the late Middle Ages
The Hundred Years War
The Great Famine
The Black Death
The Peasants’ Revolt
The War of the Roses
The Princes in the Tower
Plantagenet Kings
Anjevin Line
[1154 - 1399]
Henry II Curtmantle (1154 - 1189)
Richard I the Lionheart (1189 - 1199)
John Lackland (1199 - 1216)
Henry III (1216 - 1272)
Edward I Longshanks (1272 - 1307)
Edward II (1307 - 1327)
Edward III (1327 - 1377)
Richard II (1377 - 1399)
Edward II (1307 - 1327)
son of Edward I & (I)Eleanor of Castille
married Isabella of France
had few qualities of a successful medieval king
surrounded himself with favourites
barons feeling excluded from power rebelled
large debts (many inherited) and the Scots’ victory at Bannockburn by
Robert the Bruce in 1314 made Edward more unpopular
in 1326 Isabella of France led an invasion against her husband
in 1327 Edward II was made to renounce the throne in favour of his son
Edward (III)
he was later murdered at Berkeley Castle perhaps in a brutal way mocking
his homosexuality (Isabella & John Mortimer) or strangled & suffocated
“He was held in a cell above the rotting corpses of animals, in an attempt to
kill him indirectly. But he was extremely strong, fit and healthy, and survived
the treatment, until on the night of 21 September 1327, he was held down
and a red-hot poker pushed into his anus through a drenching-horn.”
Edward III (1327 - 1377)
son of Edward II & Isabella of France
married Philipa of Hainault
he was 14 when crowned king
created the Duchy of Cornwall to provide the heir to the throne with an income
independent of the sovereign or the state
an able soldier and an inspiring leader
founded the Order of the Garter in 1348
at the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1337 actual campaigning started when the
King invaded France in 1339 and laid claim to the throne of France
by 1360 Edward and his son Edward the Black Prince controlled over a quarter of France
under the 1375 Treaty of Bruges the French King Charles V reversed most of the English
conquests; Calais and a coastal strip near Bordeaux were Edward’s only lasting gain
the Black Death plague outbreaks of 1348-9, 1361-2 and 1369 inflicted severe social
dislocation and caused deflation
severe laws were introduced to attempt to fix wages and prices
in 1376, the “Good Parliament” attacked the high taxes and criticised the King’s advisers
the ageing King withdrew to Windsor for the rest of his reign; died at Sheen Palace,
Surrey
Richard II (1377 - 1399)
son of Edward, the Black Prince & Joan of Kent
married (I)Anne of Bohemia, (II)Isabel of France
Edward III's son, the Black Prince, died in 1376. The king's
grandson, Richard II, succeeded to the throne aged 10, on
Edward's death.
In 1381 the Peasants' Revolt broke out and Richard, aged
14, bravely rode out to meet the rebels at Smithfield,
London. Wat Tyler, the principal leader of the peasants,
was killed and the uprisings in the rest of the country
were crushed over the next few weeks (Richard was later
forced by his Council's advice to rescind the pardons he
had given).
Highly cultured, Richard was one of the greatest royal
patrons of the arts; patron of Chaucer, it was Richard who
ordered the technically innovative transformation of the
Norman Westminster Hall to what it is today. (Built
between 1097 and 1099 by William II, the Hall was the
ceremonial and administrative centre of the kingdom; it
also housed the Courts of Justice until 1882.)
Richard II (1377 - 1399)
Richard's authoritarian approach upset vested interests, and his increasing
dependence on favourites provoked resentment. In 1388 the 'Merciless
Parliament', led by a group of lords hostile to Richard (headed by the King's
uncle, Gloucester), sentenced many of the king's favourites to death and
forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. The death of his first queen,
Anne of Bohemia, in 1394 further isolated Richard, and his subsequent
arbitrary behaviour alienated people further.
Richard took his revenge in 1397, arresting or banishing many of his
opponents; his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, was also subsequently
banished. On the death of Henry's father, John of Gaunt (a younger son of
Edward III), Richard confiscated the vast properties of his Duchy of
Lancaster (which amounted to a state within a state) and divided them
among his supporters.
Richard pursued policies of peace with France (his second wife was Isabella
of Valois); Richard still called himself king of France and refused to give up
Calais, but his reign was concurrent with a 28 year truce in the Hundred
Years War. His expeditions to Ireland failed to reconcile the Anglo-Irish lords
with the Gaels.
