#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Alfred the Great<fa>Ethelwulf<b>849<ac>871<d>899<c>England<info>Alfred was the king of Wessex, and overlord of England from 871 until his death. He defeated Danish invaders, and built the first English navy.
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Edward the Elder<fa>Alfred the Great<b>870<ac>899<d>925<c>England
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Athelstan<fa>Edward the Elder<b>895<ac>925<d>939<c>England
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Edmund I<fa>Edward the Elder<b>921<ac>939<d>946<c>England
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Edred<fa>Edward the Elder<b>923(2)<ac>946<d>955<c>England
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Edward the Confessor<fa>Ethelred II<b>1004 Jan (18)<ac>1042<d>1066 Jan 5<c>London
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Harold II<b>1020(2)<ac>1066 Jan 5<d>1066 Oct<c>London<info>Harold was a son of Godwin, earl of Wessex. He was the effective ruler from 1053 to 1066.
#p <nat>English<o>queen consort<n>Saint Margaret<b>1045(1)<d>1093 Nov 16<c>London<mov>1068(2)<c>Scotland<info>Margaret was a sister of Edgar Atheling. She married Malcolm III of Scotland in about 1070.
// Edgar Atheling and Saint Margaret were children of Edward the Exile, an English prince.
// House of Normandy
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>William I the Conqueror<sur>William I<b>1028 Jan (12)<ac>1066 Dec<d>1087<c>London
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>William II Rufus<sur>William II<fa>William I<b>1058(2)<ac>1087<d>1100<c>London
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Henry I Beauclerc<sur>Henry I<fa>William I<b>1068<ac>1100 Aug 5<d>1135 Dec 1<c>London<info>Henry was the third (or fourth?) son of William I. He succeeded his oldest brother, William II, who died under suspicious circumstances while hunting with Henry. Henry's older brother Robert I, duke of Normandy, invaded England in 1101 but was forced to recognise Henry as king. In 1106 Henry seized Normandy as well. He married the daughter of Malcolm Canmore, king of Scots, by Saint Margaret, who was a sister of Edgar the Atheling.
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Stephen of Blois<sur>Stephen<b>1097(3)<ac>1135 Dec 1<d>1154<c>London<info>nephew of Henry I
// House of Angevin
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Henry II Curtmantle<sur>Henry II<b>1133<ac>1154<d>1189<c>London<info>grandson of Henry I
#p <nat>English<o>king<n>Richard I Coeur de Lion<sur>Richard I<fa>Henry II<b>1157<ac>1189<d>1199<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Richard III<b>1452<ac>1483 Jun<d>1485<c>London<info>uncle of Edward V
// House of Tudor
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Henry VII<b>1457 Jan 28<ac>1485<d>1509 Apr 21<c>London<info>Henry VII was the son of Edmund Tudor, a Welsh noble, and Margaret Beaufort, a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III. He was exiled in France during the reign of Richard III. Henry gained the throne when he defeated and killed Richard in the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485. This ended the Wars of the Roses. His successor, Henry VIII, was his son by his wife Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV.
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Henry VIII<fa>Henry VII<b>1491<ac>1509 Apr 21<d>1547 Jan 28<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Edward VI<fa>Henry VIII<b>1537 Oct 1<ac>1547 Jan 28<d>1553 Jul 6<c>London<info>Edward VI, king of England, was the only son and successor of Henry VIII, born to Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour. In his will Henry had designated a council of 16 to rule the country during Edward's minority, but this arrangement did not last, and the young king's uncle, Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, assumed control as protector. In 1549, Somerset fell from power and John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, became regent.
#p <nat>British<o>queen<n>Lady Jane Grey<sur>Jane<b>1537 Oct<ac>1553 Jul 10<depo>1553 Jul 19<d>1554 Feb 12<c>London<info>Jane Grey was a great-granddaughter of Henry VII and a cousin of Edward VI. Shortly before his death, Edward was persuaded to name Jane his successor in preference to his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, who dominated the government, arranged Jane's marriage to his son Lord Guildford Dudley and proclaimed her accession in July 1553, but few supported this scheme, and Mary Tudor soon secured the throne as Mary I. Jane and Guildford were charged with treason and beheaded. Widely praised for her beauty and learning, Jane was not herself a conspirator but rather an innocent victim of a political plot.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>British<o>queen<n>Mary I<aka>Bloody Mary<fa>Henry VIII<b>1516<ac>1553 Jul 19<d>1558<c>London<info>Mary, half-sister of Edward VI, was a Roman Catholic.
