(1) England: Political History and Notable Political and Military Figures

886 - 1013 - House of Wessex (All Facts)

• First and Founding Dynasty of the Kingdom of England

• They were characterized by their Anglo-Saxon heritage

927 - 939 - Athelstan (All Facts) 

• First King and Founder of the Kingdom of England and First King and Founder of the House of Wessex

  • He is widely recognized as the first King of England

  • He was an effective warrior, administrator, and diplomat

• He unified the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and states militaristically

  • He defeated Olaf and the Irish Vikings, Constantine and the Scots, and the Britons from the kingdom of Strathclyde in the Battle of Brunanburh

  • He brought fruition to his father and predecessor Edward the Elder’s counter-attacks against the Danes in the region

  • He united Wessex and Mercia and recovered Northumbria, the three remaining Heptarchy Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, along with they key Viking center of York in Northumbria

  • He subjugated the Princes of Wales

  • He subjugated the Britons of Cornwall

  • Led a punitive expedition into Scottish territory

  • As a result of his military results, he proclaimed himself “King of the English and ruler of all Britain”

  • Some claimed he was even greater than his predecessor grandfather, the mighty King Alfred the Great

• He unified the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and states diplomatically

  • He held councils to encourage the unification of the various peoples under his rule

• He unified the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and states administratively

  • He issued many detailed law-codes

  • He divided up his kingdom into large regions administered by ealdormen, who had wide authority for the local maintenance of order

• His military prowess led the kings of Francia, Germany / Holy Roman Empire, and Norway to seek alliances with him

939 - 946 - Edmund (All Facts)

• 2nd King of England and 2nd King of the House of Wessex

• Made peace with Olaf and the Irish-Norse Vikings, who continued to be a threat to England even after his predecessor’s victory in the Battle of Brunanburh because they retook York of Northumbria from the English

  • Aided by Danish settlers, he recovered (some of) the land yielded to Olaf and the Irish-Norse Vikings

946 - 955 - Eadred (All Facts)

• 3rd King of England and 3rd King of the House of Wessex

  • He consolidated English territory permanently when he defeated Eric Bloodaxe and the Irish-Norse Vikings of York in Northumbria in 954, having had Eric Bloodaxe murdered

955 - 959 - Eadwig (All Facts)

• 4th King of England and 4th King of the House of Wessex

• He left the solemn feast of his coronation to be with a married woman and her daughter (whom he later married)

  • When a monk named Dunstan condemned him, a furious row took place, and he had Dunstan banished

  • After this episode, he lost his allegiance of Mercians and Northumbrians, who followed his successor, his younger brother

• When he died, the kingdom of England was reunited once again

959 - 975 - Edgar (All Facts)

• 5th King of England and 5th King of the House of Wessex

  • He was crowned at Bath on White Sunday

    • His coronation was delayed by division caused by the misbehavior of his predecessor and brother on his predecessor’s own co

  • He sailed with his fleet to Chester, where eight British kings came and swore fealty to him

    • To demonstrate their submission, they rowed him on the Dee River from his palace to the Church of St. John, while he held the rudder

  • He consolidated his rule and kingdom after his older brother and predecessor died and after the death of the last great Viking, Eric Bloodaxe, who ruled York in Northumbria

• He oversaw a revival, restoration, and reform of monasticism in England, led by St. Dunstan, whom had been banished by his predecessor and thus recalled by the namesake and made Archbishop of Canterbury

978 - 1013 - Aethelred II (All Facts)

• 7th (and 9th) King of England and 7th King of the House of Wessex

  • He was nicknamed “The Unready”

  • His nickname derived from his ill-advised ordering of the St. Brice’s Day Massacre as well as the frequent Viking incursions that occurred under his reign

• His English forces were defeated against Olaf the Norsemen and the Vikings in the Battle of Maldon, so he bought off and paid the Vikings to cease their advances into England

  • However, Olaf the Norsemen of the Vikings and Sweyn of Denmark ravaged throughout southern England and were paid a massive tribute by him, continuing to attack England despite failing to take London

• He and his English forces were eventually defeated by Sweyn and the Danes

  • He fled England to join Queen Emma and their children in France, who have taken refuge with her brother who was the Duke of Normandy at the time

