This list of kings and 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 the whole of England, the House of Wessex.
Arguments are made for a few different kings thought to control 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 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 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 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  in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928.
The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under 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 without issue in 1603, 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 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.
House of Wessex
|- | (King of Wessex from 871)c. 886–26 October 899 | 100px | 849Son of Æthelwulf of Wessexand Osburh | Ealhswith of Gainsborough8685 children | 26 October 899Aged about 50 | Son of Æthelwulf of WessexTreaty of Wedmore |
|- | 26 October 899–17 July 924() | 100px | Son of Alfredand Ealhswith |  Ecgwynn2 children Ælfflæd8 children Eadgifu of Kent4 children | 17 July 924Aged about 50 | Son of Alfred |
|} Disputed
|- | –2 August 924() | 100px | Son of Edward the Elderand Ælfflæd | No children | 2 August 924Aged about 23 | Son of Edward the Elder |Yorke, Bishop Æthelwold.
p. 71.f. 9v, cited by Yorke.
|} There is some evidence that Ælfweard of Wessex may have been king in 924, between his father Edward the Elder and his brother Æthelstan, although he 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 is that when Edward died, Ælfweard was declared king in Wessex and Æthelstan in Mercia.
|- | 924–27 October 939(14–15 years) | 100px|King Athelstan from All Souls College Chapel | 894Son of Edward the Elderand Ecgwynn | Unmarried | 27 October 939Aged about 45 | Son of Edward the Elder |
|- | 27 October 939–26 May 946() | 100px | Son of Edward the Elderand Eadgifu of Kent |  Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury2 sons Æthelflæd of Damerham944No children | 26 May 946PucklechurchKilled in a brawl aged about 25 | Son of Edward the Elder |
|- | 26 May 946–23 November 955() | 100px | Son of Edward the Elderand Eadgifu of Kent | Unmarried | 23 November 955FromeAged about 32 | Son of Edward the Elder |
|- | 23 November 955–1 October 959() | 100px|Line engraving of Edwy made by an unknown engraver after an unknown artist | Son of and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury | ÆlfgifuNo verified children | 1 October 959Aged about 19 | Son of  |
|- | 1 October 959–8 July 975() | 100px|King Edgar of England | WessexSon of and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury |  Æthelflæd1 son Ælfthryth2 sons | 8 July 975WinchesterAged 31 | Son of  |
|- | 8 July 975–18 March 978() | 100px|St. Edward the Martyr | Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Æthelflæd | Unmarried | 18 March 978Corfe CastleMurdered aged about 16 | Son of Edgar the Peaceful |
|- | (1st reign)Æthelred the Unready18 March 978–1013(34–35 years) | 100px|Image of Æthelred II with an oversize sword from the illuminated manuscript "The Chronicle of Abingdon" | Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Ælfthryth |  Ælfgifu of York9919 children Emma of Normandy10023 children | 23 April 1016LondonAged about 48 | Son of Edgar the Peaceful |
|} House of Denmark
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.
|- | Sweyn Forkbeard25 December 1013–3 February 1014() | 100px|Sweyn Forkbeard, from an architectural element in the Swansea Guildhall, Swansea, Wales | 17 April 963DenmarkSon of Harald Bluetoothand either Tove or Gunhild |  Gunhild of Wenden7 children Sigrid the Haughty1 daughter | 3 February 1014GainsboroughAged 50 | Right of conquest |
|} 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, despite ongoing Danish efforts to wrest the crown from the West Saxons.
|- | (2nd reign)Æthelred the Unready3 February 1014–23 April 1016() | 100px|Image of Æthelred II with an oversize sword from the illuminated manuscript "The Chronicle of Abingdon" | Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Ælfthryth |  Ælfgifu of York9919 children Emma of Normandy10023 children | 23 April 1016LondonAged about 48 | Son of Edgar the Peaceful |
|- | 23 April 1016–30 November 1016() | 100px|Edmund Ironside | Son of Æthelredand Ælfgifu of York | Edith of East Anglia2 children | 30 November 1016GlastonburyAged 26 | Son of Æthelred |
|} House of Denmark (restored)
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.
