Brit Kings and Queens--a family tree

Timeline of the Kings and Queens of England

The House of York
1461 -1470 1471 -1485

* King Edward IV 1461 -1470, 1471 - 1483
* King Edward V 1483 - 1483
* King Richard III 1483 - 1485


King Edward IV 1461 -1470, 1471 - 1483

+ Age 19-41
+ Great-great-great-grandson of Edward III
+ Married Elizabeth (English)
+ Nine children
+ Buried in Windsor Castle.

Came to the throne in 1461 after defeating Henry Vl at the Battle of Towton, in Yorkshire. He was just 19 years old. Tried to bring peace to the country.

During his reign the first printing press was established in Westminster by William Caxton.

King Edward V 1483 - 1483

* Age 12
* Son of Edward IV
* Murdered in the Tower of London
* Now buried in Westminster Abbey.

Elder son of Edward IV. He reigned for only two months. He and his brother Richard were murdered in the Tower of London. He was only about 12 years old when he died.

King Richard III 1483 - 1485

# Age 31-33
# Younger brother of Edward IV
# Married Anne (English)
# One child
# Killed in battle 1485
# Buried in Greyfriars Church, Leicester.

Prime suspect to the suspected murders of the two princes, Edward and Richard.

He was killed in battle against Henry Tudor (Henry VII) ending the Wars of the Roses. He was the last English King to die on the Battlefield.
* King Henry VII 1485 - 1509
* King Henry VIII 1509 - 1547
* King Edward VI 1547 - 1553
* Jane Grey 1554
* Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) 1553 - 1558
* Queen Elizabeth I 1558 - 1603

King Henry VII 1485 - 1509

* Age 28-52
* Great-great-great-grandson of Edward III
* Married Elizabeth (daughter of Edward IV)
* Seven children
* Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Henry gained the throne when he defeated and killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The battle ended the War of the Roses, a dispute between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

Kept England peaceful and brought riches to the crown and country.

King Henry VIII 1509 - 1547

# Age 18-56
# Second son of Henry VII
# Married Catherine of Aragon (Spanish), Anne Boleyn
(English), Jane Seymore (English), Anne of Cleves (Flemish-Belgian), Catherine Howard (English), Catherine Parr (English)
# Three children
# Buried in Windsor Castle.

Henry succeeded to the throne because his elder brother Arthur died in 1502. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was Arthur's wife.
The best known fact about Henry VIII is that he had six wives!
Argued with the Pope and made himself the head of the new 'Church of England'.

Most school children learn the following rhyme to help them remember the fate of each wife: "Divorced, Beheaded, Died: Divorced, Beheaded, Survived"

Edward King Edward VI 1547 - 1553

* Age 10-16
* Son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.
* Unmarried
* Died from consumption
* Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Edward reigned under the protection of his uncle, the Duke of Somerset.
Edward was never a healthy King and died aged only 15 years.\

Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) 1553 - 1558

* Age 37-42
* Daughter of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragón
* Married Philip (Spanish)
* No Children
* Buried in Westminster.


Married Philip II of Spain. Wanted to make England Catholic again. Killed many who opposed her which is why she is remembered as Bloody Mary.

Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth I 1558 - 1603

* Age 25-69
* Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
* Unmarried
* Buried in Westminster Abbey.

During her reign great adventurers discovered many new lands. Fought off the Spanish Armada.

Named James VI of Scotland her heir, uniting the two countries Scotland and England.
The Stuarts were the first
kings of the United Kingdom.

Now Scotland provided England with a new line of kings, the Stuarts. They were to bring disaster to the nation for, coming from Scotland where royal power had not been curbed by Parliament, they had no understanding of the more democratic ways that had developed in England.

* James I 1603 - 1625
* Charles I 1625 - 1649
* Charles II 1660 - 1685
* James II 1685 - 1688
* William III 1688 - 1702 and Queen Mary II 1688 - 1694
* Queen Anne 1702 - 1714

James 1James I 1603 - 1625

* Age 37-59
* Great-great-grandson of Henry VII
* Married Anne (Danish)
* Seven children
* Buried in Westminster.

When James became King of England, he was already a king - King James VI of Scotland. He was the first monarch to rule both countries and the first to call himself 'King of Great Britain'. However it was not until 1707 that an act of Parliament formally brought the two countries together.

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He had been King of Scotland for twenty-nine years when he acceded to the English throne.

In 1605 the Gunpowder Plot was hatched: Guy Fawkes and his friends, Catholics, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but were captured before they could do so.

Guy Fawkes and men
The Gun Powder Plot

James authorised the translation of the King James Bible. He also had Sir Walter Raleigh executed

Charles 1Charles I 1625 - 1649

* Age 25-49
* Second son of James I
* Married Henrietta Maria (French
* Nine Children
* Executed
* Buried at Windsor.

He was not brought up to be king, but his elder brother, Henry, died of Typhoid at the age of 18.

Fought against the Parliament leading to civil war.
Was executed as a result on 30 January 1649.

The English Civil War (1642 - 51)

The war began in 1642 when, after seeing his rights as king slashed by Parliament, Charles miscalculated by swarming into the Palace of Westminster with several hundred soldiers to arrest five Members of Parliament and a peer he accused of treason. They all escaped, but London was scandalized and the king was forced to flee the city.