  • Most of the English population surrendered rather than resisted, since the Danes were not going to be bought off with bribes

    • Sweyn avenged his sister Gunnhild and his fellow Danes when they were killed by the namesake after he ordered the St. Brice’s Day Massacre

    • Sweyn retaliated by burning homesteads throughout southern England during his reign, years before accepting a substantial bribe to withdraw

  • When he broke the uneasy truce by persuading one of Sweyn’s top commanders, Thorkell the Tall, to defect to England; Sweyn invaded by landing men on Humberside before marching south, unstoppable by bribe

• At the time of his death, there were fluctuating alliances between the Saxons and the Danes, many of whom had already intermarried with one another

• He was thus overthrown as King of England by Sweyn Forkbeard, who usurped the throne and temporarily replaced the House of Wessex with the House of Denmark

1013 - 1014 - Sweyn Forkbeard (All Facts)

• 8th King of England, and First King and Founder of the House of Denmark of England

  • He was also King of Denmark and King of Norway

  • King of Denmark who was temporarily King of England after he invaded and overthrew his predecessor

• He and Olaf the Norsemen of the Vikings attacked England under the reign of their King Aethelred II “The Unready,” even after Aethelred II had paid the Vikings off, ravaging throughout southern England and collecting massive tribute payments from Aethelred II

  • They failed to take London initially

• He and his Danish forces eventually took control of all of England following the English surrender of London to them

  • Their King Aethelred II “The Unready” was deposed and was reported to have fled to France to join Queen Emma and their children, who have taken refuge with her brother, the Duke of Normandy

  • He and his forces subjugated the English forces and were not prepared or willing to take bribes from them

  • He planned to consolidate his hold on England as an act of revenge against Aethelred II “The Unready”

    • This was because he wished to avenge his sister Gunnhild and the Danes killed by Aethelred II “The Unready” in the secret St. Brice’s Day Massacre of Danes living in England which he ordered

    • He retaliated by burning homestead throughout southern England before accepting a substantial bribe to withdraw

    • However, when Aethelred II “The Unready” persuaded one of his top commanders, Thorkell the Tall, to defect, he felt he had no choice but to invade England, and he landed on Humberside and marched south

• He thus became King of England for a short time, usurping the throne, overthrowing the House of Wessex and replacing it with the House of Denmark

1016 - Edmund Ironside (All Facts)

• 10th King of England after Aethelred II “The Unready” was reinstated following the deposition of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, as King of England

• When he died, however, England went right back into Danish control via his successor

1016 - 1042 - House of Denmark (All Facts)

• 2nd Dynasty of Kings of England who were Danish and who jointly ruled both Denmark and England

• Founded by Sweyn Forkbeard and Canute the Great

1016 - 1035 - Canute the Great (All Facts)

• 11th King of England and 2nd King of the House of Denmark

  • He was also King of Denmark and King of Norway

  • He thus built a unified Danish Empire

• He was the son of Sweyn Forkbeard and was offered the English throne after defeating his predecessor Edmund Ironside

  • The death of Harald II of Denmark enabled him to unite England and Denmark

  • He defeated Edmund Ironside and his English forces in the Battle of Ashingdon, and they agreed to split England in half

  • When Edmund Ironside was murdered soon afterwards, the namesake took the other half of England

  • He further consolidated his rule by eliminating potential rivals

  • He married Aethelred II’s widow, Emma of Normandy

• He oversaw a reign distinguished by skillful statecraft and utter ruthlessness

  • He espoused Christianity

  • He established equal rights for both Danes and Englishmen

  • He sent most of his army back to Denmark, confident in his position as ruler

1042 - 1066 - Edward the Confessor (All Facts)

• 14th King of England, he temporarily restored the House of Wessex

  • He was heavily influenced by Godwin, the ruthless and wealthy Earl of Wessex who had arranged for his accession to the throne

  • He had married Godwin’s daughter Edith, though the marriage remained childless

  • He helplessly watched as Godwin and his family extended their estates and power throughout western England

  • He however consolidated his power over Godwin after he refused to have him elected as Archbishop of Canterbury by the monks of Christ Church and, infuriated, Godwin mounted an attack against him but was outnumbered and shocked by his firmness, fleeing instead