|Cnut the Great18 October 1016–12 November 1035() |  100px | Son of Sweyn Forkbeardand Gunhilda of Poland |  Ælfgifu of Northampton2 sons Emma of Normandy10172 children | 12 November 1035ShaftesburyAged about 40 | Son of SweynTreaty of Deerhurst |
|- | 12 November 1035–17 March 1040() | 100px | Son of Cnut the Greatand Ælfgifu of Northampton |  | 17 March 1040OxfordAged about 24 | Son of Cnut the Great |
|- | 17 March 1040–8 June 1042() | 100px | 1018Son of Cnut the Greatand Emma of Normandy | Unmarried | 8 June 1042LambethAged about 24 | Son of Cnut the Great |
|} House of Wessex (restored, second time)
After Harthacnut, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066.
|- | 8 June 1042–5 January 1066() | 100px | IslipSon of Æthelredand Emma of Normandy | Edith of Wessex23 January 1045No children | 5 January 1066Westminster PalaceAged about 63 | Son of Æthelred |
|} House of Godwin
|- | 6 January 1066–14 October 1066() | 100px | Son of Godwin of Wessexand Gytha Thorkelsdóttir |  Edith Swannesha5 children Ealdgyth2 sons | 14 October 1066HastingsDied in the Battle of Hastings aged 44 | Supposedly named heir by Edward the ConfessorElected by the Witenagemot |
|}
---- Disputed claimant (House of Wessex)
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.
|- | (Title disputed)15 October 1066–17 December 1066() | 100px | Son of Edward the Exileand Agatha | No known marriage | 1125 or 1126Aged about 75 | Grandson of Edmund IronsideElected by the Witenagemot |
|} House of Normandy
In 1066, several rival claimants to the English throne emerged.
Among them were Harold Godwinson (recognised as king by the Witenagemot after 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 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 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.
|- | William the Conqueror25 December 1066–9 September 1087() | 100px|William the Conqueror depicted at the Battle of Hastings, on the Bayeux Tapestry | Falaise CastleSon of Robert the Magnificentand Herleva | Matilda of FlandersNormandy10539 children | 9 September 1087RouenAged about 59 | Supposedly named heir in 1052 by Edward the ConfessorFirst cousin once removed of Edward the ConfessorRight of conquest |
|- | William Rufus26 September 1087–2 August 1100() | 100px|William Rufus depicted in the Stowe Manuscript | NormandySon of William the Conquerorand Matilda of Flanders | Unmarried | 2 August 1100New ForestShot with an arrow aged 44 | Son of Granted the Kingdom of England over elder brother Robert Curthose |
|- | Henry Beauclerc5 August 1100–1 December 1135() | 100px|Henry I | September 1068SelbySon of William the Conquerorand Matilda of Flanders |  Matilda of ScotlandWestminster Abbey11 November 11002 children Adeliza of LouvainWindsor Castle29 January 1121No children | 1 December 1135Saint-Denis-en-LyonsAged 67 | Son of Seizure of the Crown (from Robert Curthose) |
|} House of Blois
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 invaded England, and in 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.
|- | Stephen of Blois22 December 1135–25 October 1154() | 100px|Stephen | BloisSon of  of Bloisand Adela of Normandy | Matilda of BoulogneWestminster11256 children | 25 October 1154Dover CastleAged about 58 | Grandson of Appointmentusurpation |
|} ---- Disputed claimants
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, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois.
During the ensuing Anarchy, Matilda controlled England for a few months in 1141—the first woman to do so—but was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England.
|- | Empress Matilda7 April 1141–1 November 1141() | 100px|Matilda | 7 February 1102Sutton CourtenayDaughter of and Edith of Scotland |   of the Holy Roman EmpireMainz6 January 1114No children Geoffrey V of AnjouLe Mans Cathedral22 May 11283 sons | 10 September 1167RouenAged 65 | Daughter of Seizure of the Crown |
|}
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 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.