The war between the Roundheads (supporters of parliament) and the Cavaliers (supporters of the King) began.

The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son Charles II, and the replacement of the English monarchy with first the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then with a Protectorate (1653–1659), under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector.

England became a Republic for eleven years from 1649 - 1660.

At first England was ruled by Parliament, but in 1653, Oliver Cromwell, commander of the army, became Lord Protector of England. He held his post until his death in 1658 (when his son briefly took over). Cromwell did not want to be king and refused the crown when it was offered to him.

The Commonwealth - declared May 19th 1649

* Oliver Cromwell (1653-58)
* Richard Cromwell (1658-59)

The Stuarts line Restored (The Restoration)

Charles II 1660 - 1685

# Age 30-55
# Son of Charles I
# Married Catherine (Portuguese)
# No children
# Buried in Westminster Abbey.

He was crowned King of Scotland in 1651. When Richard Cromwell lost the confidence of Parliament and abdicated, Charles returned to London in time for his thirtieth birthday and to rule Great Britain (Scotland, England and Wales).

Charles saw London recover from the Plague (1665) and Great Fire (1666). Many new buildings were built at this time. St. Paul's Cathedral was built by Sir Christopher Wren and also many churches still to be seen today.

James II 1685 - 1688

* Age 52-55
* Younger brother of Charles II
* Married Anne (English) then Mary (Italian)
* Fifteen children
* Buried in Paris.

James was 15 when his father was executed. He escaped to France in 1648, disguised as a girl.

As his brother, Charles II, had no children James succeeded him.

Whilst king, James tried to force people to follow his Roman Catholic faith. He was very unpopular because of his persecution of the Protestants, and he was hated by the people.

He was forced to give up the crown in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

Parliament asked William of Orange, who was married to James' daughter Mary, to take the throne. She was a Protestant.

William III 1688 - 1702 and Queen Mary II 1688 - 1694

Age 39-52 27-32, Mary was daughter of James II. Married William (Dutch). No children. Mary died 1694, William 1702. Both buried at Westminster Abbey.

Mary, daughter of James II and her Dutch husband were invited to be King and Queen following James abdication.

Queen Anne 1702 - 1714

* Age 37-49
* Sister of Mary II
* Second daughter of James II
* Married George (Danish)
* Seventeen children.
* Buried in Westminster Abbey.

All of her 17 children died.

1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England formed Great Britain.

Last Stuart sovereign.
After Anne's death the succession went to the nearest Protestant relative of the Stuart line. This was Sophia of Hanover, daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia, James I's only daughter.

The House of Hanovarians

Anne, despite so many births, died without leaving an heir, a new family of monarchs now took over the throne - the Hanoverians, from north Germany.

King George I 1714 - 1727

# Age 54-67.
# Great-grandson of James I.
# Two children.
# Buried in Hanover (Germany).

George could hardly speak English and spent most of his time in his beloved Hanover. He made little effort to learn the language and customs of the country and communicated with his ministers in French.

Sir Robert Walpole became England's first Prime Minister.

King George II 1727 - 1760

* Age 44 - 77
* Son of George I
* Married Caroline (German)
* Eight children
* Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Preferred Germany to England, but learned to speak English, unlike his father.

Interesting Fact:

The last British monarch to lead troops into battle at the Battle of Dettingen against the French in 1743.

King George III 1760 - 1820

* Age 22-81
* Grandson of George II
* Married Charlotte (German)
* Fifteen children
* Buried at Windsor.

George III was the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in England. He was the son of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and grandson of George II. He was the first monarch since Queen Anne to put British interests well before those of Hanover.

George III ruled for 50 years and fathered 15 children.

Australia was colonized.

His reign was the age of some of the greatest names in English literature - Jane Austen, Byron, Shelley, Keats and Wordsworth.

It was also the time of great statesmen like Pitt and Fox and great captains like Wellington and Nelson.

In 1773 the 'Boston Tea Party' was the first sign of the troubles that were to come in America. The American Colonies proclaimed their independence on July 4th 1776.

The 1790s saw the French Revolution. The wars with France continued until Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815.

King George IV 1820 - 1830

* Age 58-67
* Eldest son of George III
* Married Mrs Fitzherbert (English), then Caroline (German)
* One child
* Buried at Windsor.

He became Prince Regent while his father was very ill.

Built Brighton Pavilion.

George IV's only daughter died young.

King William IV 1830 - 1837

# Age 65-71.
# Third son of George III.
# Married Adelaide (German).
# No children
# Buried at Windsor.

Became known as the "Sailor King" after joining the navy from just 13 years old.

During his reign England abolished slavery in the colonies in 1833.

Queen Victoria 1837 - 1901

* Age 18-81.
* Grand daughter of George III.
* Maried Albert (German).
* Nine children.
* Buried at Windsor (Frogmore Mausoleum).

Victoria was the daughter of Edward, duke of Kent (fourth son of George III) and a niece of George IV and William lV.

She married Albert of Saxe - Coburg Gotha. Ruled during the industrial revolution. The British Empire became powerful, rich and confident. When Victoria died in 1901, after the longest reign in English history, the British Empire and British world power had reached their highest point. She had 9 children, 40 grand-children and 37 great-grandchildren, scattered all over Europe.