  • He this had Godwin, his close advisor, exiled

  • He instead appointed a Norman, Robert, to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury

• He consecrated Westminster Abbey and was buried there

  • On his deathbed, he disinherited his cousin, the duke, and nominated his namesake successor instead

1020 - 1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex (All Facts)

• Powerful noble of England appointed in the namesake position by Canute the Great

• His daughter Edith married King Edward the Confessor

• He heavily influenced King Edward the Confessor, who arranged King Edward the Confessor’s accession to the throne

• He and his family extended their estates and power throughout western England as Edward the Confessor helplessly watched them

• His power began to decline when his eldest son Sweyn outraged religious feeling by seducing the abbess of Leominster and murdering his cousin

• Then, the namesake went too far when he was refused the position of archbishop of Canterbury and, along with his sons, mounted an army and fought against Edward the Confessor and the monks of Christ Church

• When Edward the Confessor rallied other earls to his side, he was outnumbered, and surprised by the king’s firmness, chose to flee

1041 - 1055 - Siward, Earl of Northumbria (All Facts)

• He led an English army into Scotland to support Malcolm Canmore’s right to the Scottish throne after his father Duncan had been killed by Macbeth who took the throne for himself, in which he and his English forces defeated Macbeth and his Scottish forces and reinstated Malcolm Canmore to the Scottish throne

1066 - Harold II (All Facts)

• 15th King of England Final King of the House of Wessex and Final Anglo-Saxon King of England

• He and his English forces defeated King Harald Hardrada and the Norwegians in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, successfully preventing a Norwegian invasion of England

  • However, he rushed tired troops into Hastings to fight against William and the Norman-French before waiting for reinforcements, which ultimately led to he and his forces’ downfall at the hands of William and the Norman-French invaders

• He and his Anglo-Saxon forces were defeated by William, Duke of Normandy, and his Norman forces, in the Battle of Hastings, failing to prevent the Norman invasion of England

  • Despite having lost one eye during the battle, he fought on magnificently against William and his invading Norman-French forces so much so that when his body was recovered it was virtually unidentifiable

1066 - 1135 - House of Normandy (All Facts)

• Second Dynasty of the Kingdom of England

• They were characterized by their Norman heritage

1066 - 1087 - William the Conqueror (All Facts)

• 16th King of England and First King and Founder of the House of Normandy

  • He was initially the Duke of Normandy

  • He had gone to Normandy to lead a punitive raid against the French there, but was badly hurt when his horse stumbled on the burning cinders of a town which he sacked

  • He married Matilda, who became the first Norman Queen of England

• He and his Norman-French forces defeated Harold II and his Anglo-Saxon forces in the Battle of Hastings, completing the Norman conquest of England and thus allowing him to rule as King of England

• During his reign, he oversaw a massive castle-building program, in which he ordered the construction of 80 stone castles to be built, complementing the hundreds of wooden castles he and his barons had already built up to that point

  • which served as

    • Strategic military bases

    • Powerful symbols of Norman authority and Norman solidification of rule over England

    • Fundamental changes to England’s landscape and power structure

  • with the most famous being

    • The Tower of London (and White Tower)

    • Windsor Castle

    • Dover Castle

    • Colchester Castle

    • Pevensey Castle

    • Hastings Castle

• During his reign, he oversaw the implementation of the “Great Survey” and compilation and completion of its results in the “Domesday Book”

  • He believed that he had not yet consolidated his hold on England because its feudal system was not yet harmonized with that of the Duchy of Normandy

  • These issues were resolved via the “Great Survey” and its record as the “Domesday Book”

  • Thus, the “Domesday Book” served as a wide-ranging record of social and economic life

• During his reign, he introduced feudalism (as a system) into England and southern Italy

  • He made it so that all land in England was deemed to be held directly by the King of England or by his subjects on his behalf

    • He, his Queen Matilda, and his two half-brothers came to own 25% of all the land in England during his reign

    • Another 33% was granted to 15 comrades-in-arms from the Battle of Hastings

    • The remaining amount was given in the hands of the Norman barons and clergy

  • He presided over a tightly organized feudal system, using royal sheriffs as his administrative officials

