The Kings & Queens of England: The Biography

---

For about a thousand years, they were superior lords, the leaders of nobility, which ruled; and for about three hundred years thereafter they were sovereigns, whose servants ruled in their name. Now, with the rise of democracy, they no longer rule. The Quee This is the history of the men and women who have occupied the highest position in English and later British society.

The Queen is a symbol and a social leader, vastly experienced in the ways of the world, and the head of a family, which strives to be useful in a modern community. The records of the monarchy vary from one period to another, and many of them are political in nature. However, it is always necessary to remember the human being behind the constitutional facade.

This is an attempt to recover their identities. Hardcover , pages.

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Kings Queens of England , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Kings Queens of England.

List of English monarchs

Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Review - I think that this is one of the best Kings and Queens books I have read, as it has the detail for each of the monarchs, and a summary of the different houses. However, what it could do with more of is the links between the English and Scottish houses as they eventually become one.

It also encompasses the family trees of the monarchs. It's an interesting summation of the monarchs and the relations between them. Free copy from Amberley Publishing for the purpose of review. The Kings and Queens of England is an encyclopedic biography. David Loades, mentions three times in the introduction, this book is not a "political narrative.

These were the years following the Roman occupation, the invading Anglo-Saxon's and Vikings. Sometime in the s the Anglo-Saxon's settled in England; the original inhabitants, the Briton people, moved "farther west. Although the early historical years are written in brief summary, it is a fascinating and solid introduction. I feel as if I've taken a short, but extensive coarse on British history. At no point did the information become dry and brittle. I felt intrigued, curiosity satisfied and entertained.

Easy to understand and grasp. Loades is a born teacher, meaning he has the talent for teaching information in such a way that a person of any education level can grasp. At times I wished to hear Loades audibly speak, because the sentence structure is fluid and engaging. I never felt Loades was bias in his observations of historical figures. I loved the added information on personal habits and twerks of the kings and queens, for example: King James I of England. Reading The Kings and Queens of England, has led me to want to read more books on the following people or historical periods: I did not want the book to end.

Jan 21, Kas rated it it was amazing. May 11, Calida rated it really liked it. The beginning of the book between the intro through the Stewarts was very thorough and fascinating to read, and everything past felt like a chore. It's more likely due to my disinterest in "recent monarchy" but I also wasn't impressed with the author's writing style nor did I feel that he had invested a lot of interest in the later monarchs.

Definitely is exactly what you would expect it to be. Outlined each monarch based on available information and as far as I could tell was rather unbiased The beginning of the book between the intro through the Stewarts was very thorough and fascinating to read, and everything past felt like a chore. Outlined each monarch based on available information and as far as I could tell was rather unbiased and accurate. Karen Crawford rated it really liked it Mar 25, Kurt Van rated it it was amazing Mar 12, Michael rated it it was amazing May 30, Agostina rated it liked it Nov 26, Annette rated it it was amazing Sep 24, Nina rated it really liked it Nov 08, Kirsten Kelsey Breckinridge-Hankins rated it liked it May 22, Brooks rated it really liked it Dec 25, Lisbeth rated it it was amazing Feb 17, Justine Laismith rated it really liked it Sep 25, Mr rated it really liked it Jan 27, It has since been retroactively applied to English monarchs from Henry II onward.

It is common among modern historians to refer to Henry II and his sons as the "Angevins" due to their vast continental Empire, and most of the Angevin kings before John spent more time in their continental possessions than in England. It is from the time of Henry III, after the loss of most of the family's continental possessions, that the Plantagenet kings became more English in nature. The Wars of the Roses — saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses of Lancaster and York.

English Monarchs

Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 25 years after John Beaufort's birth. In view of the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year, [88] and Parliament did the same in an Act in Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI.

When the House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed. By the late 15th century, the Tudors were the last hope for the Lancaster supporters. Four days after his death on 6 July , Jane was proclaimed queen—the first of three Tudor women to be proclaimed queen regnant.

See a Problem?

Jane was executed for treason in , aged All official documents, including Acts of Parliament , were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife. In , he adopted the title King of Great Britain.

However, the two parliaments remained separate until the Acts of Union Between and , there was no single English head of state , as England was ruled directly by the Rump Parliament with the English Council of State acting as executive power during a period known as the Commonwealth of England.

