House of Mercia
According to some sources the first ruler to assume the title Rex Anglorum is said to have been
Offa in 774, who had been King of Mercia since 757, but this claim is based on charters
apparently forged in the 10th century.[2][3] However, on some of his coins Offa describes himself
as Of Rx A, believed to stand for Offa Rex Anglorum.[4] This probably had a different meaning at
the time from what it acquired later, i.e. king of the Angles, and not necessarily the Saxons.[4]
Several earlier kings are called rex anglorum or some variant in surviving sources: Aldfrith of
Northumbria by Aldhelm; Æthelred of Mercia in Felix's Vita sancti Guthlaci (Life of Saint
Guthlac); and Æthelbald of Mercia by Saint Boniface.[5] Regardless, Mercia's dominance did not
survive Offa's death, and he has been considered by historians as being driven for personal
power rather than nationhood.
Name
Portrait
Offa
+OFFA•REX+
774 – 796
Birth
Marriages
Death
c. 736[6]
Son of
Thingfrith
Cynethryth
five children
29 July 796
Aged about 60[6]
After the death of Offa, his son and heir, Ecgfrith, came to the throne. He died within four
months of his father, and as Offa had killed his leading dynastic rivals in order to ensure that his
son succeeded, the next king of Mercia was only distantly related to Offa, and power passed to
the House of Wessex.
House of Wessex
Main articles: House of Wessex and List of monarchs of Wessex
The continuous list traditionally starts with Egbert, King of Wessex from 802, who established
Wessex as the dominant power in southern England.[7] Alfred the Great and his son Edward the
Elder used the title "king of the Anglo-Saxons." After Æthelstan conquered Northumbria in 927,
he adopted the title rex Anglorum (King of the English).
Name
Portrait
Egbert
(Ecgberht)
802 – 839
[7]
Birth
Marriages
Death
Son of
Ealhmund of
Kent[7]
Unknown[8]
one son[8]
839
Osburh[8]
six children
Æthelwulf
(Æþelwulf)
839 – 858
Son of Egbert[8]
Judith of Flanders
1 October 856[8]
no children
858
Æthelbald
(Æþelbald)
858 – 860
Æthelberht
(Æþelberht)
21 December
860 – 865
Æthelred
(Æþelræd)
865 – 871
Alfred the Great
(Ælfræd)
24 April
871 – 899[10]
Edward the Elder
(Eadweard)
27 October
899 – 924[14]
Ælfweard[17]
July-August
924[18]
Æthelstan
(Æþelstan)
924 /
925 – 939[22]
Rex Anglorum from 927
c. 834[9]
Son of
Æthelwulf and
Osburh
Judith of Flanders
no children
20 December 860
Aged 26 or 27
c. 835
Son of
Æthelwulf and
Osburh
Unmarried
no children
865
Aged about 30
c. 837
Son of
Æthelwulf and
Osburh
Wulfthryth?
868
three children
23 April 871
Aged about 34
c. 849
Wantage
Ealhswith Winchester
26 October 899
Son of
868
Aged about 50[13]
Æthelwulf and
six children[12]
Osburh[11]
(1) Ecgwynn
893
two children
(2) Aelffaed
c.902
eight children
(3) Eadgifu of Kent
905
three children[16]
17 July 924
Farndon,
Cheshire
Aged about 50[14]
c. 901[19]
Son of Edward
the Elder and
Ælfflæd[19]
Unmarried?