#p <nat>British<o>queen<n>Elizabeth I<fa>Henry VIII<b>1533<ac>1558<d>1603<c>London<info>Elizabeth was half-sister of Mary I, and daughter of Anne Boleyn, who was Henry VIII's second wife. She was Protestant. She was imprisoned by Mary in 1554, who suspected her involvement in a Protestant plot. She was excommunicated by papal bull in 1570.
// House of Stuart
#p <nat>Scottish<o>queen<n>Mary Queen of Scots<sur>Mary Queen of Scots<aka>Mary Stuart<b>1542 Dec 8<ac>1542 Dec 14<depo>1567 Jul 24<d>1587 Feb 8<c>Scotland<mov>1548<c>France<dep>1561 Jul(1)<arr>1561 Aug 19<c>Scotland<mov>1568<c>England<info>Mary was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. Her parents were James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Six days after her birth her father died, and she became queen of Scotland. From her infancy, Scotland's rival pro-English and pro-French factions plotted to gain control of Mary. Her French mother was chosen as regent, however, and she sent Mary to France in 1548 where Mary lived as part of the French royal family. In April 1558 she married the dauphin, Francis; she secretly agreed to bequeath Scotland to France if she should die without a son. In July 1559, Francis succeeded his father, becoming King Francis II, and Mary became queen of France as well as of Scotland. Many Roman Catholics also recognized Mary Stuart as queen of England after Mary I died and the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeded her. Mary Stuart's claim to the English throne was based on the fact that she was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII (who was Elizabeth's father). To the Roman Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they viewed Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn as illegal. Mary's husband Francis II died in December 1560. Mary, 17 years old, was left in a difficult position. Unwilling to stay in France and live under the domination of her mother-in-law, Catherine de Medicis, she decided to return to Scotland. Arriving in 1561, she tried to placate the Protestants reformers and befriend Elizabeth. She married her first cousin Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, in 1565. Her marriage with Darnley soured, and she refused him the right to succeed if she died without issue. Alone and disappointed, Mary turned to her Italian secretary, David Riccio, for comfort and advice. On March 9, 1566, a group of Protestant lords, acting with the support of Darnley, murdered Riccio in Mary's presence at Holyrood Palace. Mary was six months pregnant at the time. In Edinburgh Castle, estranged from her husband and his allies, she gave birth to a son, James (later James I of England). By the end of 1566, Mary had befriended James Hepburn, earl of Bothwell, and was seeking a way to dissolve her marriage with Darnley. It seems unlikely, however, that Mary was aware of the actual plot to eliminate her husband. On February 10, 1567, Darnley was murdered; the circumstances of his death to this day remain a mystery. At the time, Bothwell was believed to be the chief instigator. Nevertheless, he was acquitted after a brief trial. In April, Mary went off with Bothwell (perhaps a victim of abduction). Early in May he obtained a divorce from his wife, and on May 15, 1567, he and Mary were wed according to the Protestant rite. These events alienated even some of Mary's closest supporters. The nobles, many of whom disliked Bothwell, banded together to face Mary and her new husband at Carberry. The queen was forced to surrender, and Bothwell fled. Mary was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle and was compelled to abdicate in favour of her son James. Mary escaped from the castle and immediately rallied a large force behind her. They engaged in battle at Langside on May 13, 1568, and were soundly beaten by the army led by the Protestant lords. Mary left Scotland and went to England to beg support from her cousin Elizabeth. Mary was imprisonned in England for nearly 19 years, never returning to Scotland. While she was in prison, plots by English Roman Catholics and foreign agents evolved around her, and there was concern for the safety of Elizabeth. The Babington plot, which called for the assassination of Elizabeth, was formed to trap Mary. Mary was found guilty of complicity and sentenced to be beheaded. Although reluctant to execute her cousin, Elizabeth gave the order that was carried out at Fotheringhay Castle on February 8, 1587. Mary was buried at Peterborough. After her son James ascended the English throne, had her interred in Westminster Abbey.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>James I<mo>Mary Queen of Scots<b>1566 Jun 19<ac>1603<d>1625<c>London<info>James I of England was also James VI of Scotland, from 1567 to 1625.