In 1399, whilst Richard was in Ireland, Henry of Bolingbroke returned to
claim his father's inheritance. Supported by some of the leading baronial
families (including Richard's former Archbishop of Canterbury), Henry
captured and deposed Richard. Bolingbroke was crowned King as Henry IV.
Risings in support of Richard led to his murder in Pontefract Castle; Henry V
subsequently had his body buried in Westminster Abbey.
the Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453)
Roots of War
in 1337, Edward III had responded to the confiscation of
his duchy of Aquitaine by King Philip VI of France by
challenging Philip’s right to the French throne, while in
1453 the English had lost the last of their once wide
territories in France, after the defeat of John Talbot’s
Anglo-Gascon army at Castillon, near Bordeaux
Edward III claimed the throne of France through his
mother (the daughter of the king of France) - it was an
absurd claim but it led to a long lasting conflict between
England and France
the French crown went through males NOT females
English long-bowmen - made up for six French bowmen
England vs. France
first truly national European war
marked the end of feudalism which depended on the
superiority of the lord on the battlefield
the longbow proved to be a master weapon of everyday
man, proved more successful than knights
plundering expeditions
capturing nobles for money
and then the English were defeated by the Black Death
through the Treaty at Bretigny Edward II gave up his claim
to the throne of France in return for Aquitaine
the Black Prince renewed the war, invasion of Spain, had to
tax his subjects in Aquitaine; contracted Spanish fever and
died in 1376
It all gave France a national
unity; French hatred united
all classes - the story of
Joan of Arc and the English
defeat
Rulers During the Hundred Years War
The Kings of
England:
The Kings of
France:
The Dukes
of Burgundy:
Edward III
Philip VI
Richard II
John II
Philip II the
Bold
Henry IV
Charles V
Henry V
Charles VI
Henry VI
Charles VII
John the
Fearless
Philip the
Good
the Century of Plague
tha Great Famine (1315-1317)
tha Great Famine (1315-1317)
from 800 to 1300, the total production of Europe had increased steadily
although there had been local food shortages in which many people died of starvation, the
standard of living in Western Europe had risen even while the population had steadily
increased
by the beginning of the 14th century, however, the population had grown to such an extent
that the land could provide enough resources to support it only under the best of conditions
there was no longer any margin for crop failures or even harvest shortfalls
the Western European climate was undergoing a slight change, with cooler and wetter
summers and earlier autumn storms - worse conditions for agriculture
there had been famines before, but none with such a large population to feed, and none that
persisted so long
a wet Spring in 1315 made it impossible to plough all of the fields that were ready for
cultivation
heavy rains rotted some of the seed grain before it could germinate
the harvest was smaller than usual and the food reserves of many families were quickly
depleted
people gathered food from the forest: edible roots, plants, grasses, nuts, and bark
although many people were weakened by malnutrition the historical evidence suggests that
relatively few died
tha Great Famine (1315-1317)
the Spring & Summer of 1316 were cold and wet again
peasant families had less energy to till the land needed for a harvest to make up for the
previous shortfall
possessed a much smaller food supply in reserve to sustain them until the next harvest
by the spring of 1317, all classes of society were suffering, the lowest the most
draft animals were slaughtered, seed grain was eaten, infants and the younger children
abandoned
many of the elderly voluntarily starved themselves to death so that the younger members of
the family might live to work the fields again
there were numerous reports of cannibalism
the weather had returned to its normal pattern by the summer of 1317, but the people of
Europe were incapable of making a quick recovery
an important factor was the scarcity of grain available to be used as seed
any of the surviving people and animals were simply too weak to work effectively
about 10-15% of the population died of pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other
sicknesses that the starving sufferers’ weakness had made fatal, and there were fewer
mouths to feed
so Europe was able to recover, although slowly (by 1325 the food supply had returned to a
relatively normal state and population began increasing again
the Black Death (1347-1351)
medieval people actually liked to wash...
conversion of forest into arable land -->
reduced supply of wood -->
bath houses began shutting down
by mid 14th c. only the rich could afford
bathing during the cold winter months
shortage of wood for fuel had made
hot water a luxury and personal
hygiene substandard
most of the population was dirty...
In 1347 a Genoese ship from Caffa, on the Black Sea, came ashore
at Messina, Sicily. The crew of the ship, what few were left alive,
carried with them a deadly cargo, a disease so virulent that it
could kill in a matter of hours. It is thought that the disease
originated in the Far East, and was spread along major trade
routes to Caffa, where Genoa had an established trading post.