No children
3 August 924[20]
Aged about 23
Buried at
Winchester[21]
895
Son of Edward
the Elder and
Ecgwynn
Unmarried[22]
27 October 939
Aged about 44[22]
c. 871–877
Son of Alfred
the Great and
Ealhswith[15]
Edmund the
Magnificent
(Eadmund)
28 October
939 – 946[23]
Eadred
(Eadred)
27 May
946 – 955[25]
Eadwig
(Eadwig)
24 November
955 – 959[27]
Edgar the Peaceful
(Eadgar)
2 October
959 – 975[29]
(1) Ælfgifu of
Shaftesbury
two children
(2) Æthelflæd of
Damerham
944
no children[24]
26 May 946
Pucklechurch
Aged about 25
(Murdered)[23]
c. 923
Son of Edward
the Elder and
Eadgifu of Kent
Unmarried
23 November
955
Frome
Aged about 32[26]
c. 940
Son of Edmund
the Magnificent
and Ælfgifu of
Shaftesbury[28]
Ælfgifu[27]
1 October 959
Aged about 19[27]
c. 943
Wessex
Son of Edmund
the Magnificent
and Ælfgifu of
Shaftesbury
(1) Æthelflæd
c.960
1 son
(2) Ælfthryth
c.964
2 sons
8 July 975
Winchester
Aged about 32[30]
c. 962
Son of Edgar
the Peaceful
and Æthelflæd
Unmarried
18 March 978
Corfe Castle
Aged about 16
(Assassinated)[31]
c. 968
Son of Edgar
the Peaceful
and Ælfthryth
(1) Ælfgifu of York
991
nine children
(2) Emma of
Normandy
1002
three children[33]
23 April 1016
London
Aged about 48[32]
c. 921
Son of Edward
the Elder and
Eadgifu of
Kent[23]
Edward the
Martyr
(Eadweard)
9 July
975 – 978[31]
Æthelred the
Unready
(Æþelræd Unræd)
19 March
978 – 1013 (first
reign)[32]
House of Denmark
Main article: Danish Kings of England
England came under the rule of Danish kings during and following the reign of Æthelred the
Unready.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
c. 960
(1) Gunhild of Wenden
Denmark
c. 990
3 February 1014
Son of Harald
seven children
Gainsborough
Bluetooth and (2) Sigrid the Haughty
Aged about 54
Gyrid
c. 1000
Olafsdottir
1 daughter
Sweyn Forkbeard
(Svend Tveskæg)
25 December[34]
1013 – 1014[35]
House of Wessex (restored, first time)
Following the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Æthelred the Unready returned from exile and was
again proclaimed king on 3 February 1014. His son succeeded him after being chosen king by
the citizens of London and a part of the Witan,[36] despite ongoing Danish efforts in wresting the
crown from the West Saxons.
Name
Portrait
Æthelred the
Unready
Birth
c. 968
Son of Edgar
the Peaceful
and Ælfthryth
(Æþelræd Unræd)
3 February
1014 – 1016 (second
reign)[32]
c. 993
Son of
Æthelred the
Unready and
Ælfgifu of
York[36]
Edmund Ironside
(Eadmund)
24 April –
30 November
1016[36]
Marriages
(1) Aelgifu
991
nine children
(2) Emma of
Normandy
1002
three children[33]
Edith of East Anglia
two children[37]
Death
23 April 1016
London
Aged about 48[32]
30 November
1016
Glastonbury
Aged about
23[36][37]
House of Denmark (restored)
Following the decisive Battle of Ashingdon on 18 October 1016, King Edmund signed a treaty
with Canute in which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Canute.[38] Upon
Edmund's death on 30 November, Canute ruled the whole kingdom as its sole king.
Name
Cnut
(Knútr)
30 November 1016
–
12 November
1035[39]
Portrait
Birth
c. 995
Son of Sweyn
Forkbeard and
Gunhilda of
Poland[39]
Marriages
(1) Aelfgifu of
Northampton
two children
(2) Emma of
Normandy
1017[39]
two children
Death
12 November
1035
Shaftesbury
Aged about 40[39]
Harold Harefoot
(Harald)
13 November 1035
–
17 March 1040[40]
Harthacnut
(Hardeknud)
17 March 1040 –
8 June 1042[42]
c. 1016/7
Son of Cnut
and Ælfgifu of
Northampton[40]
Ælfgifu?
1 son?[41]
17 March 1040
Oxford
Aged about 23 or
24[40]
1018
Son of Cnut
and Emma of
Normandy[43]
Unmarried
8 June 1042
Lambeth
Aged about 24[43]
House of Wessex (restored, second time)
After Harthacanute, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066. After the Battle
of Hastings, a decisive point in British history, William I of Normandy became king of England.