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Charles I<fa>James I<b>1600 Nov 19<ac>1625<d>1649 Jan 30<aka>Charles Stuart<c>London<info>Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, was the second son of James I. After his older brother died, Charles became prince of Wales in 1616 and became friends with his father's favourite, the first duke of Buckingham. James I believed that an alliance with Spain would assist his foreign policy, so Buckingham and Charles traveled to Madrid in 1623 hoping to arrange a marriage between Charles and the Spanish king's sister. She did not want a Protestant husband, however, and after his accession in 1625, Charles married Henrietta Maria, sister of Louis XIII of France. By then England was involved in a war with Spain, and Charles later declared war on France. Neither war succeeded, and when the king asked Parliament for money for the wars, Parliament tried to impeach Buckingham in 1626. Charles dissolved the body in 1626 but was forced to call it again in 1628. His need for money was now so urgent that he accepted the Petition of Right, a statement of parliamentary grievances. Soon after, Buckingham was assassinated by a Puritan fanatic. This event altered the course of Charles's life. The queen now won her husband's love, and in 1630 the future Charles II was born. Charles I blamed Buckingham's death on the attacks in Parliament. He decided to rule without a Parliament and did so for 11 years. When Charles tried to reform the Church of Scotland by imposing episcopacy, the Scottish Covenanters rebelled. To obtain funds to suppress the rebellion, the so-called Bishops' Wars, the king called the Short Parliament in England in 1640, only to find it determined to voice grievances. Charles promptly dissolved it, but his need for money forced him to call another, the so-called Long Parliament. Although Charles met some of its demands, notably by signing away the life of his lord lieutenant in Ireland, the earl of Strafford, the Parliament was resolved to transform England into a constitutional monarchy. Civil war ensued on August 22, 1642. He lost both the first and second civil wars. Finally defeated by the parliamentarians in 1648, he was tried for treason by a specially created court. He refused to enter a plea at his trial and was convicted. Charles declared on the scaffold that his duty had been to care for his subjects as a loving father, that he had been divinely chosen to govern, and that "a subject and sovereign" were "clear different things." He was beheaded on January 30, 1649.<ref>Grolier
// rule of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, 1653-1658
// rule of Richard Cromwell, his son, 1658-1659
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Charles II<fa>Charles I<b>1630 May 29<ac>1649<depo>1649<ac>1660<d>1685 Feb 6<c>London<mov>1649<c>France<mov>1650<c>Scotland<mov>1651<c>France<mov>1660<c>London<info>Charles II, king of England, Scotland and Ireland, was the oldest surviving son of Charles I. After the defeat and execution of his father in 1649, Charles was exiled to Holland and France, where he spent 11 years plotting to overthrow the republic established in England. In 1650 he decided to go to Scotland, where the prevailing party, the Covenanters, had not approved of his father's execution and agreed to recognize him as king of the Scots. In return he promised to uphold the Solemn League and Covenant, which virtually committed him to imposing Presbyterianism on England and Ireland, although he had no real intention of doing so. After the Covenanters had been defeated in battle by Oliver Cromwell, Charles led a Scottish army into England, where he was defeated at Worcester in 1651. He escaped to France and later, when the French allied themselves with the English republic, planned to invade England with Spanish troops. Nothing came of this, but after the death of Cromwell in 1658, many English people favoured restoring Charles to the throne. Accordingly, the Restoration took place in 1660. The new Parliament was overwhelmingly royalist. It restored Anglicanism as the established religion, imposing stiff penalties on Nonconformists by the so-called Clarendon Code (1661-65), and pressed Charles to make war on the Dutch. He did so in 1665 but was forced to agree to a humiliating peace in 1667. Charles then allied himself with France against the Dutch, but in the ensuing war (1672-74) the Dutch forced him to make a separate peace. By the Treaty of Dover in 1670, Louis XIV of France had secretly promised to pay subsidies to Charles, who in turn promised to convert England to Roman Catholicism, but these payments proved insufficient to sustain another war. Moreover, Charles's efforts to ease the restrictions on religious dissenters, including Roman Catholics, were firmly resisted by Parliament, which distrusted his pro-French stance. Anti-Catholic hysteria erupted in reaction to the spurious Popish Plot, concocted by Titus Oates, in 1678. Charles resisted efforts led by the first earl of Shaftesbury to exclude his Catholic brother, the future James II, from the succession. To do this he was finally compelled to dissolve Parliament in 1681, and he ruled thereafter without Parliament. Charles is known as the Merry Monarch, partly because of his numerous mistresses, who included Nell Gwynne, Louise de Keroualle, duchess of Portsmouth, and Barbara Villiers, duchess of Cleveland. He also openly enjoyed horse racing, gambling, and jovial company, and was very popular with the common people. However, although he was never subservient to the French, on whom he relied to protect him in the event of another civil war, his pocketing of bribes and blatant lying to get over difficulties with Parliament did not commend him to his political opponents or future historians. He was received into the Roman Catholic church just before his death.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>William IV<fa>George III<b>1765<ac>1830<d>1837 Jun 20<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>prince<n>Edward, duke of Kent<sur>Edward<b>1770(10)<d>1827(10)<fa>George III<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>queen<n>Victoria<b>1819 May 24<ac>1837 Jun 20<d>1901 Jan 22<fa>Edward, duke of Kent<c>London<info>Victoria was the only child of Edward, duke of Kent, and Princess Victoria, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Coburg. She was the niece of her predecessor, William IV. She married her first cousin, Prince Albert, in 1840, and they had nine children. Among her grandchildren were Emperor William II of Germany and Alexandra, consort of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in English history.