When it became clear that ships from the East carried the plague,
Messina closed its port. The ships were forced to seek safe
harbour elsewhere around the Mediterranean, and the disease
was able to spread quickly.
During the Medieval period the plague went by several names, the
most common being "the Pestilence" and "The Great Mortality".
Theories about the cause of the disease were numerous, ranging
from a punishment from God to planetary alignment to evil stares.
Not surprisingly, many people believed that the horrors of the
Black Death signalled the Apocalypse, or end of time. Others
believed that the disease was a plot by Jews to poison all of the
Christian world, and many Jews were killed by panicked mobs.
the Black Death (1347-1351)
transmitted primarily by fleas and rats
the stomachs of the fleas were infected with bacteria known as Y.
Pestis
the bacteria would block the “throat” of an infected fleas so that no
blood could reach its stomach, and it grew ravenous since it was
starving to death
it would attempt to suck up blood from its victim, only to disgorge it
back into its prey’s bloodstream
the blood it injected back was now mixed with Yersinia Pestis
infected fleas infected rats in this fashion, and the other fleas
infesting those rats were soon infected by their host’s blood
they then spread the disease to other rats, from which other fleas
were infected, and so on
as their rodent hosts died out, the fleas migrated to the bodies of
humans and infected them, and so the plague spread
The disease appeared in three forms:
bubonic [infection of the lymph system - 60% fatal] infected people experienced great swellings (bubos)
of their lymph glands and took to their beds
pneumonic [respiratory infection - 100% fatal] would die quickly, but not before developing
symptoms: a sudden fever that turned the face a
dark rose colour, a sudden attack of sneezing,
followed by coughing, coughing up blood, and death
septicaemic [blood infection - probably 100% fatal]
- would die quickly, before any obvious symptoms
appeared
It isn't clear exactly when or where the Black Death reached England. Some reports at the time pointed to
Bristol, others to Dorset. The disease may have appeared as early as late June or as late as August 4. We do
know that in mid-summer the Channel Islands were reeling under an outbreak of the plague. From this
simple beginning the disease spread throughout England with dizzying speed and fatal consequences.
The effect was at its worst in cities, where overcrowding and primitive sanitation aided its spread. On
November 1 the plague reached London, and up to 30,000 of the city's population of 70,000 inhabitants
succumbed.
Over the next 2 years the disease killed between 30-40% of the entire population. Given that the pre-plague
population of England was in the range of 5-6 million people, fatalities may have reached as high as 2 million
dead.
One of the worst aspects of the disease to the medieval Christian mind is that people died without last rites
and without having a chance to confess their sins. Pope Clement VI was forced to grant remission of sins to
all who died of the plague because so many perished without benefit of clergy. People were allowed to
confess their sins to one another, or "even to a woman".
The death rate was exceptionally high in isolated populations like prisons and monasteries. It has been
estimated that up to two-thirds of the clergy of England died within a single year.
Peasants fled their fields. Livestock were left to fend for themselves, and crops left to rot. The monk Henry
of Knighton declared, "Many villages and hamlets have now become quite desolate. No one is left in the
houses, for the people are dead that once inhabited them."
The Border Scots saw the pestilence in England as a punishment of God on their enemies. An army
gathered near Stirling to strike while England lay defenceless. But before the Scots could march, the plague
decimated their ranks. Pursued by English troops, the Scots fled north, spreading the plague deep into their
homeland.
In an effort to assuage the wrath of God, many people turned to public acts of penitence. Processions
lasting as long as three days were authorised by the Pope to mollify God, but the only real effect of these
public acts was to spread the disease further.
By the end of 1350 the Black Death had subsided, but it never really died out in England for the next several
hundred years. There were further outbreaks in 1361-62, 1369, 1379-83, 1389-93, and throughout the first
half of the 15th century. It was not until the late 17th century that England became largely free of serious
plague epidemics.
the Miasma theory
Miasma: A poisonous vapor or mist believed to be made up of
particles from decomposing material that could cause disease
and could be identified by its foul smell.
The miasma theory of disease originated in the Middle Ages and
persisted for centuries. During the Great Plague of 1665, doctors
wore masks filled with sweet-smelling flowers to keep out the
poisonous miasmas. Because of the miasmas, they sanitized
some buildings, required that night soil be removed from public
proximity and had swamps drained to get rid of the bad smells.