Name
Portrait
Edward the
Confessor
(Eadweard)
9 June
1042 – 1066
Harold
Godwinson
(Harold
Godwinesson)
6 January 14 October
1066
Birth
Marriages
c. 1003
Islip, Oxfordshire
Son of Æthelred Edith of Wessex
the Unready and 23 January 1045
Emma of
Normandy
Children
Death
5 January
1066
Westminster
None
Palace
Aged about
60
Godwine,
14 October
c. 1020
Edmund,
1066
Edith Swannesha
Son of Godwin,
Magnus,
Hastings
Earl of Wessex
Gunhild, Gytha Aged about
and Gytha
46
Ealdgyth
Thorkelsdóttir
(Died in
Harold, Ulf
c. 1064
battle)
Edgar the
Ætheling
(Eadgar
Æþeling)
15 October –
17
December
1066
Proclaimed,
but never
crowned[44]
c. 1053
Hungary
Son of Edward
the Exile and
Agatha
House of Normandy
Main article: Normans
Unmarried
None
c. 1125
Aged about
72[44]
In 1066 the Duke of Normandy, William I, a vassal to the King of France and cousin onceremoved of Edward the Confessor, invaded and conquered England in the Norman Conquest of
England, and made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London.
Following the death of King Harold II in the decisive Battle of Hastings on 14 October, the
Anglo-Saxon witan elected Edgar the Ætheling king in Harold's place, but Edgar was unable to
resist the invaders and was never crowned. William was crowned King of England on Christmas
Day 1066, and is today known as William the Conqueror, William the Bastard or William I.
It was only from the reign of William and his descendents that monarchs took regnal numbers in
the French fashion, though the earlier custom of distinguishing monarchs by nicknames did not
die out by consequence.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
William I
William the
Bastard
William the
Conqueror
(Guillaume
le Bâtard)
(Guillaume
le
Conquérant)
25
December
1066–
1087
William
II
William
Rufus
(Guillaume
le Roux)
26
September
1087–
1100
Henry I
Henry
Beauclerc
(Henri
Beauclerc)
5 August
1100–
1135
Matilda of
c.1028
Flanders
Falaise Castle Chapel Notre
son of Robert Dame of the
I, Duke of castle in Eu,
Normandy,
Normandy
and Herleva
1053
ten children
c.1060
Normandy
son of
William the
Conqueror
and Matilda
of Flanders
unmarried
(1) Edith
otherwise
September
Matilda of
1068
Scotland
Selby
Westminster
son of
Abbey
William the 11 November
Conqueror
1100
and Matilda four children
of Flanders (2) Adeliza of
Louvain
Windsor
Death
Claim
9 September
1087
Rouen
aged about
59 after
wounding
himself on Supposedly named heir
the saddle by Edward the Confessor
when his
in 1052
horse
(de facto right of
stumbled.
conquest)
Buried at
Saint Etienne
Abbey
(Abbaye aux
Hommes) of
Caen
2 August
1100
New Forest
aged about
40 when shot
by an arrow,
events still
unclear.
son of William I
(appointment)
1 December
1135
Castle of
Lyons-laForêt (SaintDenis-enson of William I;
Lyons)
(seizure of the crown)
aged 67
apparently
from eating a
surfeit of
lampreys.
Castle
29 January
1121
no children
Stephen
c.1096
Blois
son of
Stephen,
Count of
Blois, and
Adela of
Normandy
Stephen of
Blois
(Étienne de
Blois)
22
December
1135–
1154[45]
Buried at
Reading
Abbey
25 October
Matilda of
1154
Boulogne
Dover Castle grandson of William I
Westminster
aged about (appointment/usurpation)
1125
58 from
five children
dysentery
Disputed claimants
Empress 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. However, upon Henry I's
death, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois. The Anarchy followed, with
Matilda's being a de facto ruler for a few months in 1141, but she was never crowned and is
rarely listed as a monarch of England.
Name
Matilda
Empress
Matilda
(Mathilde
l'emperesse)
7 April 1141–
1 November
1141
Title disputed
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
(1) Henry V, Holy
Roman Emperor
Mainz
daughter
7 February 1102 6 January 1114
10 September
of
Sutton Courtenay
no children
1167
Henry I
daughter of Henry (2) Geoffrey V, Notre Dame du
(seizure
I and Edith of
Count of Anjou
Pré in Rouen
of the
Scotland[46]
Le Mans
aged 65
crown)
Cathedral
22 May 1128
three children
Prince Eustace (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 the throne (as was the
custom in France, but not in England). However, the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace
was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 22, during his father's lifetime, and so never
became king in his own right.[47]
House of Plantagenet
Main article: House of Plantagenet
Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of
Wallingford, where Stephen recognised Henry, son of Matilda, as the heir-apparent to the throne
in lieu of his own son.