House of Anjou/Plantagenet
King Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with 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 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 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 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.
|- | Henry Curtmantle19 December 1154–6 July 1189() | 100px|Henry II | None known | 5 March 1133Le MansSon of  of Anjouand Matilda | Eleanor of AquitaineBordeaux Cathedral18 May 11528 children | 6 July 1189ChinonAged 56 | Grandson of Treaty of Wallingford |
|- | colspan=99 | Henry II named his son, Henry the Young King (1155–1183), as co-ruler with him but this was a Norman custom of designating an heir, and the younger Henry did not outlive his father and rule in his own right, so he is not counted as a monarch on lists of kings.
|- | Richard the Lionheart3 September 1189–6 April 1199() | 100px|Richard the Lionheart, an illustration from a 12th-century codex | rowspan=2 | 100px | 8 September 1157Beaumont PalaceSon of and Eleanor of Aquitaine | Berengaria of NavarreLimassol12 May 1191No children | 6 April 1199ChâlusShot by a quarrel aged 41 | Son of Primogeniture |
|- | John Lackland27 May 1199–19 October 1216() | 100px|King John | 24 December 1166Beaumont PalaceSon of and Eleanor of Aquitaine |  Isabel of GloucesterMarlborough Castle29 August 1189No children Isabella of AngoulêmeBordeaux Cathedral24 August 12005 children | 19 October 1216Newark-on-TrentAged 49 | Son of Nomination Proximity of blood | |} Disputed claimant
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 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 I of England (though not crowned).
In less than a month, "King Louis I" 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 I of England" remains one of the least known kings to have ruled over a substantial part of England.“
The Only Two Louis in British History”.
TheCrownChronicles.co.uk.
Retrieved 2 May 2018.
|- | 2 June 1216–20 September 1217(1 year, 111 days) | 100px | 100px | 5 September 1187ParisSon of Philip II of Franceand Isabella of Hainault | Blanche of CastilePort-Mort23 May 120013 children | 8 November 1226MontpensierAged 39 | Right of conquest
Offered by the Barons
|} House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet takes its name from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, husband of the Empress Matilda and father of Henry II.
The name Plantagenet itself 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.
It 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.
|- | Henry of Winchester28 October 1216–16 November 1272() | 100px|Henry III | rowspan=3 | 100px | 1 October 1207Winchester CastleSon of Johnand Isabella of Angoulême | Eleanor of ProvenceCanterbury Cathedral14 January 12365 children | 16 November 1272Westminster PalaceAged 65 | Son of JohnPrimogeniture |
|- | Edward Longshanks20 November 1272–7 July 1307() | 100px|Edward I of England | 17 June 1239Palace of WestminsterSon of and Eleanor of Provence |  Eleanor of CastileAbbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas18 October 125416 children Margaret of FranceCanterbury10 September 12993 children | 7 July 1307Burgh by SandsAged 68 | Son of Primogeniture |
|- | Edward of Caernarfon8 July 1307–20 January 1327() | 100px | 25 April 1284Caernarfon CastleSon of and Eleanor of Castile | Isabella of FranceBoulogne Cathedral24 January 13084 children | 21 September 1327Berkeley CastleMurdered aged 43 | Son of Primogeniture |
|- | 25 January 1327–21 June 1377() | 100px | 75px75px | 13 November 1312Windsor CastleSon of and Isabella of France | Philippa of HainaultYork Minster25 January 132814 children | 21 June 1377Sheen PalaceAged 64 | Son of Primogeniture |
|- | 22 June 1377–29 September 1399() | 100px | 100px | 6 January 1367BordeauxSon of Edward the Black Princeand Joan of Kent |  Anne of Bohemia14 January 1382No children Isabella of ValoisCalais4 November 1396No children | 14 February 1400Pontefract CastleAged 33 | Grandson of Primogeniture |
|} 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 (then aged 7), a descendant of Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp).