• During his reign, he

  • Suppressed rebellions against his rule and Normanness, like that of Hereward “The Wake,” which ultimately failed

  • Suppressed rebellions by English landowners, in which the then seized the land and gave it to his Norman retainers

  • Waged his series of military campaigns known as the “Harrying of the North”

• During his reign, he retained preexisting English institutions including the sheriffs and shire courts

• During his reign, he improved agriculture

• During his reign, he had Bayeux Cathedral (in Normandy in France) consecrated

  • This cathedral is famous for its Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings and Norman Conquest of England in multiple scenes, by the namesake ruler

• During his reign, he oversaw a cultural division in which

  • English - names were kept for bakers, smiths, salters, skinners, and craftsmen

  • French - names were taken by butchers, carpenters, grocers, and tailors

• During his reign, he also oversaw the Norman invasion of southern Italy, which he also made into a feudal society, and thus, finally ousted the Byzantines from it

• He died at Rouen

1035 - 1072 - Hereward (All Facts)

• He was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman

  • He was nicknamed “The Wake”

  • He roamed “The Fens”

• He led a rebellion of Danes against William, Duke of Normandy, after William had assumed the English throne, in northern England as part of the “Harrying of the North”

• After the Danish fleet sent against England was bribed to depart from England, however, his revolt collapsed but the “Harrying of the North” still continued in Yorkshire in York in Northumbria

1087 - 1100 - William II / William Rufus (All Facts)

• 17th King of England and 2nd King of the House of Normandy

• He invaded Normandy and gained an English foothold in the Duchy

• He was killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest and succeeded by his brother

1100 - 1135 - Henry (All Facts)

• 18th King of England and 3rd and Final King of the House of Normandy

• He made an alliance with his predecessor and defeated his brother Robert Curthose in the Battle of Tinchebrai, thus reuniting England and Normandy for the first time since the death of his predecessor’s predecessor

• His only legitimate son for the throne, William Adelin, died, drowned in the English Channel when drunken seaman drove his boat, the White Ship, onto rocks

  • The Prince got away safely, but his boat foundered when he insisted on returning to the wreck to rescue his sister

  • Thus, he had no legitimate son to succeed him

  • His nephew, William Clito, was an obvious candidate for the throne, whose father lost Normandy to the namesake king

  • He preferred his daughter Matilda to succeed him

  • However, the crown was instead passed to his nephew Stephen of Blois when the namesake died

  • These tensions culminated in an English Civil War known as “The Anarchy”

1141 - Empress Matilda (All Facts)

• Daughter of King Henry of England, her predecessor

• She was the cousin of Stephen of Blois, whom she fought for the throne

• She became Domina Anglorum (Lady of the English) despite her bad temper

• During her 200+ day reign, England fell into anarchy

• After that time, her half-brother, the earl of Gloucester, was captured and then released in exchange for Stephen of Blois, who returned to throne

1135 - 1154 - Stephen of Blois (All Facts)

• 19th King of England and 1st and Only King of the House of Blois

  • He fought for the throne with his cousin Matilda, where he and his forces were defeated, captured, and imprisoned by her and her forces, led by the earl of Chester, in the Battle of Lincoln

  • When forces loyal to him captured the earl of Gloucester, Matilda’s half-brother, he was released in exchange for the namesake, who returned to the throne after he was temporarily deposed by Matilda and her forces after the Battle of Lincoln

  • However, he was no more popular than Matilda

• He quarreled with four powerful bishops, including his brother, the Bishop of Winchester

• Oversaw a period of anarchy in which England’s barons robbed and burned not only villages but even abbeys

• Under his reign, Oxford University was founded

• The death of his son Eustace led him to recognize Matilda’s son, Henry Plantagenet, as heir to the throne

• He died at Dover

1154 - 1485 - House of Plantagenet (All Facts)

• Dynasty of English Kings whose origins lay in the marriage of Geoffrey V of Anjou (also known as the namesake) and his marriage to Matilda, daughter of Henry of England and widow of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V

1154 - 1189 - Henry II (All Facts)

• 20th King of England and 1st King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He and his allies did homage to his predecessor, at Winchester

