English Monarchs - History of the kings and Queens of England
Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon kings, included Alfred the Great, the ineffectual Ethelred the Redeless (978-1016) and his pious son, Edward the Confessor (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 Edward the Confessor.The Confessor is said to have willed his throne to his brother-in-law, King Harold ...
Edmund I the Elder, Saxon King of England - English Monarchs
Edmund I, known as 'the Elder' or the Magnificent, was born circa 921, the son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife Edgiva. As a sixteen year old, he had fought with distinction beside his elder half-brother, King Athelstan, at the Battle of Brunanburh against a combined force of Scots and Vikings. Edmund was around eighteen when he ...
Stirling Castle, Scotland - English Monarchs
Stirling Castle Interior. Mary Queen of Scots spent the early part of her childhood at the castle from 27 July 1543 to February 1548, when she was moved to Dumbarton Castle and eventually left for France. Mary's coronation took place in the Chapel Royal at Stirling in 1543. Following the death of her first husband, Francois II of France, Mary returned to her native Scotland in …
Leeds Castle and Six Medieval Queens - English Monarchs
Maidstone, Kent. Home to medieval Kings and Queens of England, Leeds Castle is situated on the River Len, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Maidstone in Kent. Ledian or Leed, a minister of Ethelbert IV, the Anglo-Saxon King of Kent, built a wooden structure on two islands in the middle of the River Len in 857, the castle was rebuilt in stone in 1119 ...
A history of Henry II - English Monarchs
King of England. Arguably one of the most effective Kings ever to wear the English crown and the first of the great Plantagenet dynasty, the future Henry II was born at Le Mans, Anjou on 5th March, 1133. He was the son of that ill-matched pair, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Matilda, (known as the Empress, from her first marriage to ...
England's first Stuart monarch, James I & VI - English Monarchs
1603-1625. Early Years. England's first Stuart monarch, James I & VI, the son of that ill-matched pair, Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born at Edinburgh Castle after a difficult and protracted labour on 19th June 1566. Elizabeth I stood as godmother by proxy at his Catholic baptism when he was given the names James ...
Edward I, son of Henry III and Eleanor - English Monarchs
Edward Longshanks. Often considered the greatest of the Plantagenets, Edward I was born on the evening of 17th June 1239, at Westminster Palace, the firstborn child of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. He was named Edward in honour of his father's favourite saint, the Saxon King Edward the Confessor. Edward was a delicate child and suffered ...
The Tower of London - English Monarchs
The Salt Tower, one of the 21 towers which make up the Tower of London complex, was built in the late 1230's and is part of King Henry III's curtain wall which surrounds the fortress. Built on the Tower 's south-eastern corner, the Salt Tower overlooked the River Thames. The Salt Tower was initially known as the Julius Caesar's Tower and later ...
Historic Battles of the Kings and Queens - English Monarchs
The Battle of Brunanburh - 937. The Battle of Brunanburh, fought in 937 and one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on British soil, was a great Anglo-Saxon victory for a combined Anglo-Saxon army from Mercia and Wessex led by Athelstan, King of England, (the grandson of Alfred the Great) and his brother Edmund over the allied forces …
The Battle of Bosworth - English Monarchs
The Battle of Bosworth was fought on 22nd August 1485. One of the most significant battles ever to be fought on English soil sounded the death knell of the House of Plantagenet. The battle was fought between the armies of the last Yorkist king, Richard III and his Tudor challenger for the throne, Henry, Earl of Richmond, later to become King ...