|- | Henry of Bolingbroke30 September 1399–20 March 1413() | 100px|Henry IV | 75px75px | 15 April 1367Bolingbroke CastleSon of John of Gauntand Blanche of Lancaster |  Mary de BohunArundel Castle27 July 13806 children Joanna of NavarreWinchester Cathedral7 February 1403No children | 20 March 1413Westminster AbbeyAged 45 | Grandsonheir male of Usurpationagnatic primogeniture |
|- | 21 March 1413–31 August 1422() | 100px|Henry V | 100px | 16 September 1386Monmouth CastleSon of and Mary de Bohun | Catherine of ValoisTroyes Cathedral2 June 14201 son | 31 August 1422Château de VincennesAged 35 | Son of Agnatic primogeniture |
|- | (1st reign)1 September 1422–4 March 1461() | 100px|Henry VI | 100px | 6 December 1421Windsor CastleSon of and Catherine of Valois | Margaret of AnjouTitchfield Abbey22 April 14451 son | 21 May 1471Tower of LondonAllegedly murdered aged 49 | Son of Agnatic primogeniture |
|} House of York
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.
|- | (1st reign)4 March 1461–3 October 1470() | 100px|Edward IV | 100px | 28 April 1442RouenSon of Richard of Yorkand Cecily Neville | Elizabeth WoodvilleGrafton Regis1 May 146410 children | 9 April 1483Westminster PalaceAged 40 | Agnatic great-great-grandsonheir general of Seizure of the CrownCognatic primogeniture |
|} House of Lancaster (restored)
|- | (2nd reign)3 October 1470–11 April 1471() | 100px|Henry VI | 100px | 6 December 1421Windsor CastleSon of and Catherine of Valois | Margaret of AnjouTitchfield Abbey22 April 14451 son | 21 May 1471Tower of LondonAllegedly murdered aged 49 | Son of Seizure of the Crown |
|} House of York (restored)
|- | (2nd reign)11 April 1471–9 April 1483() | 100px|Edward IV | rowspan=3 | 100px | 28 April 1442RouenSon of Richard of Yorkand Cecily Neville | Elizabeth WoodvilleGrafton Regis1 May 146410 children | 9 April 1483Westminster PalaceAged 40 | Agnatic great-great-grandsonheir general of Seizure of the CrownCognatic primogeniture |
|- | 9 April 1483–25 June 1483() | 100px|Edward V | 2 November 1470WestminsterSon of and Elizabeth Woodville | Unmarried | Disappeared mid-1483LondonAllegedly murdered aged 12 | Son of Cognatic primogeniture |
|- | 26 June 1483–22 August 1485() | 100px|Richard III | 2 October 1452Fotheringhay CastleSon of Richard of Yorkand Cecily Neville | Anne NevilleWestminster Abbey12 July 14721 son | 22 August 1485Bosworth FieldKilled in battle aged 32 | Agnatic great-great-grandson of Titulus Regius |
|} House of Tudor
The Tudors descended in 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 the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year.Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (Cambridge University Press, 1995), 19–20.
Parliament did the same in an Act in 1397.Chris Skidmore, The Rise of the Tudors: The Family That Changed English History, (St.Martin's Press, 2013), 22.
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, 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 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 married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, thereby uniting the Lancastrian and York lineages.
(See family tree.)
