory against
17028-532: Was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France . His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois . Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the war, often involving privateers such as John Hawley of Dartmouth or
17160-514: Was to be the first Lord Protector. The Instrument of Government was replaced by a second constitution (the Humble Petition and Advice ) under which the Lord Protector could nominate his successor. Cromwell nominated his son Richard who became Lord Protector on the death of Oliver on 3 September 1658. Richard proved to be ineffectual and was unable to maintain his rule. He resigned his title and retired into obscurity. The Rump Parliament
17292-565: Was unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , which would later become the United Kingdom . The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern periods. Beginning in the year 886 Alfred the Great reoccupied London from the Danish Vikings and after this event he declared himself King of
17424-555: 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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