However, the miasmic approach only worked if something
smelled bad. In the winter, sanitation was forgotten. The theory
of miasmas was still popular in the 1800s and led to the "Bad Air
theory" which lasted until the 1860s and 1870s. Miasmic
reasoning prevented many doctors from adopting new practices
like washing their hands between patients. Lethal agents
traveled by air, they thought, not lodged beneath a doctor's
fingernail.
Consequences
no more serfs due to labour shortage, no peasants
could be paid for their services
yeomen - free peasants/farmers
a change in the social system
Statute of Labourers set fixed wages
about one third of the population of Britain - dead
Peasants’ Revolt - 1381
Peasants’ Revolt
Nov 1380 - A Poll Tax levied, disregarding the income (a shilling a head - male
population)
not really peasants; constables, stewards, etc.
made a little money after the plague period
knew how to organise an army (use the desperate men just above the poverty line)
it was a class fight (fought to prevent their money being taken from them)
sherifs were attacked and killed
elected Wat Tyler as their leader
marched at London to appeal to King Richard II (under his uncle’s John of Gaunt’s
influence)
paradoxically remained fervently loyal to the crown (believed the right was on their side)
churches looted, palaces put to the torch, men of the church butchered
Richard II met with the rebels at Smithfield, promised pardon to all
then a squire attacks Wat Tyler; the King’s men finish him off
Richard II shouts: “You shall have no captain but me!”
Richard promises that the taxes will be repealed, but as the rebels return they are
hunted and executed
Lancastrians vs. Yorkists
and the War of the Roses
1455 - 1487
"England hath long been mad, and scarr’d herself:
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood;
The father rashly slaughter’d his own son;
The son, compell’d, been butcher to the sire.
All this divided York and Lancaster..."
William Shakespeare, Richard III
Major causes of the conflict:
both houses were direct descendants of king
Edward III
the ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI (who had
himself usurped the throne of his cousin
Richard II), surrounded himself with unpopular
nobles
the civil unrest of much of the population
the availability of many powerful lords with their
own private armies
episodes of mental illness by King Henry VI
The most instrumental people:
Yorkists: Richard Neville, Earl of
Warwick, the Kingmaker
Lancastrians: Margaret of Anjou
(Henry VI’s wife), She-wolf courage and determination
Battles
The First Battle of St Albans 22 May
1455
The Battle of Blore Heath 23
September 1459
The Battle of Northampton 10 July
1460
The Battle of Wakefield 30 December
1460
The Battle of Mortimer's Cross 2
February 1461
The Second Battle of St Albans 17
February 1461
The Battle of Ferry Bridge 28 March
1461
The Battle of Towton 29 March 1461
The Battle of Hedgeley Moor 25 April
1464
The Battle of Hexham 15 May 1464
The Battle of Edgecote Moor 26 July
1469
The Battle of Losecote Field 12 March
1470
The Battle of Barnet 14 April 1471
The Battle of Tewkesbury 4 May 1471
The Battle of Bosworth 22 August 1485
The Battle of Stoke 16 June 1487
Who won which battle?
House of Lancaster
House of Lancaster
The accession of Henry IV sowed
the seeds for a period of unrest
which ultimately broke out in civil
war. Fraught by rebellion and
instability after his usurpation of
Richard II, Henry IV found it
difficult to enforce his rule. His
son, Henry V, fared better,
defeating France in the famous
Battle of Agincourt (1415) and
staking a powerful claim to the
French throne. Success was
short-lived with his early death.
House of Lancaster
By the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI,
civil war broke out between rival claimants
to the throne, dating back to the sons of
Edward III. The Lancastrian dynasty
descended from John of Gaunt, third son of
Edward III, whose son Henry Bolingbroke
deposed the unpopular Richard II.
Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York
asserted their legitimate claim to the throne
through Edward III’s second surviving son,
but through a female line. The War of the
Roses therefore tested whether the
succession should keep to the male line or
could pass through females.
captured and briefly restored, Henry IV was
put to death and the Yorkist faction led by
Edward IV gained the throne.
House of York
House of York
The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians
in 1461 did not put an end to the Wars of
the Roses, which rumbled on until the
start of the sixteenth century. Family
disloyalty in the form of Richard III’s
betrayal of his nephews, the young King
Edward V and his brother Richard, was
part of his downfall. Henry Tudor, a
claimant to the throne of Lancastrian
descent, defeated Richard III in battle.