Rather than ruling among the Normans, the Plantagenets ruled from Aquitaine — lands which
were acquired through Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, but did not regard England
as their primary home until after most of their French possessions were lost by King John. This
long-lived dynasty is usually divided into three houses: the Angevins, the House of Lancaster
and the House of York.
The Plantagenets 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.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Henry II
Henry
Curtmantle
(Henri Courtmanteau)
19
December
1154–1189
Henry the
Young
King
(Henri le
Jeune Roy)
(co-ruler
with his
father)
14 June
1170–1183
Richard I
Richard the
Lionheart
(Richard Cœur
de Lion)
3 September
1189–1199
5 March 1133
Le Mans
son of Geoffrey
V of Anjou and
Matilda
Marriages
Death
Claim
Eleanor of
6 July 1189
Aquitaine
grandson of
Chinon
Bordeaux
Henry I
aged 56. Buried
Cathedral
(Treaty of
at Fontevraud
18 May 1152
Wallingford)
Abbey
eight children
11 June 1183
Margaret of
Martel,
France
Limoges
son of Henry II
Winchester
aged 28. Buried (coronation as
Cathedral
son of Henry II
at Rouen
junior king)
and Eleanor of 27 August 1172
Cathedral
one child
Aquitaine
(Notre-Dame)
28 February
1155
8 September
1157
Beaumont
Palace
son of Henry II
and Eleanor of
Aquitaine
Berengaria of
Navarre
Limassol
12 May 1191
no children
6 April 1199
Chalus
aged 41 from
an arrow
wound in the
shoulder that
became
son of Henry II
infected.
(primogeniture)
Buried: Heart
at Rouen
Cathedral.
Body at
Fontevraud
Abbey
(1) Isabel of
19 October
Gloucester
1216
Marlborough
Newark-onCastle
24 December
Trent
29 August 1189
1166
aged 49,
no children
Beaumont
probably from
brother of
Palace
dysentery
Richard I
son of Henry II (2) Isabella of brought on by (appointment)
and Eleanor of
eating peaches
Angoulême
Aquitaine
and drinking
Bordeaux
wine. Buried at
Cathedral
Worcester
24 August 1200
Cathedral
five children
John
Lackland
(Jean sans
Terre)
27 May
1199–1216
Disputed claimant
Louis VIII of France briefly ruled about half of England from 1216 to 1217 at the conclusion of
the First Barons' War against King John. On marching into London he was openly received by
the rebel barons and citizens of London and proclaimed (though not crowned) king at St Paul's
cathedral. Many nobles, including Alexander II of Scotland for his English possessions, gathered
to give homage to him. However in signing the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217 Louis conceded that
he had never been the legitimate king of England.
Name
Portrait
The Lion
1216–
22 September
1217
Title disputed
Henry III
Henry of
Winchester
28 October
1216–1272
Marriages
5 September 1187
Paris
Blanche of Castile
son of Philip II of
Portmont
France, and
23 May 1200
Isabella of
13 children
Hainault
Louis
Name
Birth
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
8 November
1226
Montpensier
aged 39
Right of
conquest
Death
Claim
1 October 1207
Eleanor of
Winchester
16 November
Provence
Castle
1272
son of King
Canterbury
son of King
Westminster
John
Cathedral
John and
Palace
(primogeniture)
14 January 1236
Isabella of
aged 65
nine children
Angoulême
Edward I
Longshanks
20
November
1272–1307
Edward II
Edward of
Caernarfon
7 July 1307
–
25 January
1327
(1) Eleanor of
Castile
Abbey of Santa
Maria la Real de
17 June 1239
Huelgas
Westminster
18 October 1254 7 July 1307
son of Henry
Palace
17 children Burgh by Sands
III
son of Henry III
aged 68
(primogeniture)
and Eleanor of
(2) Margaret of
Provence
France
10 September
1299
three children
21 September
1327
Berkeley Castle
aged 43
25 April 1284
Isabella of
(murdered,
Caernarfon
France
probably 'with
son of Edward
Castle
Boulogne
a hoote brooche
I
son of Edward I
Cathedral
putte thro the
(primogeniture)
and Eleanor of 25 January 1308 secret place
Castile
five children
posterialle'
according to a
Confessor of
one of the
Jailers)[48]
Edward III
25 January
1327–1377
13 November
Philippa of
1312
Hainault
21 June 1377 son of Edward
Windsor Castle
York Minster Sheen Palace
II
son of Edward II
24 January 1328
aged 64
(primogeniture)
and Isabella of
14 children
France
Richard II
21 June
1377 –
29
September
1399
(1) Anne of
Bohemia
14 January 1382 14 February
6 January 1367
no children
1400
Bordeaux
Pontefract
grandson of
son of Edward,
Castle
Edward III
(2) Isabella of
the Black Prince
aged
33
(primogeniture)
Valois
and Joan of
probably from
Calais
Kent
starvation
4 November
1396
no children
House of Lancaster
Main article: House of Lancaster
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, a
descendant of Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp).