• He acquired vast territories in France for England by his marriage

  • He added Aquitaine and Gascony to his growing empire in France

  • However, his sons were never satisfied with their shares

• He was known for his feud with St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury

  • He had St. Thomas Becket installed at Canterbury, believing he was getting a docile cleric

  • Anything but that, Becket

    • Became a firm upholder of ecclesiastical privileges

    • Told the namesake he had no right to judge him

    • Publicly denounced the namesake’s having his son and heir crowned in Westminster Abbey with the assistance of six bishops, all of whom he excommunicated

    • In response, the namesake cried out “Who will free me from this turbulent priest?” and ordered him to be murdered by four knights of the royal household

    • This effectively heightened the conflict between secular and papal authority

• He helped assemble troops for the Third Crusade along with Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire and Philip Augustus of France

• He was succeeded by his son and namesake successor

  • His last words to his son upon dying were “God grant that I may not die till I have had a fitting revenge on you”

1189 - 1199 - Richard (All Facts)

• 21st King of England and 2nd King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He was nicknamed “Lionheart” for his military prowess, bravery, and ruthlessness and his being gloried in war

  • Before coming to the throne, he spent most of his life in France as the Duke of Aquitaine and ruling the land of his mother Eleanor while fighting his father Henry II and his brothers

  • He grew up in an atmosphere of intrigue

  • When his elder brother died and he became heir, his father wanted him to leave Aquitaine and come to England

  • Upon assuming the throne, he released his mother, who had been confined at Winchester for supporting him against her husband

  • He had little interest in women, but married Berengaria, the daughter of the king of Navarre

• He led the English forces during the Third Crusade in which he

  • He raised money for an expedition to Palestine to crusade there

  • Seized Cyprus

  • Seized Acre, with the help of Philip II / Philip Augustus of France

  • Defeated Saladin and the Ayyubid Sultanate in the Battle of Arsuf

  • Seized Jaffa

  • Was defeated at Jerusalem in the Battle of Jerusalem

  • Was defeated by Saladin and the Ayyubid Sultanate, thus ending the conflict

  • Made a truce with Saladin and the Ayyubid Sultanate in which he

    • Was able to keep a few coast towns

    • Was able to make it so that Christians were promised free access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

  • Refused to go see Jerusalem despite unarmed parties from the crusading forces visiting it after the truce was made

• He nearly bankrupted England when, after returning from the Third Crusade, was captured by the duke of Austria, who, after imprisoning him in Vienna, had turned him over to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI who demanded a ransom of 150K gold marks

  • Despite never being paid in full, the first installment of the ransom strained England’s resources

  • He was eventually freed after a large ransom was paid for him

• After he was freed, he and his forces defeated Philip Augustus and his French forces in the Battle of Freteval, in which they reconquered their fiefs in Vexin, the French territory of England

• The Troubadours in France loved him and he himself composed Troubadour lyrics

• For seven years in a row he had not received Holy Communion and eventually called one of his chaplains and confessed about it

  • With his soul at peace, he directed that his body be embalmed, his brain buried in the Abbey of Charroux at Poitiers, his heart in the Normal capital of Rouen, and his corpse laid at the feet of his father in the abbey of Fontevrault

  • For ten years he was king of England, but spent less than 6 months in the country

  • He died when he was besieging the castle of a disobedient baron when a bolt from a crossbow struck him in the left shoulder

    • When he tried to pull it out the wood broke, leaving the iron barb embedded

    • He survived for 11 days

1199 - 1216 - John (All Facts)

• 22nd King of England and 3rd King of the House of Plantagenet

• During his reign,

  • He had passed the Magna Carta, the “Great Charter of Liberties,” which was essentially a peace treaty between the namesake and his barons

    • This came after a series of lengthy negotiations at Runnymede in Surrey near London

    • His bargaining position was undermined by

      • his loss of territories in France under his reign

      • his highly unpopular attempt to tax lords and knights who resisted joining those costly and unsuccessful military campaigns

    • He thus was forced to make a significant compromise in his struggle with the nobles who threatened his rule and was forced to sign the Magna Carta, subjecting the English monarchy to the rule of law