With the marriage of
Henry Tudor to
Elizabeth, the sister
of the young Princes
in the Tower,
reconciliation was
finally achieved
between the warring
houses of Lancaster
and York in the form
of the new Tudor
dynasty, which
combined their
respective red and
white emblems to
produce the Tudor
rose.
Plantagenet Kings
Lancastrian Line
[1399 - 1461]
Henry IV Bolingbroke (1399 - 1413)
Henry V (1413 - 1422)
Henry VI (1422 - 1461; 1470 - 1471)
Plantagenet Kings
Yorkists Line
[1461 - 1485]
Edward IV (1461 - 1470; 1471 - 1483)
Edward V (1483 - never crowned)
Richard III Crookback (1483 - 1485)
Henry IV Bolingbroke (1399 - 1413)
son of John of Gaunt & Blanche Lancaster
married (I) Mary de Bohun, (II) Joan of Navarre
spent much of the early part of his reign fighting to keep
control of his lands
exiled for life by Richard II in 1399, Henry’s successful
usurpation did not lead to general recognition of his
claim (remained unrecognised as King by Charles VI of
France)
an outbreak of the plague in 1400 was accompanied by a
revolt in Wales led by Owen Glendower
in 1403, Henry’s supporters, the Percys of
Northumberland, turned against him and conspired with
Glendower - they were defeated by Henry at the battle of
Shrewsbury; the victory was followed by the execution
of other rebels at York (including the Archbishop in 1405)
by 1408 Henry had gained control of the country
he was dogged by illness from 1405 onwards; his son
played a greater role in government (even opposing the
King at times)
in 1413, Henry died exhausted, in the Jerusalem
Chamber at Westminster Abbey (leprosy & epilepsy)
Henry V (1413 - 1422)
son of Henry IV & Mary de Bohun
married Katherine of Valois
soon after his succession, Henry V laid claim to the French crown
stern and ruthless, Henry was a brilliant general who gad gained
military experience in his teens, when he fought alongside his
father at the battle of Shrewsbury
in 1415, he set sail for France, capturing Harfleur
his offer to the French Dauphin of personal combat was, like
those of his predecessors (Richard I & Edward III), refused, but
he went on to defeat the French at the battle of Agincourt
in alliance with unreliable Burgundy, and assisted by his brothers
(the Dukes of Clarence, Bedford and Gloucester), Henry gained
control of Normandy in subsequent campaigns
by the Treaty of Troves (1420), he gained recognition as heir to
the French throne, and married Charles VI’s daughter Katherine
Henry’s success was short lived and he died of dysentery in 1422
Henry VI (1422 - 1461; 1470 - 1471)
son of Henry V & Catherine of Valois; married Margaret of Anjou
born at Windsor Castle, Henry VI succeeded to the thrones of England and France before the age of one,
when his father Henry V and his grandfather Charles VI of France died within months of each other
Henry was crowned King of England in 1429 and in 1431, King of France (as Charles VII)
His minority was dominated by his uncles Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Gloucester (who opposed
each other). Another uncle, the Duke of Bedford, was Regent of France; his death in 1435, combined with
Burgundy breaking the alliance with England, led to the collapse of English rule in northern France.
The dual monarchy proved too difficult for the king and England to maintain; the successes of the Dauphin
and Joan of Arc began to weaken England's grip on its French possessions and Normandy was lost in 1450.
Henry's cultural patronage and genuine interest in education (he founded Eton and King's College,
Cambridge) were outweighed by his patchy and partisan interest in administration. Failure in France and
domestic unrest (for example, the Cade rebellion of 1450) encouraged factionalism.
In 1453 the King became ill. Richard, Duke of York, was made Protector in 1454. The King recovered in
1455, but civil war between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions broke out (the Wars of the Roses). For the
rest of his reign, Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou, was determined to fight, rather than negotiate a
compromise, for the Lancastrian cause of her husband and son.
Pitted against Henry was the Duke of York, asserting his legitimate claim to the throne descended as he
was, through his mother, from Edward III's second surviving son (Henry VI was descended from Edward's
third surviving son). The Wars of the Roses were therefore a struggle to decide if the succession should
keep to the male line or could pass through females. The Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield
in 1460.