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.
|- | 22 August 1485–21 April 1509() | 100px|Henry VII, by Michel Sittow, 1505 | rowspan=3 | 100px | 28 January 1457Pembroke CastleSon of Edmund Tudorand Margaret Beaufort | Elizabeth of YorkWestminster Abbey18 January 14868 children | 21 April 1509Richmond PalaceAged 52 | Great-great-great-grandson of Right of conquestHusband of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV |
|- | 22 April 1509–28 January 1547() | 100px|Henry VIII, by Hans Holbein, c.1536 | 28 June 1491Greenwich PalaceSon of and Elizabeth of York |  Catherine of AragonGreenwich11 June 15091 daughter Anne BoleynWestminster Palace25 January 15331 daughter Jane SeymourWhitehall Palace30 May 15361 son3 further marriagesNo more children | 28 January 1547Whitehall PalaceAged 55 | Son of  and Elizabeth of YorkPrimogeniture |
|- | 28 January 1547–6 July 1553() | 100px|Edward VI, by Hans Eworth | 12 October 1537Hampton Court PalaceSon of and Jane Seymour | Unmarried | 6 July 1553Greenwich PalaceAged 15 | Son of Primogeniture |
|}
---- Disputed claimant
Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir in his will, overruling 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.
|- | 10 July 1553–19 July 1553() | 100px | 100px | October 1537?Bradgate ParkDaughter of the 1st Duke of Suffolkand Frances Brandon | Guildford DudleyThe Strand21 May 1553No children | 12 February 1554Tower of LondonExecuted aged about 17 | Great-granddaughter of  and Elizabeth of YorkDevise for the Succession |
|}
----
|- | 19 July 1553–17 November 1558() | 100px|Mary I, by Antonius Mor, 1554 | rowspan=2 | 100px | 18 February 1516Greenwich PalaceDaughter of and Catherine of Aragon | Philip II of SpainWinchester Cathedral25 July 1554No children | 17 November 1558St James's PalaceAged 42 | Daughter of Third Succession Act |
|- | (Jure uxoris)25 July 1554–17 November 1558() | 100px|King Philip of England | 21 May 1527ValladolidSon of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empireand Isabella of Portugal | Mary I of EnglandWinchester Cathedral25 July 1554No children3 other marriages7 children | 13 September 1598El EscorialAged 71 | Husband of Act for the Marriage of Queen Mary to Philip of Spain |  |}
160px|thumb|Coat of arms of Mary I Under 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 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.
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.
Coins were minted showing the heads of both Mary and Philip, and the coat of arms of England was impaled with Philip's to denote their joint reign.
Acts were passed in England and in Ireland which made it high treason to deny Philip's royal authority .
In 1555, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip and Mary as rightful King and Queen of Ireland.
Upon Mary's death, Philip's reign jure uxoris ended and Mary's sister Elizabeth I became monarch.
|- | The Virgin Queen17 November 1558–24 March 1603() | 100px|Elizabeth I, by Darnley | 100px | 7 September 1533Greenwich PalaceDaughter of and Anne Boleyn | Unmarried | 24 March 1603Richmond PalaceAged 69 | Daughter of Third Succession Act |
|} House of Stuart
Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, her first cousin twice removed, King James VI of Scotland, 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 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.
|- | 24 March 1603–27 March 1625() | 100px|James I, by Paulus van Somer | rowspan=2 | 100px | 19 June 1566Edinburgh CastleSon of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley | Anne of DenmarkOslo23 November 15897 children | 27 March 1625Theobalds HouseAged 58 | Great-great-grandson of  and Elizabeth of York |
|- | 27 March 1625–30 January 1649() | 100px|Charles I, by Anthony van Dyck | 19 November 1600Dunfermline PalaceSon of and Anne of Denmark | Henrietta Maria of FranceSt Augustine's Abbey13 June 16259 children | 30 January 1649Whitehall PalaceExecuted aged 48 | Son of Cognatic primogeniture |
|} Interregnum
No monarch reigned after the 1649 execution of Charles I.