Name
Portrait
Henry IV
Bolingbroke
30
September
1399–1413
Henry V
20 March
1413–1422
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
(1) Mary de
Bohun
Arundel Castle
3 April 1366/7 27 July 1380
20 March
Bolingbroke seven children
1413
grandson and heir
Castle
Westminster male of Edward III
son of John of (2) Joanna of
Abbey
(usurpation/agnatic
Gaunt and
Navarre
aged 45 or
primogeniture)
Blanche of
Winchester
46[49]
Lancaster
Cathedral
7 February
1403
no children
16 September
1386 or
Catherine of
9 August
31 August
Valois
1387[50]
1422
son of Henry IV
Troyes
Monmouth
Château de
(agnatic
Cathedral
Castle
Vincennes
primogeniture)
2 June 1420
son of Henry
aged 35
one son
IV and Mary de
Bohun
6 December
Margaret of
1421
Anjou
Windsor Castle
Titchfield
son of Henry V
Abbey
and Catherine 22 April 1445
of Valois
1 son
Henry VI
(first reign)
31 August
1422 – 4
March
1461
21 May 1471
Tower of
London
aged 49
son of Henry V
(agnatic
primogeniture)
House of York
Main article: House of York
The House of York inherited its name from the fourth surviving son of Edward III, Edmund, 1st
Duke of York, but claimed the right to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son,
Lionel of Antwerp.
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses
of Lancaster and York.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
28 April 1442
Rouen
son of Richard
Plantagenet, 3rd
Duke of York,
and Cecily
Neville
Edward IV
(first reign)
4 March
1461 – 2
October
1470
9 April 1483
Westminster
Elizabeth
Palace
Woodville
aged 40
Grafton Regis (probably died
1 May 1464 of a stroke after
ten children catching a chill
during a fishing
trip)
great-greatgrandson and
heir general of
Edward III
(seizure of the
crown/cognatic
primogeniture)
House of Lancaster (restored)
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
21 May 1471
6 December 1421
Margaret of Anjou Tower of London
Windsor Castle
Titchfield Abbey
aged 49
son of Henry V
22 April 1445
(murdered) by
and Catherine of
1 son
being stabbed in
Valois
the head.
Henry VI
(second
reign)
30 October
1470 – 11
April 1471
son of
Henry V
(seizure
of the
crown)
House of York (restored)
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
9 April 1483
Westminster
Elizabeth
Palace
Woodville
aged 40
Grafton Regis (probably died
1 May 1464 of a stroke after
ten children catching a chill
during a fishing
trip)
Edward IV
(second
reign)
11 April
1471 – 9
April 1483
28 April 1442
Rouen
son of Richard
Plantagenet, 3rd
Duke of York,
and Cecily
Neville
Edward V
9 April – 25
June
1483[51]
2 November
1470
Westminster
son of Edward
IV and Elizabeth
Woodville[51]
unmarried
Richard III
26 June
1483–
1485[52]
2 October 1452
Fotheringhay
Castle
son of Richard
Plantagenet, 3rd
Duke of York,
and Cecily
Neville
Anne Neville
Westminster
Abbey
12 July 1472
1 son
Claim
great-greatgrandson and
heir general of
Edward III
(seizure of the
crown/cognatic
primogeniture)
c. 1483
son of
London
Edward IV
aged about 12
(cognatic
(reportedly
primogeniture)
smothered)
22 August 1485
Bosworth Field
aged 32 (killed
in battle)
great-greatgrandson of
Edward III
(Titulus
Regius)
House of Tudor
Main article: Tudor dynasty
The Tudors descended matrilineally 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 the marriage, the church
retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year (also enshrined in
an Act of Parliament in 1397). A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son,
King Henry IV, also recognized the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to
inherit the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other
descendants, 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 Tewdr (anglicised to "Owen Tudor") and Catherine of
Valois, the widowed queen consort 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 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, ending the Wars of the Roses.
With Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic Church, the monarch became the Supreme
Head of the Church of England and of the Church of Ireland. Elizabeth I's title became the
Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Name
Henry VII
22 August
1485–1509
Henry VIII
21 April
1509–1547
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
28 January 1457
Elizabeth of
Pembroke
great-greatYork
21 April 1509
Castle
great-grandson
Westminster
Richmond
son of Edmund
of Edward III
Abbey
Palace
Tudor and Lady
(right of
18 January 1486
aged 52
Margaret
conquest)
eight children
Beaufort
Catherine of
Aragon
Greenwich
11 June 1509
28 June 1491
one daughter
Greenwich
28 January
Anne Boleyn
Palace
1547
son of
Westminster
son of Henry
Whitehall
Henry VII
Palace
VII and
Palace
(primogeniture)
25 January 1533
Elizabeth of
aged 55
one daughter
York
Jane Seymour
Whitehall
Palace
30 May 1536
one son
Anne of Cleves
Greenwich
Palace
6 January 1540
Catherine
Howard
Hampton Court
Palace
28 July 1540
Catherine Parr
Hampton Court
Palace
12 July 1543
12 October 1537
Hampton Court
Palace
son of Henry
VIII and Jane
Seymour
Edward VI
28 January
1547–1553
unmarried
6 July 1553
Greenwich
Palace
aged 15
son of
Henry VIII
(primogeniture)
Disputed claimant
Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir presumptive. Four days after his death on 6 July
1553, Jane was proclaimed queen. Nine days after the proclamation, on 19 July, the Privy
Council switched allegiance and proclaimed Edward VI's Catholic half-sister Mary. Jane was
executed in 1554, aged 16. Many historians do not consider her to have been a legitimate
monarch.
Name
Portrait
Jane
10–19 July
1553
Title disputed
Name
Mary I
19 July
1553–1558
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
October 1537
Bradgate Park Lord Guildford
daughter of
Dudley
Henry Grey, 1st
The Strand
Duke of Suffolk, 21 May 1553
and Lady
no children[53]
Frances Brandon
Birth
Marriages
18 February 1516
Philip II of Spain
Greenwich Palace
Winchester
daughter of
Cathedral
Henry VIII and
25 July 1554
Catherine of
no children
Aragon
Death
Claim
12 February
1554
Tower of
London
aged 16
(beheaded)
greatgranddaughter
of Henry VII
(Devise for
the
succession)
Death
Claim
daughter
17 November
of
1558
Henry VIII
St. James's
(Third
Palace
Succession
aged 42
Act)
[54]
Philip
25 July 1554
–
17
November
1558
(jure uxoris)
21 May 1527
Valladolid, Spain
son of Charles V,
Holy Roman
Emperor, and
Isabella of
Portugal
(2) Mary I of
England
Winchester
Cathedral
25 July 1554
no children
three other
marriages
and seven
children
husband of
Mary I
13 September
(Act for
1598
the
El Escorial,
Marriage
Spain
of Queen
aged 71
Mary to
Philip of
Spain)
Under the terms of the marriage treaty between Philip I of Naples (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 the title of king and stated that he "shall aid her Highness ... in
the happy administration of her Grace’s realms and dominions"[55] (although elsewhere the Act
stated that Mary was to be "sole queen"). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife.[56]
As the new King of England could not read English, it was ordered that a note of all matters of
state should be made in Latin or Spanish.[56][57][58] Coins were minted showing the heads of both
Mary and Philip, and the coat of arms of England (right) was impaled with Philip's to denote
their joint reign.[59][60] Acts which made it high treason to deny Philip's royal authority were
passed in England[61] and Ireland.[62] In 1555, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip
and Mary as rightful King and Queen of Ireland.
