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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8" /><title>English Monarchs - History of the kings and Queens of England</title><meta name="description" content="A complete history of the Kings and Queens of England by dynasties. Windsor, Vikings, Celts, Hanover, Normans, Plantagenet, Tower of London, Saxon, Tudor." /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><meta name="theme-color" content="#960c17" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/bootstrap-grid.min.css" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/global.css" /></head><body><nav class="fixed-nav-bar" aria-label="fixed navigation bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><i class="nav-s nav-s-smr"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smt"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smf"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><div id="menu" class="menu"><a class="burger show" href="#menu" aria-label="Show Link Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><a class="burger hide" href="#hidemenu" aria-label="Hide Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><ul class="menu-items"><li class="current"><a href="index.htm" aria-label="dynasties">DYNASTIES</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="celts_1.html" aria-label="The Celts">The Celts</a></li><li><a href="saxon_21.htm">Saxon</a></li><li><a href="vikings_6.html">Viking</a></li><li><a href="normans_5.htm">Norman</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_18.htm">Plantagenet</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_49.html">Lancaster</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_48.html">York</a></li><li><a href="tudor_21.htm">Tudor</a></li><li><a href="stuart_15.htm">Stuart</a></li><li><a href="hanover_11.html">Hanover</a></li><li><a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_5.html">Saxe-Coburg-Gotha</a></li><li><a href="windsor_30.htm">Windsor</a></li><li><a href="genealogical_tables.htm">Genealogical Tables</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="gwynedd.html" aria-label="Princes of wales">PRINCES OF WALES</a></li><li><a href="tower_index.html" aria-label="Tower of London">TOWER OF LONDON</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="tower_london.htm">Middle Ages</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_2.htm">Tudor Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_3.htm">Stuart Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_6.html">Bloody Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_7.html">White Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_17.html">Chapel of St. John</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_8.html">Chapel of St. Peter</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_9.html">Medieval Palace</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_10.html">Beauchamp Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_12.html">Byward Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_11.html">Queen's House</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_13.html">Bowyer Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_14.html">Bell Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_15.html">Traitor's Gate</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_16.html">Salt Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_18.html">Devereux Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_4.htm">Recent History</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_5.html">Theft of the Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm" aria-label="Crown Jewels">CROWN JEWELS</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm">The Regalia</a></li><li><a href="crown_jewels_2.htm">The Theft Of The Crown Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="royal_residences.html" aria-label="Royal Residences">ROYAL RESIDENCES</a></li><li><a href="battles.html" aria-label="Battles">HISTORIC BATTLES</a></li><li><a href="scottish_kings.htm" aria-label="Scottish Monarchs">SCOTTISH MONARCHS</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></nav><section class="title-bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><div class="page-title-container"><form action="/ssep/index.php" id="demo-2" method="post"><input type="search" aria-label="search" name="sr" placeholder="Search" /></form><h1>English Monarchs - Kings and Queens</h1></div></div></div></div></section><section class="content-bg"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-12 col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><div class="well"><div class="em-content"><h2>Dynasties of the Kings and Queens of England</h2><p> This site is designed to bring to life, as vividly as possible, the history of the Kings and Queens of England from <a href="saxon.htm">Egbert</a>, first King of the English, who reigned 802-839 A.D., through over a thousand years of the rich and varied tapestry of England's history to the throne's present occupant, <a href="windsor_4.htm">Elizabeth II</a>. It contains a biography of each English monarch along with many illustrations, maps (where applicable) and genealogical tables, in an easy to follow format arranged by dynasties. We also take a look at the <a href="tower_london.htm">Tower of London</a>, the <a href="crown_jewels.htm">Crown Jewels</a> and <a href="leeds_castle.html">the royal residences.</a></p><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="celts_1.html"><img src="images/index/budicca.jpg" alt="Celts" width="230" height="239" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="celts_1.html" aria-label="The Celts"><h3>Celts</h3></a><p> This history covers all of England's early <a href="celts_6.html">Celtic chieftains</a> including the warlike <a href="celts_2.html">Boudicca</a>, Queen of the Icceni, who led a revolt against the <a href="celts_29.html">Romans</a> in the first century A.D. and <a href="celts_4.html">Caractacus</a>, king of the Catuvellauni tribe, who also resisted the Romans. Other Celtic leaders of note: <a href="celts_25.html">Cassivellaunus</a>, <a href="celts_24.html">Uther Pendragon</a> and <a href="celts_13.html">King Arthur</a>. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="saxon_21.htm"><img src="images/index/afred_1.jpg" alt="Saxons" width="230" height="232" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="saxon_21.htm" aria-label="Saxons"><h3>Saxons</h3></a><p> The Anglo-Saxon kings, included <a href="saxon_6.htm">Alfred the Great</a>, the ineffectual <a href="saxon_14.htm"> Ethelred the Redeless</a> (978-1016) and his pious son, <a href="saxon_16.htm">Edward the Confessor</a> (1042-1066) who was later canonized in 1161. The Anglo-Saxon line was interrupted for two decades by Viking conquerors but was re-established by <a href="saxon_16.htm">Edward the Confessor</a>. The Confessor is said to have willed his throne to his brother-in-law, <a href="saxon_17.htm">King Harold II Godwinson</a> (reigned- January-October, 1066), who was killed at the Battle at Hastings, when the native Saxon House of Wessex was displaced by the Normans in the person of William I, thereafter known as the Conqueror. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="vikings_6.html"><img src="images/index/hrd_1.jpg" alt="Vikings" width="230" height="245" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="vikings_6.html" aria-label="Vikings"><h3>Vikings</h3></a><p> England's line of Viking kings spans a dynasty of three generations and was founded in 1013 by <a href="vikings.htm">Sweyn Forkbeard</a>, King of Denmark, the son of Harald Bluetooth, who after years of conflict, wrested the throne of England from the ineffectual native Saxon king, <a href="saxon_14.htm">Ethelred II the Redeless</a> ( 978-1016). Sweyn was followed by his son <a href="vikings_2.htm">Canute</a>, called the Great (1016 - 35), the ablest of his line, who converted to Christianity and married Ethelred's widow, <a href="vikings_7.html">Emma of Normandy</a>. Other Viking warriors of note: <a href="vikings_9.html">Ragnar Lodbrok</a>, <a href="vikings_19.html">Halfdan Ragnarsson</a> and <a href="vikings_10.html">Ivar the Boneless</a>. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="normans_5.htm"><img src="images/index/william_1.jpg" alt="Normans" width="230" height="240" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="normans_5.htm" aria-label="Normans"><h3>Normans</h3></a><p> Our section on the Normans includes the tumultuous events of <a href="battle_of_hastings.htm">1066</a>, which changed the course of English history. The reign of the stark and ruthless <a href="normans.htm">William I, the Conqueror</a>, also the Civil War which engulfed England as two of his grandchildren, <a href="normans_4.htm">Stephen</a> and <a href="normans_21.html">Matilda</a>, became locked in a bitter struggle for the crown. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="plantagenet_18.htm"><img src="images/index/richard_III.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Plantagenets" width="230" height="251" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="plantagenet_18.htm" aria-label="Plantagenets"><h3>Plantagenets</h3></a><p> The Plantagenets, who followed the Normans, were a remarkable family, they produced such characters as the energetic <a href="plantagenet.htm">Henry II</a>, arguably one of the ablest of English Monarchs his son, the legendary <a href="plantagenet_2.htm">Richard the Lionheart</a> who led the Third Crusade into the Holy land and <a href="plantagenet_5.htm">Edward I</a>, conqueror of Wales and 'Hammer of the Scots'. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="plantagenet_49.html"><img src="images/index/lan1.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Lancaster" width="230" height="234" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="plantagenet_49.html" aria-label="Lancaster"><h3>Lancaster</h3></a><p> The Plantagenets finally destroyed themselves in a bloody dynastic struggle which we know of as the <a href="plantagenet_17.html">Wars of the Roses</a>. Which began when the first Lancastrian king, <a href="plantagenet_9.htm">Henry IV</a>, usurped his cousin Richard's throne. The House of Lancaster then ruled England for three generations, passing to <a href="plantagenet_10.htm">Henry V</a>, one of the most renowned medieval kings of England who was immortalised by Shakespeare He revived <a href="plantagenet_7.htm">Edward III</a>'s claim to the throne of France defeated the French at <a href="battle_agincourt.html">Agincourt</a> in 1415, before leaving the diadems of both countries to his infant son, <a href="plantagenet_11.htm">Henry VI</a>, who proved to be a much less effectual ruler than his father. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="plantagenet_48.html"><img src="images/index/ed.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="York" width="230" height="238" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="plantagenet_48.html" aria-label="York"><h3>York</h3></a><p> The claim to the throne of Henry VI was disputed by his second cousin, <a href="plantagenet_20.htm">Richard Duke of York</a>. Since York descended from <a href="plantagenet_7.htm">Edward III</a>'s second surviving son, <a href="plantagenet_81.html">Lionel, Duke of Clarence</a> and Henry from Edward's third surviving son, <a href="plantagenet_34.html">John of Gaunt</a>, York did possess a slightly better claim. When the Duke of York was killed in battle in 1460 by the forces of Henry's strong-willed wife, <a href="plantagenet_26.html">Queen Margaret of Anjou</a>, at the battle of <a href="battle_of_wakefield.html">Sandal</a>, his claim to the crown passed to his eldest son who was crowned King <a href="plantagenet_12.htm">Edward IV</a>. This section also looks at the evidence and historical controversy as to whether England's last Plantagenet monarch, <a href="plantagenet_14.htm">Richard III</a>, actually murdered his nephews, the so-called <a href="tower_london.htm">Princes in the Tower</a>, to gain possession of the crown. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="tudor_21.htm"><img src="images/index/henry_8.