Between 1649 and 1653, there was no single English head of state, as England 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 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.
|- | 16 December 1653–3 September 1658() | 100px|Oliver Cromwell | rowspan=2 | 100px | 25 April 1599HuntingdonSon of Robert Cromwelland Elizabeth Steward | Elizabeth BourchierSt Giles22 August 16209 children | 3 September 1658WhitehallAged 59
|- | 3 September 1658–7 May 1659() | 100px|Richard Cromwell, c.1650 | 4 October 1626HuntingdonSon of Oliver Cromwelland Elizabeth Bourchier | Dorothy MaijorMay 16499 children | 12 July 1712CheshuntAged 85
|}
Richard Cromwell lacked both the ability to rule and the confidence of the Army, and was forcibly removed by the English Committee of Safety under the leadership of Charles Fleetwood in May 1659.
England again lacked any single head of state during several months of conflict between Fleetwood's party and that of George Monck.
Monck took control of the country in December 1659, and after almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was formally restored when Charles II returned from France to accept the throne following the Declaration of Breda and an invitation from the Convention Parliament of 1660.
House of Stuart (restored)
After the Monarchy was restored, England came under the rule of Charles II, whose reign was relatively peaceful domestically, given the tumultuous time of the Interregnum years.
Tensions still existed between Catholics and Protestants.
With the ascension of Charles's brother, the openly Catholic James II, England was again sent into a period of political turmoil.
James II was ousted by Parliament less than three years after ascending to the throne, replaced by his daughter Mary II and her husband (also his nephew) William III during the Glorious Revolution.
While James and his descendants would continue to claim the throne, all Catholics (such as James and his son Charles) were barred from the throne by the Act of Settlement 1701, enacted by Anne, another of James's Protestant daughters.
After the Acts of Union 1707, England as a sovereign state ceased to exist, replaced by the new Kingdom of Great Britain.
|- | 29 May 1660–6 February 1685() | 100px | rowspan=2 | 100px | 29 May 1630St James's PalaceSon of and Henrietta Maria of France | Catherine of BraganzaPortsmouth21 May 1662No children | 6 February 1685Whitehall PalaceAged 54 | Son of Cognatic primogenitureEnglish Restoration |
|- | 6 February 1685–23 December 1688(Overthrown after ) | 100px | 14 October 1633St James's PalaceSon of and Henrietta Maria of France |  Anne HydeThe Strand3 September 16608 children Mary of ModenaDover21 November 16737 children | 16 September 1701Château de Saint-Germain-en-LayeAged 67 | Son of Cognatic primogeniture |
|- | 13 February 1689–28 December 1694() | 100px | 100px | 30 April 1662St James's PalaceDaughter of and Anne Hyde | William III of EnglandSt James's Palace4 November 1677No children | 28 December 1694Kensington PalaceAged 32 | Daughter of Offered the Crown by Parliament |
|- | William of Orange13 February 1689–8 March 1702() | 100px | 100px | 4 November 1650The HagueSon of William II of Orangeand Mary of England | Mary II of EnglandSt James's Palace4 November 1677No children | 8 March 1702Kensington PalaceAged 51 | Grandson of Offered the Crown by Parliament |
|- | 8 March 1702–1 May 1707() | 100px | 100px | 6 February 1665St James's PalaceDaughter of and Anne Hyde | George of DenmarkSt James's Palace28 July 16833 children | 1 August 1714Kensington PalaceAged 49 | Daughter of Cognatic primogenitureBill of Rights 1689 |
|}
After the Acts of Union 1707, see List of British monarchs.
Acts of Union
The Acts of Union 1707 were 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 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.
Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate crowns resting on the same head.
There had been attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689, to unite England and Scotland by Acts of Parliament but it was not until the early 18th century that the idea had the support of both political establishments behind it, albeit for rather different reasons.
