Kingdom of England
United Kingdom, 927 CE–1707. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 927, when all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united under the rule of Æthelstan, until 1 May 1707. The Norman Conquest in 1066 led to the transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from Winchester to Westminster. Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation, and his daughter Elizabeth I the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, while establishing England as a great power. Under the Stuarts, England plunged into civil war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649, and the monarchy returned in 1660.
Seat of power: London
Rulers
Æthelred the Unready
Monarch of England, 978 CE–1016
Soon after he became king, Viking attacks resumed, and the king and his advisers gave the Vikings tribute to leave England. Swein Forkbeard of Denmark conquered England in December 1013, and the king returned to the throne in 1014 when Swein died.
Portrait of Æthelred the Unready: See description, Public domain, file
Edward the Confessor
Monarch of England, 1042–1066
The king restored the rule of the House of Wessex after Danish rule that began when Cnut conquered England in 1016. Historians disagree about the king's fairly long reign.
Portrait of Edward the Confessor: Myrabella, Public domain, file
Henry I of England
Monarch of England, 1100–1135
Henry seized the English throne ahead of his brother Robert when William died in a hunting accident, and promised to correct many of William's less popular policies. He was considered a harsh but effective ruler who strengthened the Anglo-Saxon system of justice with institutions such as the royal exchequer and itinerant justices.
Portrait of Henry I of England: John of Worcester, CC BY 4.0, file
Henry II of England
Monarch of England, 1154–1189
Henry controlled England, limited parts of Wales and Ireland, and much of France, an area later called the Angevin Empire. His desire to control the English Church led to conflict with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170.
Portrait of Henry II of England: Gerald of Wales, Public domain, file
Henry III of England
Monarch of England, 1216–1272
Henry became king at the age of nine in the middle of the First Barons' War. After a revolt, Henry ruled England personally instead of governing through senior ministers. He extracted huge sums of money from the Jews in England, and later introduced the Statute of Jewry, which attempted to segregate the Jewish community from the English populace.
Portrait of Henry III of England: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, file
Edward I of England
Monarch of England, 1272–1307
Edward spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law. He conquered Wales and then built castles and towns in the countryside, settling them with English people. He claimed feudal suzerainty over Scotland and invaded it, and the ensuing First Scottish War of Independence continued after his death.
Portrait of Edward I of England: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Edward III of England
Monarch of England, 1327–1377
He was crowned at age fourteen, and at age seventeen he led a successful coup d'état against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of England, and began his personal reign. He declared himself rightful heir to the French throne, starting the Hundred Years' War. His reign saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English Parliament, as well as the ravages of the Black Death.
Portrait of Edward III of England: William Bruges, Public domain, file
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Richard II of England
Monarch of England, 1377–1399
Richard became king as a child, and in his first years government was in the hands of regency councils influenced by his uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. A major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the brutal suppression of this crisis. In June 1399 Henry invaded England and, meeting little resistance, deposed Richard and had himself crowned king as Henry IV.
Portrait of Richard II of England: anonymous / Possibly André Beauneveu, Public domain, file
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Henry VI of England
Monarch of England, 1422–1461
He became king of England at the age of nine months after the death of his father. His reign in England was marked by weak royal authority, factional conflict among the nobility, and a prolonged period of mental incapacity beginning in 1453, which contributed significantly to political instability and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses. His reign saw the near total loss of English lands in France.
Portrait of Henry VI of England: Poems and Romances (Shrewsbury book), illuminated by the MASTER OF JOHN TALBOT, Public domain, file
Edward IV of England
Monarch of England, 1461–1483
He was a member of the House of York and a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. After defeating Lancastrian armies at Mortimer's Cross and Towton in early 1461, he deposed King Henry VI and took the throne. Despite facing an overseas threat from Henry Tudor, Edward reigned in relative peace for the next twelve years.
Portrait of Edward IV of England: Lucas Horenbout, Public domain, file
Henry VII of England
Monarch of England, 1485–1509
He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France and Scotland, defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes.
Portrait of Henry VII of England: anonymous, Public domain, file
Henry VIII of England
Monarch of England, 1509–1547
Henry appealed to Pope Clement VII for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine, and after Clement refused, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage void in the eyes of the Church of England in 1533. Henry then passed the Acts of Supremacy, establishing himself as Supreme Head of the Church of England and relieving his realms from obedience to the pope. He dissolved Catholic monasteries and seized their wealth, contributing to the English Reformation.
Portrait of Henry VIII of England: Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger, Public domain, file
Elizabeth I of England
Monarch of England, 1558–1603
After Mary's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel, depending heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English church, of which she became the supreme governor. In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution.
Portrait of Elizabeth I of England: Unidentified painter, Public domain, file
Charles I of England
Monarch of England, 1625–1649
After his accession in 1625, Charles quarrelled with the English Parliament, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without Parliamentary consent. From 1642 Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, and was executed in 1649.
Portrait of Charles I of England: Workshop of Anthony van Dyck, Public domain, file
Charles II of England
Monarch of England, 1660–1685
After nine years in exile, Charles was invited to return to Britain when the monarchy was restored in 1660. The English Parliament enacted the Clarendon Code to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, and Charles accepted these laws even though he favoured religious tolerance. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.
Portrait of Charles II of England: John Michael Wright, Public domain, file
Culture
- The Elizabethan era is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.
- The Bayeux Tapestry is technically an embroidery rather than a true tapestry, since the images are stitched rather than woven into the fabric.
- The Great Charter of 1225 was a later version of Magna Carta of 1215, which limited royal power and protected the rights of the major barons.
Picture
The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres long that depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Image: Unknown author, Public domain, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.