    • When he submitted to Pope Innocent III, he had the Pope annul the Magna Carta

• Under his reign,

  • He lost the fiefs within the jurisdiction of the kingdom of France (Aquitaine, Anjou, and Poitou) to King Philip II / Philip Augustus of France

    • In response to King Philip II / Philip Augustus’s confiscation of his fiefs, he and his forces defeated King Philip II / Philip Augustus of France and his forces in the Battle of Mirabeau

  • Brittany rebelled against him

    • Shortly before that, his own nephew Arthur of Brittany, by whom the confiscated lands were given through King Philip II / Philip Augustus of France, was arguably the rightful king of England but had vanished and was assumed to have been murdered by or on the orders of the namesake

    • He thus lost much of the territory corresponding to Brittany as well

  • He lost the duchy of Normandy to France

  • He and his forces were eventually defeated by Philip II / Philip Augustus and his forces in the Battle of Bouvines

  • All of these conflicts contributed to the lack of bargaining power he had with the nobles under him which led him to sign the Magna Carta

• He opposed Pope Innocent III on his nomination for Archbishop of Canterbury

  • In response, Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict, which forbade the clergy to administer the sacraments

  • Eventually, the namesake was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III

  • He finally submitted to Pope Innocent III and offered to make England and Ireland papal fiefs, thus moving Pope Innocent III to lift the interdict

  • By doing this, he was able to have Pope Innocent III annul the Magna Carta

• Under his reign,

  • The First Barons’ War occurred

    • This was prompted by his having Pope Innocent III annul the Magna Carta, and thus English barons under his rule opened negotiations with France for support against him, in which Philip II / Philip Augustus and his son and successor resolved to invade England under his rule as a result

• He died at Newark and was succeeded by his son

1207 - 1272 - Henry III (All Facts)

• 23rd King of England and 4th King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He reigned longer than any other King of England

  • Assuming the throne at 9 years old, William Marshall was made regent during that time

• Under his reign,

  • The English barons

    • made peace with the new regime and cut off their developed ties with France during the reign of the predecessor of the namesake

    • then rebelled again in the Second Barons’ War, led by Simon de Montfort, to wrest various concessions known as the “Provisions of Oxford” which the namesake king had annulled via King Louis IX of France whom he called on to arbitrate the initial dispute which triggered the revolt along with the namesake’s

      • foreign influence

      • extravagance of foreign dependents

      • heavy papal taxation of the church

• He enacted the “Provisions of Oxford” initially with the English barons, but he eventually reneged on them

  • He did this by meeting with the discontented English barons in a parliament

• He signed the Treaty of Paris / Treaty of Abbeville with King Louis IX of France

  • In it, he received the Agenais, Saintonge, and parts of Quercy, Limousin, and Perigord from King Louis IX of France

    • In return, he gave all claims to the Plantagenet fiefs of Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, and Poitou to King Louis IX of France

  • This treaty marked a turning point in European politics; leading to new political dynamics, cultural exchanges, and social changes

• Under his reign,

  • Westminster Abbey was rebuilt with soaring columns, ribbed vaulting, huge windows, and flying buttresses

    • He employed Henry of Rheims to redecorate it with a rose window copied from the Basilica of Saint Denis

1239 - 1265 - Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (All Facts)

• He led the Second Barons’ War, a rebellion of English barons, against Henry III, demanding that Henry III wrest various concessions collectively known as the “Provisions of Oxford” which King Henry III had annulled via King Louis IX of France whom he called on to arbitrate the initial dispute which

  • triggered the revolt along with the namesake’s

    • Foreign influence, and a growing struggle against the king’s foreign influences, especially with King Louis IX of France

    • Heavy papal taxation of Church

    • Extravagance of the his foreign dependents

  • He called his own parliament, which was notable for including English knights, burgesses, and barons and did so in response to King Henry III’s parliament meeting where ultimately reneged the “Provisions of Oxford”

    • His Parliaments and their meetings reflected the improved status of lesser knights and townsmen in England at the time

  • He and his forces defeated Henry III and his royalist forces in the Battle of Lewes, having captured King Henry III and his son and successor Edward

    • However, the barons mistrusted the namesake’s efforts to grain broader popular support and deserted him, allowing Edward to escape

