The answer to this question depends on how you define “King of England.” After the Roman Empire’s decline, several Saxon clansmen and “kings,” as well as Scandinavian invaders ruled different regions of England and Britain. The kings who eventually evolved into the kings of the whole of England, were the kings of Wessex and were crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Show
The First Kings in EnglandBoth Egbert, king of Wessex and Offa, king of Mercia are sometimes called the first kings of England. Offa dominated a large part of southern England in the late eight century, but his descendants did not manage to keep the area as a kingdom. Egbert, king of Wessex, managed to conquer Mercia in 829, but he, too, lost control over this territory. Wessex was the largest Anglo-Saxon kingdom by the late ninth century and Alfred the Great was crowned as “King of the Angles and Saxons.” He ruled over western Mercia, but not rule northern or eastern England (Danelaw). First King of The Whole Of EnglandAfter Edward de Elder conquered eastern England (Danelaw), Athelstan had most of England under his control. He added Northumbria to his kingdom, which made him the first king of all England. First “King” of the United Kingdom of Great BritainThe first monarch that ruled Great Britain was a queen and not a king. Queen Anne was crowned as Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland in 1702 and in 1707 two of the kingdoms, England and Scotland became one state: the United Kingdom of Great Britain. "Who Was the First King of England?" History on the Net© 2000-2022, Salem Media.September 1, 2022 <https://www.historyonthenet.com/who-was-the-first-king-of-england> More Citation Information.
There have been 61 monarchs of England and Britain spread over a period of approximately 1200 years. English KingsSAXON KINGSEGBERT 827 – 839 AETHELWULF 839 – 858 Pictured above: AethelwulfAETHELBALD 858 – 860 The second son of Aethelwulf, Æthelbald was born around 834. He was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in southwest London, after forcing his father to abdicate upon his return from pilgrimage to Rome. Following his father’s death in 858, he married his widowed stepmother Judith, but under pressure from the church the marriage was annulled after only a year. He is buried at Sherbourne Abbey in Dorset. AETHELBERT 860 – 866 AETHELRED I 866 – 871 ALFRED THE GREAT 871 – 899 – son of AETHELWULF EDWARD (The Elder) 899 – 924 ATHELSTAN 924 – 939 EDMUND 939 – 946 EADRED 946 – 955 EADWIG 955 – 959 EDGAR 959 – 975 EDWARD THE MARTYR 975 – 978 AETHELRED II THE UNREADY 978 – 1016 Sweyn was pronounced King of England on Christmas Day 1013 and made his capital at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He died just 5 weeks later. Aethelred returned in 1014 after Sweyn’s death. The remainder of Aethelred’s reign was one of a constant state of war with Sweyn’s son Canute. Pictured above: Aethelred II The UnreadyEDMUND II IRONSIDE 1016 – 1016 The son of Aethelred II, Edmund had led the resistance to Canute’s invasion of England since 1015. Following the death of his father, he was chosen king by the good folk of London. The Witan (the king’s council) however elected Canute. Following his defeat at the Battle of Assandun, Edmund made a pact with Canute to divide the kingdom between them. This treaty ceded control of all of England, with the exception of Wessex, to Canute. It also stated that when one of the kings died the other would take all of England… Edmund died later that year, probably assassinated. CANUTE (CNUT THE GREAT) THE DANE 1016 – 1035 HAROLD I 1035 – 1040 HARTHACANUTE 1040 – 1042 EDWARD THE CONFESSOR 1042-1066 HAROLD II 1066 NORMAN KINGS>WILLIAM I(The Conqueror) 1066- 1087 WILLIAM II (Rufus) 1087-1100 Henry Beauclerc was the fourth and youngest son of William I. Well educated, he founded a zoo at Woodstock in Oxfordshire to study animals. He was called the ‘Lion of Justice’ as he gave England good laws, even if the punishments were ferocious. His two sons were drowned in the White Ship so his daughter Matilda was made his successor. She was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet. When Henry died of food poisoning, the Council considered a woman unfit to rule and so offered the throne to Stephen, a grandson of William I. STEPHEN 1135-1154 PLANTAGENET KINGSHENRY II 1154-1189 RICHARD I (The Lionheart) 1189 – 1199 JOHN 1199 -1216 HENRY III 1216 -1272 Monarchs of England and WalesEDWARD I 1272 – 1307 EDWARD III 1327 – 1377 RICHARD II 1377 – deposed 1399 HOUSE OF LANCASTERHENRY IV 1399 – 1413 HENRY V 1413 – 1422 HENRY VI 1422 – deposed 1461 Beginning of the Wars of the Roses HOUSE OF YORKEDWARD IV 1461- 1483 EDWARD V 1483 – 1483 RICHARD III 1483 – 1485 End of the Wars of the Roses THE TUDORS
Monarchs of England, Wales and IrelandHENRY VIII 1509 – 1547 EDWARD VI 1547 – 1553 MARY I (Bloody Mary) 1553 – 1558 ELIZABETH I 1558-1603 British MonarchsTHE STUARTSJAMES I and VI of Scotland 1603 -1625 CHARLES 1 1625 – 1649 English Civil War THE COMMONWEALTHdeclared May 19th 1649 OLIVER CROMWELL, Lord Protector 1653 – 1658 Cromwell went on to crush the Irish clans and the Scots loyal to Charles II between 1649 and 1651. In 1653 he finally expelled the corrupt English parliament and with the agreement of army leaders became Lord Protector (King in all but name) RICHARD CROMWELL, Lord Protector 1658 – 1659 THE RESTORATIONCHARLES II 1660 – 1685 JAMES II and VII of Scotland 1685 – 1688 William was married to Mary, James II’s Protestant daughter. William landed in England and James fled to France where he died in exile in 1701. WILLIAM III 1689 – 1702 and MARY II 1689 – 1694 ANNE 1702 – 1714 After Anne’s death the succession went to the nearest Protestant relative of the Stuart line. This was Sophia, daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia, James I ‘s only daughter, but she died a few weeks before Anne and so the throne passed to her son George. THE HANOVERIANSGEORGE I 1714 -1727 GEORGE II 1727 – 1760 GEORGE III 1760 – 1820 GEORGE IV 1820 – 1830 WILLIAM IV 1830 – 1837 VICTORIA 1837 – 1901 EDWARD VII 1901 – 1910 HOUSE OF WINDSORName changed in 1917 GEORGE V 1910 – 1936 EDWARD VIII June 1936 – abdicated December 1936 GEORGE VI 1936 – 1952 ELIZABETH II 1952 – On 9th September 2015, Elizabeth became Britain’s longest serving monarch, ruling longer than her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years and 216 days. Congratulations Ma’am; God Save the Queen! |