// House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
#p <nat>German<o>prince<n>Albert<b>1819 Aug 26<d>1861 Dec 14<c>Bavaria<dep>1840<arr>1840<c>London<info>Albert was the son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He married Queen Victoria in 1840, becoming the Prince Consort.
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Edward VII<mo>Victoria<fa>Albert<b>1841 Nov 9<ac>1901 Jan 22<d>1910 May 6<c>London<info>Edward VII was 59 years old when he succeeded his mother, Victoria. He married Alexandra of Denmark.
#p <nat>British<o>prince<n>Albert<b>1863(2)<d>1892<fa>Edward VII<c>London<info>Albert was the duke of Clarence. He was the older brother of George V.
#p <nat>British<o>princess<n>Louise<b>1867(1)<d>1931<fa>Edward VII<c>London<info>Louise was the Princess Royal.
#p <nat>British<o>princess<n>Maud<b>1869<d>1938<fa>Edward VII<c>London<info>Princess Maud was married in 1896 to King Haakon VII of Norway. Her son Olav became king of Norway.
// House of Windsor
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>George V<b>1865 Jun 3<fa>Edward VII<ac>1910 May 6<d>1936 Jan 20<c>London<info>George V pursued a naval career until his older brother's death in 1892 made him second in line to the throne of his grandmother, Victoria. In 1894 he married Princess Mary of Teck.
#p <nat>British<o>princess<n>Mary<b>1897<d>1965<fa>George V<c>London<info>Mary was the Princess Royal.
#p <nat>British<o>prince<n>Henry<b>1900<d>1974<fa>George V<c>London<info>Henry was the Duke of Glouster.
#p <nat>British<o>prince<n>George<b>1902<d>1945<fa>George V<c>London<info>George was the Duke of Kent. He married princess Marina of Greece in 1934. He was killed on active service in 1945.
#e <t>decree<c>England<n>House of Windsor created<au>George V<d>1917 Jul 17<c>London<info>created by Royal Proclamation
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>Edward VIII<b>1894 Jun 23<fa>George V<ac>1936 Jan 20<ab>1936 Dec 11<d>1972 May 28<c>London<mov>1937<c>France<mov>1939(1)<c>Bahamas<mov>1945(1)<c>France<info>Edward VIII announced his abdication in a radio address on December 11, 1936. On June 3, 1937, he married Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee.
#p <nat>British<o>king<n>George VI<b>1895 Dec 14<ac>1936 Dec 11<d>1952 Feb 6<fa>George V<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>queen consort<n>Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon<sur>Lady Elizabeth<aka>The Queen Mom<fem><b>1900 Aug 4<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>princess<n>Margaret<b>1930 Aug 21<fa>George VI<c>London
#p <nat>British<o>queen<n>Elizabeth II<b>1926 Apr 21<ac>1952 Feb 6<fa>George VI<mo>Lady Elizabeth<c>London<info>Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten on November 20, 1947.
#p <nat>British<o>prince<n>Philip Mountbatten<sur>Philip<b>1921<c>London<info>Philip is the Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II.
#p <nat>British<o>princess<n>Anne<b>1950 Aug 15<mo>Elizabeth II<fa>Philip<c>London<info>Anne is the Princess Royal. In 1992, she divorced her husband of 18 years, Capt. Mark Phillips, and married Timothy Laurence that year.
#p <nat>English<o>prince<n>Andrew<b>1960<mo>Elizabeth II<fa>Philip<c>London<info>Prince Andrew is the Duke of York. He married Sarah Ferguson in 1986, and separated from her in 1992.