  • He was defeated by Edward, son and successor of King Henry III, in the Battle of Evesham and beheaded with his body delivered to the monks in Evesham

• Though his family was French, he inherited the Earldom of Leicester through is mother

1272 - 1307 - Edward (All Facts)

• 24th King of England and 5th King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He was also the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony

• During his reign,

  • He and his forces defeated Simon de Montfort and the English Barons in the Battle of Evesham during the Second Barons’ War

  • He and his forces defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his Welsh forces in the Battle of Orewin Bridge

    • He did this after they rebelled against his rule, and thus he effectively conquered Wales

  • He and his forces defeated John Balliol and his Scottish forces in the Battle of Dunbar during the First War of Scottish Independence

    • He had initially invaded Scotland earlier that same year, which prompted the castle of Dunbar to surrender to him and his forces

  • He and his forces fought in the Gascon War against King Philip IV and his French forces, which ended with the retainment of Gascony by the English

    • He signed the Treaty of Paris with Philip IV, ending the Gascon War

  • He and his forces reached a truce with Sultan Baybars and the Mamelukes at Caesarea

  • He sought allies in the County of Flanders to rebel against their French leaders there

• During his reign,

  • He and his forces were defeated by William Wallace and his Scottish forces in the Battle of Stirling Bridge during the First War of Scottish Independence

• During his reign,

  • He passed the Statue of Jewry, in which he forbade Jews from practicing usury and offered them jobs as merchants, artisans, and farmers

    • However, the Jews mostly refused to comply with this law

  • He passed the Edict of Expulsion, in which he completely expelled and banned Jews from living in the country

    • Under law, he made Jews the “property” of the sovereign, and he then chose to banish them thereafter

    • He passed this law likely due to the Jews’ refusal to comply with the previous law

• He died after he was on his way to his second invasion of Scotland

1307 - 1327 - Edward II (All Facts)

• 25th King of England and 6th King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He was considered weak and foolish

• During his reign,

  • He married Isabella, daughter of Philip IV of France in order to resolve the tensions and conflicts between England and France such as the previous Gascon War

• During his reign,

  • He and his forces were defeated by Robert the Bruce and his Scottish forces in the Battle of Bannockburn during the First Scottish War of Independence

• Under his reign,

  • The Great Famine occurred, in which people all throughout England were starving and suffering as a result of a bad harvest due to a torrential flood

• He was forced to abdicate

  • His fate was sealed when his wife Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, landed in Essex with a band of foreign mercenaries and marched onto London

  • He was deposed, imprisoned and eventually executed in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire

  • When his young son succeeded him, he had no real power and whose mother and the namesake’s wife ruled as regent

1308 - 1327 - Isabella (All Facts)

• 25th Queen of England and Queen of the Capetian Dynasty in France

• She was the daughter of Philip IV of France who had her married to King Edward II of England in an alliance in order to resolve the tensions between England and France that had occurred in previous conflicts, such as the Gascon War

  • However, she had a love affair with a man named Roger Mortimer

  • She found wide support amongst the barons and bishops and may have gained the support of parliament and the people to rebel against and oust King Edward II for his weak rule, especially after his being defeated by Roger the Bruce in the Battle of Bannockburn during the First War of Scottish Independence

  • She and Roger Mortimer landed in Essex with a band of foreign mercenaries and marched on London to seal the fate of her husband King Edward II

  • Afterwards, an orgy of looting broke out in London

• She ruled as regent for King Edward III of England while he was still a minor after he succeeded his father King Edward II

  • When King Edward III of England took power, he sent her into a nunnery and had her lover Roger Mortimer executed

1327 - 1377 - Edward III (All Facts)

• 26th King of England and 7th King of the House of Plantagenet

  • He sent his mother Isabella into a nunnery and executed her lover Roger Mortimer to consolidate his power and rule

• During his reign,

  • He and his forces defeated the Scots in the Battle of Halidon Hill during the Second Scottish War of Independence

• During his reign,

  • He declared war on France which essentially initiated the Hundred Years’ War against France

    • He claimed the French throne to be his, despite Philip VI’s (of the House of Valois) succession to the French throne, which prompted the conflict

