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Period: 827 to 839
EGBERT
He was the first monarch to establish a stable and extensive rule over all of Anglo-Saxon England. He is recognised by the title Bretwalda (Anglo-Saxon, “ruler of the British”). -
Period: 839 to 858
AETHELWULF 839 – 858
King of Wessex, son of Egbert, and father of Alfred the Great. In 851 Aethelwulf defeated a Danish army at the battle of Oakley while his eldest son Aethelstan fought and defeated a Viking fleet off the coast of Kent, in what is believed to be “the first naval battle in recorded English history”. A highly religious man, Athelwulf traveled to Rome with his son Alfred to see the Pope in 855. -
Period: 858 to 860
AETHELBALD 858 – 860
The second son of Aethelwulf, Æthelbald was born around 834. He was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in southwest London, after forcing his father to abdicate upon his return from pilgrimage to Rome. Following his father’s death in 858, he married his widowed stepmother Judith, but under pressure from the church the marriage was annulled after only a year. He is buried at Sherbourne Abbey in Dorset. -
871
ALFRED THE GREAT 871 – 899
Alfred established Saxon Christian rule over first Wessex, and then on to most of England. To secure his hard won boundaries Alfred founded a permanent army and an embryonic Royal Navy. To secure his place in history, he began the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. -
Period: 898 to 924
EDWARD (The Elder)
Edward retook southeast England and the Midlands from the Danes. In 923, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles recorded that the Scottish King Constantine II recognised Edward as “father and lord”. -
Period: 924 to 939
ATHELSTAN
Athelstan defeated a combined army of Scots, Celts, Danes and Vikings, claiming the title of King of all Britain. The battle saw for the first time individual Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being brought together to create a single and unified England. -
Period: 941 to 946
EDMUND 939 – 946
Succeeded his half-bother Athelastan as king at the tender age of 18, having already fought alongside him at the Battle of Brunanburh two years earlier. He re-established Anglo-Saxon control over northern England, which had fallen back under Scandinavian rule following the death of Athelstan. -
1013
AETHELRED II THE UNREADY 978 – 1016
Aethelred was unable to organise resistance against the Danes, earning him the nickname ‘unready’, or ‘badly advised’. He became king aged about 10, but fled to Normandy in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard, King of the Danes invaded England in an act of revenge following the St Brice’s Day massacre of England’s Danish inhabitants. -
1066
WILLIAM I (The Conqueror) 1066- 1087
William was the illegitimate son of Robert the Devil, whom he succeeded as Duke of Normandy in 1035. William came to England from Normandy, claiming that his second cousin Edward the Confessor had promised him the throne, and defeated Harold II at the Battle of Hastings on 14th October 1066. In 1085 the Domesday Survey was begun and all of England was recorded, so William knew exactly what his new kingdom contained and how much tax he could raise in order to fund his armies. -
1189
RICHARD I (The Lionheart) 1189 – 1199
He was the third son of Henry II. By the age of 16, he was leading his own army putting down rebellions in France. Although crowned King of England, Richard spent all but 6 months of his reign abroad, preferring to use the taxes from his kingdom to fund his various armies and military ventures. He was the leading Christian commander during the Third Crusade. On his way back from Palestine, Richard was captured and held for ransom. The amount paid for his safe return almost bankrupt the country. -
1327
EDWARD III 1327 – 1377
Son of Edward II, he reigned for 50 years. His ambition to conquer Scotland and France plunged England into the Hundred Years War, beginning in 1338. The two great victories at Crecy and Poitiers made Edward and his son, the Black Prince, the most renowned warriors in Europe, however the war was very expensive. The outbreak of bubonic plague, the ‘Black Death’ in 1348-1350 killed half the population of England. -
1422
HENRY VI 1422 – deposed 1461 Beginning of the Wars of the Roses
He came to the throne as a baby and inherited a losing war with France. The House of York challenged Henry VI’s right to the throne and England was plunged into civil war. Henry was restored to the throne briefly in 1470.Henry was murdered in the Tower of London in 1471. Henry founded both Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge, and every year the College's lay roses on the altar which now stands where he died. -
1483
RICHARD III 1483 – 1485 End of the Wars of the Roses