In 1461, Edward, an able commander, defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton (out of the 120,000
men who fought, 28,000 died). London opened its gates to the Yorkist forces; Henry and his queen fled to
Scotland. An unsuccessful military campaigner, Henry was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of
London in 1465, but was restored to the throne in 1470.
His brief period of freedom ended after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 (in which his son Edward, Prince of
Wales was killed) when Edward IV regained the throne, and Henry was put to death in the Tower of London.
Edward IV (1461 - 1470; 1471 - 1483)
son of Richard Duke of York & Cecily Neville
married Elizabeth Woodville
he was able to restore order, despite the temporary return to the throne of
Henry IV (reigned 1470-1, during which time Edward IV fled to the Continent in
exile) supported by the Earl of Warwick, “the Kingmaker”, who had previously
supported Edward
made peace with France by reaching a profitable agreement with Louis XI at
Picquigny in 1475
at home he relied heavily on his own control in government, reviving the ancient
custom of sitting in person “on the bench” (judgment) to enforce justice
sacked Lancastrian office-holders and used his financial acumen to introduce
tight management of royal revenues to reduce the Crown’s debt
building closer relations with the merchant community; encouraged commercial
treaties; successfully traded wool to restore his family’s fortunes, enabling the
king to “live of his own”; paid the costs of the country’s administration from the
Crown Estates profits, thus freeing him from dependence on subsidies from
Parliament
rebuilt St. George’s chapel at Windsor, where he was buried, and a new great
hal at Eltham Palace
collected illuminated manuscripts and patronised the new invention of printing
he died in 1483, leaving a 12-year old son, Edward (V) to succeed him
Edward V (1483 - never crowned)
son of Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville
he was a minor so his uncle Richard, Duke of
Gloucester, was made Protector
Richard was suspicious of the Woodville faction
(Edward V mother’s family), believing hey were the
cause of his other brother’s, Duke of Clarence’s,
death
in response to an attempt by Elizabeth Woodville to
take power, Richard and Edward V entered London in
May, with Edward’s coronation fixed for 22nd June
however, in mid-June Richard assumed the throne
himself
Edward V and his younger brother Richard were
declared illegitimate, taken to the Royal apartments
at the Tower of London (then a Royal residence) and
never seen again. Skeletons, allegedly theirs, found
there in 1674 were later buried in Westminster Abbey.
Richard III Crookback (1483 - 1485)
son of Richard Duke of York and Cecily Neville
younger brother of Edward IV & uncle of Edward V
married Anne Neville
usurped the throne from the young Edward V, who disappeared
with his younger brother Richard while under their ambitious
uncle’s protection [the Princes in the Tower]
the first laws written entirely in English were passed during his
reign
on 1484, Richard’s only legitimate son Edward predeceased him
on 7th August 1485, henry Tudor (a direct descendant through his
mother a Beaufort, of John of Gaunt, one of Edward III’s younger
sons) landed at Milford Haven in Wales to claim the throne
on 22nd August, in a 2-hour battle at Bosworth, Henry’s forces
defeated Richard’s larger army, and Richard was killed.
he was buried without a monument in Leicester, his bones
scattered during the English Reformation
The Tudor Dynasty
[1485 - 1603]
Henry VII Tudor (1485 - 1509)
Henry VIII (1509 - 1547)
Edward VI (1547 - 1553)
Lady Jane Grey (1553)
Mary I Tudor (1553 - 1558)
Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603)
The Stuart Dynasty
[1603 - 1649 & restored 1660 - 1714]
James I (1603 - 1625) [James VI of Scotland]
Charles I (1625 - 1649)
...the Commonwealth...
Charles II (1660 - 1685)
James II (1685 - 1688)
Queen Mary II &King William of Orange (1688 - 1702)
Queen Anne (1702 - 1714)
The Commonwealth
[1649 - 1659]
Oliver Cromwell (1649 - 1658)
Richard Cromwell (1658 - 1659)
The Hanoverian Dynasty
[1714 - 1901]
George I (1714 - 1727)
George II (1727 - 1760)
George III (1760 - 1820)
George IV (1820 - 1830)
William IV (1830 - 1837)
Victoria (1837 - 1901)
The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
& Windsor
[1901 - present]
Edward VII (1901 - 1910)
George V (1910 - 1936)
Edward VIII (1936 - abdicated)
George VI (1936 - 1952)
Elizabeth II (1952 - present)