Timeline of English heads of state
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bar:Sweyn  from:1013 till: 1014 color:denmark text:"[[Sweyn Forkbeard]]"
bar:EdmundIronside  from:1016 till: 1016 color:wessex text:"[[Edmund Ironside]]"
bar:Cnut  from:1016 till: 1035 color:denmark text:"[[Cnut the Great]]"  bar:HaroldHarefoot  from:1035 till: 1040 color:denmark text:"[[Harold Harefoot]]"  bar:Harthacnut  from:1040 till: 1042 color:denmark text:"[[Harthacnut]]"
bar:EdwardConfessor  from:1042 till: 1066 color:wessex text:"[[Edward the Confessor]]"  bar:HaroldGodwinson  from:1066 till: 1066 color:wessex text:"[[Harold Godwinson]]"  bar:EdgarAetheling  from:1066 till: 1066 color:wessex text:"[[Edgar Ætheling]] (disputed)"
bar:WillI  from:1066 till: 1087 color:normandy text:"[[William the Conqueror]]"  bar:WillII  from:1087 till: 1100 color:normandy text:"[[William II of England|William II]]"  bar:HenryI  from:1100 till: 1135 color:normandy text:"[[Henry I of England|Henry I]]"
bar:Stephen  from:1135 till: 1154 color:blois text:"[[Stephen, King of England|Stephen]]"
bar:Matilda  from:1141 till: 1141 color:normandy text:"[[Empress Matilda|Matilda]] (disputed) ([[House of Normandy]])"
bar:Eustace  from:1152 till: 1153 color:blois text:"[[Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne|Eustace]] (disputed)"
bar:HenryII  from:1154 till: 1189 color:plantagenet text:"[[Henry II of England|Henry II]]"  bar:HenryYoungKing  from:1170 till: 1183 color:plantagenet text:"[[Henry the Young King]] (disputed)"  bar:RichI  from:1189 till: 1199 color:plantagenet text:"[[Richard I of England|Richard I]]"  bar:John  from:1199 till: 1216 color:plantagenet text:"[[John, King of England|John]]"
bar:Louis  from:1216 till: 1217 color:capet text:"[[Louis VIII|Louis]] (disputed)"
bar:HenryIII  from:1216 till: 1272 color:plantagenet text:"[[Henry III of England|Henry III]]"  bar:EdI  from:1272 till: 1307 color:plantagenet text:"[[Edward I of England|Edward I]]"  bar:EdII  from:1307 till: 1327 color:plantagenet text:"[[Edward II of England|Edward II]]"  bar:EdIII  from:1327 till: 1377 color:plantagenet text:"[[Edward III of England|Edward III]]"  bar:RichII  from:1377 till: 1399 color:plantagenet text:"[[Richard II of England|Richard II]]"
bar:HenryIV  from:1399 till: 1413 color:lancaster text:"[[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]"  bar:HenryV  from:1413 till: 1422 color:lancaster text:"[[Henry V of England|Henry V]]"  bar:HenryVI  from:1422 till: 1461 color:lancaster   from:1470 till: 1471 color:lancaster text:"[[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]"
bar:EdIV  from:1461 till: 1470 color:york  from:1471 till: 1483 color:york text:"[[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]"  bar:EdV  from:1483 till: 1483 color:york text:"[[Edward V of England|Edward V]]"  bar:RichIII  from:1483 till: 1485 color:york text:"[[Richard III of England|Richard III]]"
bar:HenryVII  from:1485 till: 1509 color:tudor text:"[[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]"  bar:HenryVIII  from:1509 till: 1547 color:tudor text:"[[Henry VIII]]"  bar:EdVI  from:1547 till: 1553 color:tudor text:"[[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]]"  bar:Jane  from:1553 till: 1553 color:grey text:"[[Lady Jane Grey]] (disputed)"  bar:MaryI  from:1553 till: 1558 color:tudor text:"[[Mary I of England|Mary I]]"  bar:Phil  from:1554 till: 1558 color:tudor text:"[[Philip II of Spain|Philip]]"  bar:LizI  from:1558 till: 1603 color:tudor text:"[[Elizabeth I]]"
bar:JamesVI  from:1603 till: 1625 color:stuart text:"[[James VI and I|James I]]"  bar:CharlesI  from:1625 till: 1649 color:stuart text:"[[Charles I of England|Charles I]]"
