This is a list of rulers in the British Isles. The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles and over six thousand smaller islands."British Isles", Encyclopædia Britannica.
In 1603, King James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, joining the crowns of England and Scotland in personal union. By royal proclamation, James styled himself "King of Great Britain", but no such kingdom was actually created until 1707, when England and Scotland united to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with a single British parliament sitting at Westminster, during the reign of Queen Anne.
England House of Wessex
Alfred was king of Wessex from 871.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. Alfred the Greatc. 88626 October 899 849Son of Æthelwulf of Wessexand Osburh EalhswithGainsborough8685 children 26 October 899Aged about 50 Son of Æthelwulf of WessexTreaty of Wedmore Edward the Elder26 October 899–17 July 924() Son of Alfredand Ealhswith Ecgwynn2 children Ælfflæd8 children Eadgifu4 children 17 July 924Aged about 50 Son of Alfred
Disputed There is some evidence that Ælfweard of Wessex may have been king in 924, between his father Edward the Elder and his brother Æthelstan, although he was not crowned. A 12th-century list of kings gives him a reign length of four weeks, though one manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says he died only 16 days after his father. However, that he ruled is not accepted by all historians. Also, it is unclear whether—if Ælfweard was declared king—it was over the whole kingdom or of Wessex only. One interpretation of the ambiguous evidence is that when Edward died, Ælfweard was declared king in Wessex and Æthelstan in Mercia.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ælfweard2 August 924() Son of Edward the Elderand Ælfflæd No children 2 August 924Aged about 23 Son of Edward the Elder
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. Æthelstan92427 October 939(1415 years) 894Son of Edward the Elderand Ecgwynn Unmarried 27 October 939Aged about 45 Son of Edward the Elder 27 October 93926 May 946() Son of Edward the Elderand Eadgifu of Kent Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury2 sons Æthelflæd of Damerham944No children 26 May 946PucklechurchKilled in a brawl aged about 25 Son of Edward the Elder Eadred26 May 94623 November 955() Son of Edward the Elderand Eadgifu of Kent Unmarried 23 November 955FromeAged about 32 Son of Edward the Elder Eadwig23 November 9551 October 959() Son of and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury ÆlfgifuNo verified children 1 October 959Aged about 19 Son of Edgar the Peaceful1 October 9598 July 975() WessexSon of and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury Æthelflæd1 son Ælfthryth2 sons 8 July 975WinchesterAged 31 Son of Edward the Martyr8 July 97518 March 978() Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Æthelflæd Unmarried 18 March 978Corfe CastleMurdered aged about 16 Son of Edgar the Peaceful (1st reign)ÆthelredÆthelred the Unready18 March 9781013(3435 years) Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Ælfthryth Ælfgifu of York9919 children Emma of Normandy10023 children 23 April 1016LondonAged about 48 Son of Edgar the Peaceful
House of Denmark
England came under the control of Sweyn Forkbeard, a Danish king, after an invasion in 1013, during which Æthelred abandoned the throne and went into exile in Normandy.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. SweynSweyn Forkbeard25 December 10133 February 1014() 17 April 963DenmarkSon of Tove of the Obotritesand Harald Bluetooth Gunhild of Wenden7 children Sigrid the Haughty1 daughter 3 February 1014GainsboroughAged 50 Right of conquest
House of Wessex (restored, first time) Following the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Æthelred the Unready returned from exile and was again proclaimed king on 3 February 1014. His son succeeded him after being chosen king by the citizens of London and a part of the Witan, despite ongoing Danish efforts to wrest the crown from the West Saxons.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. (2nd reign)ÆthelredÆthelred the Unready3 February 101423 April 1016() Son of Edgar the Peacefuland Ælfthryth Ælfgifu of York9919 children Emma of Normandy10023 children 23 April 1016LondonAged about 48 Son of Edgar the Peaceful Edmund Ironside23 April 101630 November 1016() Son of Æthelredand Ælfgifu of York Edith of East Anglia2 children 30 November 1016GlastonburyAged 26 Son of Æthelred
House of Denmark (restored) Following the decisive Battle of Assandun on 18 October 1016, King Edmund signed a treaty with Cnut (Canute) under which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Cnut. Upon Edmund's death just over a month later on 30 November, Cnut ruled the whole kingdom as its sole king for nineteen years.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref.CanuteCnut the Great18 October 101612 November 1035() Son of Sweyn Forkbeardand Gunhilda of Poland Ælfgifu of Northampton2 sons Emma of Normandy10172 children 12 November 1035ShaftesburyAged about 40 Son of SweynTreaty of Deerhurst Harold Harefoot12 November 103517 March 1040() Son of Canuteand Ælfgifu of Northampton 17 March 1040OxfordAged about 24 Son of Canute Harthacnut17 March 10408 June 1042() 1018Son of Canuteand Emma of Normandy Unmarried 8 June 1042LambethAged about 24 Son of Canute
House of Wessex (restored, second time) After Harthacnut, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066.