Name
Portrait
Elizabeth I
17
November
1558–1603
Birth
7 September
1533
Greenwich Palace
daughter of
Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn
Marriages
unmarried
Death
Claim
daughter
24 March 1603
of
Richmond
Henry VIII
Palace
(Third
aged 69
Succession
Act)
House of Stuart
Main article: House of Stuart
Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded
to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns. James was descended from the
Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. In
1604 he adopted the title King of Great Britain. However the two parliaments remained separate.
Name
Portrait
James I
24 March
1603–1625
Charles I
27 March
1625–1649
Birth
19 June 1566
Edinburgh
Castle
son of Henry
Stuart, Lord
Darnley, and
Mary I, Queen
of Scots
19 November
1600
Dunfermline
Palace
son of James I
and Anne of
Denmark
Marriages
Anne of
Denmark
Oslo
23 November
1589
7 Children
Henrietta Maria
of France
St Augustine's
Abbey
13 June 1625
nine children
Death
Claim
27 March 1625 great-greatTheobalds
grandson and
House
heir general of
Aged 58
Henry VII
30 January
1649
Whitehall
Palace
aged 48
(beheaded)
son of James I
(cognatic
primogeniture)
Commonwealth
Main article: Commonwealth of England
There was no reigning monarch between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration
of Charles II in 1660. Instead, from 1653 the following individuals held power as Lords
Protector, during the period known as the Protectorate, when the monarchy was overthrown.
Name
Portrait
Oliver Cromwell
Old Ironsides
16 December
1653–1658[63]
Richard Cromwell
Tumbledown Dick
3 September 1658
– 7 May 1659[66]
Birth
Marriages
Death
25 April 1599
Huntingdon[63]
son of Robert
Cromwell and
Elizabeth
Steward[64]
Elizabeth Bourchier
in St Giles[65]
22 August 1620
nine children[63]
3 September
1658
Whitehall
aged 59[63]
4 October 1626
Huntingdon
son of Oliver
Cromwell and
Elizabeth
Bourchier[66]
Dorothy Maijor
May 1649
nine children[66]
12 July 1712
Cheshunt
aged 85[67]
House of Stuart (restored)
Although the monarchy was restored in 1660, no stable settlement proved possible until the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, when Parliament finally asserted the right to choose whomsoever it
pleased as monarch.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Claim
Charles II
1660–
1685[68]
Recognized by
Royalists in
1649
29 May 1630
St. James's
Palace
son of Charles I
and Henrietta
Maria of France
James II
6 February
1685 –
23
December
1688
(deposed)
14 October
1633
St. James's
Palace
son of Charles I
and Henrietta
Maria of France
Mary II
13 February
1689–1694
30 April 1662
St. James's
Palace
daughter of
James II and
Anne Hyde
William III
William of
Orange
13 February
1689–1702
4 November
1650
The Hague
son of William
II, Prince of
Orange, and
Mary, Princess
Royal[69]
Catherine of
Braganza
Portsmouth
21 May 1662
no children
(1) Anne Hyde
The Strand
3 September
1660
eight children
(2) Mary of
Modena
Dover
21 November
1673
seven children
St. James's
Palace
4 November
1677
no children
6 February
1685
Whitehall
Palace
aged 54
son of Charles I
(cognatic
primogeniture;
English
Restoration)
16 September
1701
son of Charles I
Château de
(cognatic
Saint-Germainprimogeniture)
en-Laye
aged 67
28 December
1694
Kensington
Palace
aged 32
8 March 1702
Kensington
Palace
aged 51 after
breaking his
collarbone
from falling off
his horse
grandchildren
of Charles I
(offered the
crown by
Parliament)
Anne
8 March
1702–1
May
1707[70]
Queen of
Great Britain
and Ireland
1 May 1707–1
August 1714
House of Hanover
Main article: House of Hanover
The Hanoverian succession came about as a result of the Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the
Parliament of England. In return for access to the English plantations in North America, the
Hanoverian succession and the Union were ratified by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707.
After the death of Anne with no living children, George I, the son of Sophia of Hanover,
granddaughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England through his daughter Elizabeth of
Bohemia, was the closest Protestant heir to the throne.
