List of English monarchs

List of English monarchs

Alfred the Great styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886. 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. But it is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England.

About List of English monarchs in brief

Summary List of English monarchsAlfred the Great styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886. 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. But it is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England. The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. In 1301 King Edward I invested his eldest son, the future King Edward II, as Prince of Wales. Since that time, except for King Edward III, the eldest sons of all English monarchs have borne this title. After the death of Queen Elizabeth I without issue, in 1603, King James VI of Scotland also became James I of England in personal union. No such kingdom was actually created until 1707, when England and Scotland united to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with a single British parliament sitting at Westminster, during the reign of Queen Anne, marking the end of England as a sovereign state. In 1066, several rival claimants to the English throne emerged. Among them were Godwinson, Harald and William II of Normandy. The young Edgar Ætheling was elected king of the Witan, but ultimately lost the throne to William the Conqueror on 14 October 1066.

The recent removal of Winchester from the capital from Winchester to London has made the removal of the capital a permanent fixture of the English capital. In the late 9th century, one kingdom, Wessex, had become the dominant English kingdom. Its king, Alfred the Great, was overlord of western Mercia and used the title King of 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 Scandinavia. After Harthacnut, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066 – but by then the Normans controlled the country and Harold had been killed at the Battle of Hastings. After Harold was killed at Hastings, the Witans elected Edgar Åtheling as king. He submitted to King William in 1066 but never ruled the country again. The son of Edgar, the young Edward Irideons, was elected as king of Winchester and Irideon in 1088. He was later killed in the Battle of Witenagemot, but the young grandson of Edgar was chosen as king by the citizens of London and a part of the Witan in 1089. The title was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king ofEngland. In 927, his son Edward the Elder conquered Northumbria and is thought to have been the first to rule all of England when he conquered the region.