Name Portrait Arms Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. Edward the Confessor8 June 10425 January 1066() IslipSon of Æthelredand Emma of Normandy Edith of Wessex23 January 1045No children 5 January 1066Westminster PalaceAged about 63 Son of Æthelred
House of Godwin
Name Portrait Arms Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. Harold Godwinson6 January 106614 October 1066() Son of Godwin of Wessexand Gytha Thorkelsdóttir Edith Swannesha5 children Ealdgyth2 sons 14 October 1066HastingsDied in battle aged about 44 Supposedly named heir by Edward the ConfessorElected by the Witenagemot
House of Wessex (restored, third time) After King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings, the Witan elected Edgar Ætheling as king. He ruled but was never crowned. He eventually abdicated his kingship and submitted to King William the Conqueror.
Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. Edgar Ætheling15 October 106617 December 1066() Son of Edward the Exileand Agatha Unmarried Aged about 75 Grandson of Edmund IronsideElected by the Witenagemot
House of Normandy
In 1066, several rival claimants to the English throne emerged. Among them were Harold Godwinson, recognised as king by the Witenagemot after the death of Edward the Confessor, as well as Harald Hardrada, King of Norway who claimed to be the rightful heir of Harthacnut, and Duke William II of Normandy, vassal to the King of France, and first cousin once-removed of Edward the Confessor. Harald and William both invaded separately in 1066. Godwinson successfully repelled the invasion by Hardrada, but ultimately lost the throne of England in the Norman conquest of England.
After the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, William the Conqueror made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London. Following the death of Harold Godwinson at Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot elected as king Edgar the Ætheling, the son of Edward the Exile and grandson of Edmund Ironside. The young monarch was unable to resist the invaders and was never crowned. William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day 1066, in Westminster Abbey, and is today known as William the Conqueror, William the Bastard or William I.
Name Portrait Arms Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. William the ConquerorSometimes William the Bastard25 December 10669 September 1087() Falaise CastleSon of Robert the Magnificentand Herleva Matilda of FlandersNormandy10539 children 9 September 1087RouenAged about 59 Supposedly named heir in 1052by Edward the ConfessorFirst cousin once removedof Edward the ConfessorRight of conquest William Rufus26 September 10872 August 1100() NormandySon of William the Conquerorand Matilda of Flanders Unmarried 2 August 1100New ForestShot with an arrow aged 44 Son of Granted the Kingdom of England overelder brother Robert Curthose Henry Beauclerc5 August 11001 December 1135() September 1068SelbySon of William the Conquerorand Matilda of Flanders Matilda of ScotlandWestminster Abbey11 November 11002 children Adeliza of LouvainWindsor Castle29 January 1121No children 1 December 1135Saint-Denis-en-LyonsAged 67 Son of Seizure of the Crown (from Robert Curthose)
House of Blois
Henry I left no legitimate male heirs, his son William Adelin having died in the White Ship disaster. This ended the direct Norman line of kings in England. Henry named his eldest daughter, Matilda (Countess of Anjou by her second marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, as well as widow of her first husband, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor), as his heir. Before naming Matilda as heir, he had been in negotiations to name his nephew Stephen of Blois as his heir. When Henry died, Stephen invaded England, and in a coup d'etat had himself crowned instead of Matilda. The period which followed is known as The Anarchy, as parties supporting each side fought in open warfare both in Britain and on the continent for the better part of two decades.
Name Portrait Arms Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. StephenStephen of Blois22 December 113525 October 1154() BloisSon of of Bloisand Adela of Normandy Matilda of BoulogneWestminster11256 children 25 October 1154Dover CastleAged about 58 Grandson of Appointmentusurpation
Disputed claimants
Matilda was declared heir presumptive by her father, Henry I, after the death of her brother on the White Ship, and acknowledged as such by the barons. Upon Henry I's death, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois. During the ensuing Anarchy, Matilda controlled England for a few months in 1141—the first woman to do so—but was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England.
Name Portrait Arms Birth Marriage(s) Death Succession Ref. (Title disputed)MatildaEmpress Matilda7 April 11411 November 1141() 7 February 1102Sutton CourtenayDaughter of and Edith of Scotland of the Holy Roman EmpireMainz Cathedral6 January 1114No children Geoffrey PlantagenetLe Mans Cathedral22 May 11283 sons 10 September 1167RouenAged 65 Daughter of Seizure of the Crown
Count Eustace IV of Boulogne (c. 1130 – 17 August 1153) was appointed co-king of England by his father, King Stephen, on 6 April 1152, in order to guarantee his succession to the throne (as was the custom in France, but not in England). The Pope and the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 23, during his father's lifetime, and so never became king in his own right.
House of Anjou
King Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford, where Stephen recognised Henry, son of Matilda and her second husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, as the designated heir. The royal house descended from Matilda and Geoffrey is widely known by two names, the House of Anjou (after Geoffrey's title as Count of Anjou) or the House of Plantagenet, after his sobriquet. Some historians prefer to group the subsequent kings into two groups, before and after the loss of the bulk of their French possessions, although they are not different royal houses.