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Tudors" width="230" height="264" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="tudor_21.htm" aria-label="Tudor"><h3>Tudors</h3></a><p> Our history of the Tudors includes that best known of English Monarchs, the tyrannical and bloodstained <a href="tudor_4.htm">Henry VIII</a>, who is famous for marrying six wives and executing two of them. His great daughter, <a href="tudor_9.htm">Elizabeth I</a>, highly astute and wily she survived an appalling childhood and adolescence to emerge as the ablest of the Tudors and led England to victory over the Spanish, the greatest power of the age. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="stuart_15.htm"><img src="images/index/james_1.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Stuarts" width="230" height="277" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="stuart_15.htm" aria-label="Stuart"><h3>Stuarts</h3></a><p> Our history of the Stuarts, that highly romantic but luckless dynasty, who was to rule over the joint kingdoms of England and Scotland includes, amongst much more, the English Civil War, the execution of <a href="stuart_2.htm">Charles I</a> by <a href="oliver_cromwell.htm">Oliver Cromwell</a> and the Restoration of <a href="stuart_3.htm"> Charles II</a>, the Merry Monarch, famous for his many mistresses and his long liaison with <a href="stuart_19.html">Nell Gwynne</a>. It also contains a section on the Stuart Pretenders, one of whom was the courageous but impulsive <a href="stuart_18.html">Bonnie Prince Charlie</a>. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="hanover_11.html"><img src="images/index/george_3.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Hanover" width="230" height="290" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="hanover_11.html" aria-label="Hanover"><h3>Hanover</h3></a><p> Our biographies of the German Hanoverian dynasty includes an examination of the madness of <a href="hanover_3.htm">George III</a> and puts forward modern claims that he suffered from a metabolic condition, <a href="hanover_15.html">porphyria</a>. This section of our history also covers the long reign of that endearing if stubborn British Monarch, <a href="hanover_6.htm">Queen Victoria</a>, which saw Britain rise as a world power. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_5.html"><img src="images/index/victoria_1.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" width="230" height="243" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_5.html" aria-label="Saxe Coburg Gotha"><h3>Saxe-Coburg-Gotha</h3></a><p> Queen Victoria's male-line descendants took the name of her husband <a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_20.html">Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha</a>. However, during the first world war, when anti-German feeling was at its height, her grandson George V cast his colours in the wind by changing the family name to the much more English sounding Windsor in 1917. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-3"><a href="windsor_30.htm"><img src="images/index/elizabeth.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="House of Windsor" width="230" height="192" /></a></div><div class="col-lg-9"><a href="windsor_30.htm" aria-label="Windsor"><h3>House of Windsor</h3></a><p> Last but not least our history culminates in the story of Britain's modern-day dynasty, the House of Windsor (formerly Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). We take a close look at the large family of Queen Victoria and the eight of her grandchildren who sat on the thrones of Europe. This section also includes a page on the popular <a href="windsor_6.htm">Diana, Princess of Wales</a> and the <a href="windsor_29.htm">enquiry into her tragic death</a>. </p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="social"><ul id="sprite"><li id="sprite_s"><i class="sprite sprite-1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-2"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-3"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=&title=&summary=&source=" aria-label="linkedin" title="Share on LinkedIn" onclick="window.open('http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-4"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i></li></ul></div><section class="right-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-3"><div class="row"><div class="side-menu2"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><h2>Popular Content</h2></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="vikings_10.html" aria-label="Ivar the Boneless"><b>Ivar the Boneless</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/index/ivar.jpg" /><source media="(max-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Ivar" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="tower_index.html" aria-label="Tower of London"><b>Tower of London </b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/index/tower2.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Tower of London" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="crown_jewels.htm" aria-label="Crown Jewels"><b>Crown Jewels</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/index/jewel.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="The Crown Jewels" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="buckingham_palace.html" aria-label="Buckingham Palace"><b>Buckingham Palace</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/index/buckingham.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Buckingham Palace" /></picture></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></section><footer class="footer"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span>Copyright © 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved ®</span><span><a href="sitemap.html" aria-label="Sitemap">Sitemap</a></span><a href="privacy.html" aria-label="privacy">Privacy Policy</a></p></div></div></div></footer><script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-89969642-1"></script><script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag("js", new Date()); gtag("config", "UA-89969642-1"); </script></body></html>