bar:Ollie  from:1653 till: 1658 color:commonwealth text:"[[Oliver Cromwell]]"  bar:RichCromwell  from:1658 till: 1659 color:commonwealth text:"[[Richard Cromwell]]"
bar:CharlesII  from:1660 till: 1685 color:stuart text:"[[Charles II of England|Charles II]]"  bar:JamesVII  from:1685 till: 1689 color:stuart text:"[[James II of England|James II]]"
bar:WillIII  from:1689 till: 1702 color:orange text:"[[William III of England|William III]]"
bar:MaryII  from:1689 till: 1694 color:stuart text:"[[Mary II of England|Mary II]]"  bar:Anne  from:1702 till: 1707 color:stuart text:"[[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]]"
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from: 886 till: 1013 color:wessex shift:(-100,5) text:[[House of Wessex|Wessex]]  from: 1013 till: 1014 color:denmark  from: 1014 till: 1016 color:wessex  from: 1016 till: 1042 color:denmark shift:(-21,5) text:[[House of Knýtlinga|Denmark]]  from: 1042 till: 1066 color:wessex  from: 1066 till: 1135 color:normandy shift:(-56,5) text:[[House of Normandy|Normandy]]  from: 1135 till: 1154 color:blois shift:(-15,5) text:[[House of Blois|Blois]]  from: 1154 till: 1399 color:plantagenet shift:(-210,5) text:[[Plantagenet]]  from: 1399 till: 1461 color:lancaster shift:(-54,5) text:[[House of Lancaster|Lancaster]]  from: 1461 till: 1470 color:york  from: 1470 till: 1471 color:lancaster  from: 1471 till: 1485 color:york shift:(-21,5) text:[[House of York|York]]  from: 1485 till: 1603 color:tudor shift:(-100,5) text:[[Tudor Dynasty|Tudor]]  from: 1603 till: 1649 color:stuart shift:(-39,5) text:
[[House of Stuart|Stuart]]  from: 1649 till: 1660 color:commonwealth shift:(-7,5) text:[[Commonwealth of England|CW]]  from: 1660 till: 1707 color:stuart  from: 1689 till: 1702 color:orange shift:(-9,5) text:[[House of Orange-Nassau|Orange-Nassau]] Titles
The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was  ("King of the English").
In addition, many of the pre-Norman kings assumed extra titles, as follows:
Æthelstan:  ("King of the Whole of Britain")
Edmund the Magnificent:  ("King of Britain") and  ("King of the English and of other peoples governor and director")
Eadred:  ("Reigning over the governments of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons, Northumbrians, Pagans, and British")
Eadwig the Fair:  ("King by the will of God, Emperor of the Anglo-Saxons and Northumbrians, governor of the pagans, commander of the British")
Edgar the Peaceful:  ("King of all Albion and its neighbouring realms")
Cnut the Great:  ("King of the English and of all the British sphere governor and ruler") and  ("Monarch of all the English of Britain")
In the Norman period  remained standard, with occasional use of  ("King of England").
The Empress Matilda styled herself  ("Lady of the English").
From the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of  or .
In 1604 James I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted 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).
See also
Alternative successions of the English and British crown
Bretwalda
Demise of the Crown
Heptarchy
Succession to the British throne, a historical overview and current rules
Succession to the British throne#Current line of succession, a list of people
List of English royal consorts
Family tree of English monarchs
Family tree of British monarchs
List of office holders of the United Kingdom and predecessor states
List of British monarchs
Lists of monarchs in the British Isles
List of Irish monarchs
List of monarchs of the British Isles by cause of death
List of monarchs of Wessex, AD 519 to 927
List of rulers of Wales
List of Scottish monarchs
Mnemonic verses of monarchs in England
List of legendary kings of Britain
Notes
Coronations
Burials
References
Citations
Sources
External links
*
English Monarchs Category:927 establishments