After a coup d'etat in , Oliver Cromwell forcibly took control of England from Parliament. He dissolved the Rump Parliament at the head of a military force and England entered a period known as The Protectorate , under the direct control of a single individual known as the Lord Protector.

While not officially monarchs, the holder of the office of Lord Protector passed from Oliver Cromwell to his son Richard.

Richard lacked both the ability to rule and confidence of the Army, and he was forcibly removed by the English Committee of Safety under the leadership of Charles Fleetwood in May England again lacked any single head of state during several months of conflict between Fleetwood's party and that of George Monck. Monck took control of the country in December , and after almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was formally restored when Charles II returned from France to accept the throne of England following the Declaration of Breda and an invitation to reclaim the throne from the Convention Parliament of After the Monarchy was restored, England came under the rule of Charles II , whose reign was relatively peaceful domestically, given the tumultuous time of the Interregnum years.

Tensions still existed between Catholics and Protestants, however, and with the ascension of Charles's brother, the openly Catholic James II , England was again sent into a period of political turmoil. While James and his descendants would continue to claim the throne, all Catholics such as James and his son Charles were barred from the throne by the Act of Settlement , enacted by Anne , another of James's Protestant daughters. After the Acts of Union , England as a sovereign state ceased to exist, replaced by the new Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during and by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into effect the Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland previously separate sovereign states , with separate legislatures but with the same monarch into the Kingdom of Great Britain. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head. There had been attempts in , , and , to unite England and Scotland by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early eighteenth century that the idea had the support of both political establishments behind it, albeit for rather different reasons.

In addition, many of the pre-Norman kings assumed extra titles, as follows:. In James I , who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted the title now usually rendered in English rather than Latin King of Great Britain. The English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of under Queen Anne who was Queen of Great Britain rather than king.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about English monarchs until For earlier monarchs of Wessex, see List of monarchs of Wessex. Angevin kings of England. House of Tudor and Tudor period. House of Stuart , Stuart period , Jacobean era , and Caroline era. Commonwealth of England and Interregnum — Style of the British sovereign. Alternative successions of the English crown Bretwalda Demise of the Crown English monarchs' family tree Heptarchy List of English consorts List of British monarchs List of Irish monarchs List of monarchs of the British Isles by cause of death List of monarchs of Wessex , AD to Lists of monarchs in the British Isles List of rulers of the United Kingdom and predecessor states List of rulers of Wales List of Scottish monarchs Line of succession to the British throne , a list of people Mnemonic verse of monarchs in England Succession to the British throne , a historical overview and current rules.

Abbaye aux Hommes in France. A Struggle for Mastery. His body currently lies at Fontevraud Abbey. He was never crowned.

However the extent of his authority and his status are ambiguous. The Act says that Philip shall have the title of king and "shall aid her Highness The Parliament of Scotland also opposed it. Handbook of British Chronology 3rd ed. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Retrieved 16 January His Career and Influence.

Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons. Retrieved 15 March Retrieved 17 March Archived from the original on 27 January Retrieved 21 January Retrieved 27 October Apr - Nov ". Retrieved 25 March Retrieved 21 March Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed. Retrieved 28 October Jan — Oct ". Retrieved 26 October Oct — Dec ". Handbook of British Chronology 3rd revised ed. A Dictionary of mottoes.

Yorkist plots

Medieval Costume and Fashion illustrated, reprint ed. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 25 October Jones and Malcolm G.

Underwood, The King's Mother: Martin's Press, , The subject of Elizabeth: University of Chicago Press. British heraldry from its origins to c. British Museum Publications Ltd.

Ireland in the age of the Tudors: Archived from the original on 18 June Archived from the original on 29 September Archived from the original on 16 October Archived from the original on 15 October Retrieved 7 October Monarchs of England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from British monarchs after the Acts of Union Retrieved from " https:

• Lose Ten Pounds in 10 Days Diet Plan: Quick and Easy Weight Loss for Women (Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days Series)
• I AM the Different Drummer: A Short Story
• Damned for Eternity
• Internarrative Identity: Placing the Self
• Potentials for Efficiency Increase in Modern Freight Forwarding