Name
George I
1 August
1714 –
11 June
1727
George II
11 June
1727 –
25
October
1760
George
III
25
October
1760 –
29
January
1820
George
IV
29
January
1820 –
26 June
1830
(Prince
Regent since
1811)
Portrait
Birth
28 May 1660
Leineschloss
son of Ernest
Augustus,
Elector of
BrunswickLüneburg and
Sophia of
Hanover
30 October
1683
Herrenhausen
son of George
I and Sophia
Dorothea of
BrunswickLueneburgCelle
4 June 1738
Norfolk
House
son of
Frederick,
Prince of
Wales and
Princess
Augusta of
Saxe-Gotha
Marriages
Sophia
Dorothea of
BrunswickLueneburgCelle
21 November
1682
2 children
Caroline of
Ansbach
22 August
1705
8 children
Succession
References
right
son of Sophia
of Hanover,
granddaughter
11 June 1727 of James I &
Osnabrück
VI; (Act of
aged 67
Settlement
1701 and Acts
of Union
1707)
Death
25 October
1760
Kensington
Palace
aged 76
Charlotte of
Mecklenburg29 January
Strelitz
1820
St James's
Windsor
Palace
Castle
8 September
aged 81
1761
15 children
(1) Maria
Anne
12 August
Fitzherbert
1762
Park Lane
St James's
15 September
Palace
26 June 1830
1785
son of George
Windsor
(2) Caroline
III and
aged 67
of Brunswick
Charlotte of
St James's
MecklenburgPalace
Strelitz
8 April 1795
1 daughter
son of
George I
grandson of
George II
first son of
George III
21 August
1765
Buckingham
Palace
son of George
III and
Charlotte of
MecklenburgStrelitz
24 May 1819
Kensington
Palace
daughter of
Prince
Edward, Duke
of Kent and
Strathearn and
Princess
Victoria of
Saxe-CoburgSaalfeld
William
IV
26 June
1830 –
20 June
1837
Victoria
20 June
1837 –
22
January
1901
Adelaide of
Saxe20 June 1837
Meiningen
Windsor
third son of
Kew Palace
Castle
George III
13 July 1818
aged 71
2 children
Albert of
Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha
St James's
Palace
10 February
1840
9 children
22 January
granddaughter
1901
of George III
Osborne
(by his fourth
House
son)
aged 81
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Main article: House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Although he was the son and heir of Victoria, Edward VII inherited his father's names and is
therefore counted as inaugurating a new royal house.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
9 November
1841
Alexandra of
Buckingham
Denmark
6 May 1910
Palace
St George's Buckingham
son of Victoria
Chapel
Palace
and Prince
10 March 1863
aged 68
Albert of
6 children
Saxe-CoburgGotha
Edward
VII
22 January
1901 –
6 May
1910
Succession
References
right
son of
Queen
Victoria
House of Windsor
Main article: House of Windsor
The house name Windsor was adopted in 1917, during World War I. It was changed from SaxeCoburg-Gotha because of wartime anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom.
Name
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Succession
References
right
George V
6 May
1910 –
20 January
1936
3 June 1865
Marlborough Mary of Teck 20 January
House
St James's
1936
son of Edward
Palace
Sandringham
VII and
6 July 1893
House
Alexandra of
6 children
aged 70
Denmark
Edward
VIII
20 January
–
11
December
1936
(abdicated)
23 June 1894
White Lodge
son of George
V and Mary of
Teck
George VI
11
December
1936 –
6 February
1952
14 December
Elizabeth
1895
6 February
Bowes-Lyon
Sandringham
1952
Westminster
son of
House
Sandringham
Abbey
George V
son of George
House
26 April 1923
V and Mary of
aged 56
2 children
Teck
Elizabeth
II
6 February
1952 –
present
Philip of
21 April 1926 Greece and
Mayfair
Denmark
daughter of
Westminster
George VI and
Abbey
Elizabeth
20 November
Bowes-Lyon
1947
4 children
Wallis
Warfield
Simpson
Château de
Candé
3 June 1937
no children
son of
Edward
VII
28 May 1972
Neuilly-surson of
Seine
George V
aged 77
Incumbent
daughter
of George
VI