Brother of Edward IV. The ruthless extinction of all those who opposed him and the alleged murders of his nephews made his rule very unpopular. In 1485 Henry Richmond, descendant of John of Gaunt, father of Henry IV, landed in west Wales, gathering forces as he marched into England. At the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, Richard was defeated and killed in what was to be the last important battle in the Wars of the Roses. -
Nov 22, 1485
HENRY VII 1485 – 1509
When Richard III fell at the Battle of Bosworth, his crown was picked up and placed on the head of Henry Tudor. He married Elizabeth of York and so united the two warring houses, York and Lancaster. He was a skillful politician but avaricious. The material wealth of the country increased greatly. During Henry’s reign playing cards were invented and the portrait of his wife Elizabeth has appeared eight times on every pack of cards for nearly 500 years. -
GEORGE I 1714 -1727
Son of Sophia and the Elector of Hanover, great-grandson of James I. The 54 year old George arrived in England able to speak only a few words of English with his 18 cooks and 2 mistresses in tow. George never learned English, so the conduct of national policy was left to the government of the time with Sir Robert Walpole becoming Britain’s first Prime Minister. -
GEORGE III 1760 – 1820
He was a grandson of George II and the first English-born and English-speaking monarch since Queen Anne. His reign was one of elegance and the age of some of the greatest names in English literature – Jane Austen, Byron, Shelley, Keats and Wordsworth. It was also the time of great statesmen like Pitt and Fox and great military men like Wellington and Nelson. in 1773 the ‘Boston Tea Party’ was the first sign of the troubles that were to come in America. -
WILLIAM IV 1830 – 1837
Known as the ‘Sailor King’ (for 10 years the young Prince William, brother of George IV, served in the Royal Navy), he was the third son of George III. Before his accession he lived with a Mrs. Jordan, an actress, by whom he had ten children. When Princess Charlotte died, he had to marry in order to secure the succession. He married Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg in 1818. He had two daughters but they did not live. He hated pomp and wanted to dispense with the Coronation. -
VICTORIA 1837 – 1901
Was the only child of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Edward Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. The throne Victoria inherited was weak and unpopular. Her Hanoverian uncles had been treated with irreverence. In 1840 she married her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Albert exerted tremendous influence over the Queen and until his death was virtual ruler of the country. He was a pillar of respectability and left two legacies to the UK, the Christmas Tree and the Great Exhibition of 1851. -
EDWARD VII 1901 – 1910
This Edwardian Age was one of elegance. Edward had all the social graces and many sporting interests, yachting and horse-racing – his horse Minoru won the Derby in 1909. Edward married the beautiful Alexandra of Denmark in 1863 and they had six children. -
GEORGE V 1910 – 1936
His years on the throne were difficult; the First World War in 1914 – 1918 and the troubles in Ireland which lead to the creation of the Irish Free State were considerable problems. In 1932 he began the royal broadcasts on Christmas Day and in 1935 he celebrated his Silver Jubilee. His latter years were overshadowed by his concern about the Prince of Wales and his infatuation with Mrs. Simpson. -
EDWARD VIII June 1936 – abdicated December 1936
Edward was the most popular Prince of Wales Britain has ever had. Consequently when he renounced the throne to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson the country found it almost impossible to believe. -
GEORGE VI 1936 – 1952
The prestige of the throne was low when he became king, but his wife Elizabeth and his mother Queen Mary were outstanding in their support of him. The post-war years of his reign were ones of great social change and saw the start of the National Health Service. -
ELIZABETH II 1952 – 2022
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, or ‘Lilibet’ to close family, was born in London on 21 April 1926. Like her parents, Elizabeth was heavily involved in the war effort during the Second World War, serving in the women’s branch of the British Army known as the Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and mechanic. -
King Charles III 2022 –
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles succeeded to throne at the age of 73, taking the title King Charles III, his wife Camilla becoming Queen. Charles is the oldest heir apparent to succeed to the British throne. Charles Philip Arthur George was born in Buckingham Palace on 14th November 1948 and became heir apparent on the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.