    • He secured allies among German Princes including Louis of Bavaria

  • He and his forces defeated the French off the Flemish coast in the Battle of Sluys

    • The French fleet was completely destroyed and he thus gained control of the sea

  • He made the Truce of Esplechin with Philip VI of France during the Hundred Years’ War

    • He was prompted to do this because he was unable to further pay his troops

  • He supported John de Montfort, the half-brother of the duke of Brittany, to succeed the duke after his death against the nomination of Charles de Blois, the duke’s stepfather, by Philip VI of France, prompting the War of the Breton Succession during the Hundred Years’ War

  • He invaded Normandy

    • He and his forces defeated Philip VI and his French forces in the Battle of Crecy during the Crecy Campaign during the Hundred Years’ War

      • Outnumbered, he led his men to victory and left over 1,500 French troops dead

      • He proceeded onward to advance to Calais

    • He besieged the port city of Calais

      • In so doing, many of its citizens died of hunger

      • Sir Jean Vienne, governor of the city, offered to surrender to the namesake so long as he spared their lives

      • He agreed on the condition that six principal citizens or “burghers,” with heads and feet bare and halters round their necks, deliver to him the keys of the city and threw themselves upon his mercy

      • Even his own knights appealed to him for clemency which he rejected

      • The six burghers begged for mercy not to be killed by him and it was not until his wife Philippa sank to her knees and cried to the namesake begging him not to kill them that moved him so deeply and softened his heart, leading him to spare their lives

  • He signed the First Treaty of London with John II of France, in which John II of France was to be held by him until

    • A ransom of 4M ecus was paid by the French to the namesake, who would then release him

    • Extensive French territories were ceded to the namesake and the Kingdom of England

    • This Treaty triggered the Jacquerie Revolt in France

  • He signed the Treaty of Bretigny, in which John II of France was released by the namesake, allowing him to return to France

• During his reign,

  • He withheld wool exports to Flanders in order to stir up unrest there against their French overlords

    • By restricting wool exports to Flanders, he sought to force up wool prices, and thus enable the Flemish population to rebel against their French count overlords

    • His eventual lifting of the wool blockade gave both employer and employee weavers a cause to fight for to unite Flanders against the French

    • Thus, his ultimate plan and goal was to ally with the Flemish to aid in the Hundred Years’ War against France while also giving the Flemish an ally to secure their freedom from France

  • He caused the collapse of contemporary Florentine (Italian) banking houses

    • He borrowed extensively from the Bardi and Peruzzi banking family houses in Italy to finance his wars against

      • The Scots in the Second Scottish War of Independence

      • The French in the Hundred Years’ War

    • He then repudiated the debts of 800K florins, effectively causing the imprisonment of the various banks’ agents

      • This caused a severe economic decline of the Bardi bankers and Italy as a whole

• During his reign,

  • He instituted his “Order of the Garter,” an order of chivalry inspired by his much-publicized rescue of one of the countesses of Salisbury’s garters at a dance, rebuking onlookers with “Shame on whoever thinks this shameful”

• He died and was succeeded by his grandson

1328 - 1369 - Philippa of Hainault (All Facts)

• 27th Queen of England and Queen of the Avesnes Dynasty

  • She was the wife and political advisor of King Edward III of England

• She is famous for persuading her husband, King Edward III of England, to spare the lives of the six “Burghers of Calais” when he besieged the port city of Calais during the Hundred Years’ War with the French

  • When they were on the point of being put to death, she sank to her knees and cried out to Edward III saying, “My dear lord, I ask you in all humility, in the name of the Son of the Blessed Mary and by the love you bear me, to have mercy on these men”

  • She convinced the King whose heart was softened by her words, and he granted her wish to spare the six men’s lives

1330 - 1376 - Edward the Black Prince (All Facts)

• Son of King Edward III of England

• He oversaw a devastating raid in Languedoc in France during the Hundred Years’ War

• He organized a great expedition in which he launched a series of raids across Limousin and Berry in southwestern France during the Hundred Years’ War

  • He did this in order to take advantage of the unrest throughout the French realm at the time

• He and his forces defeated John II of France and his forces in the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years’ War

  • After John II and the French surrendered to him, however, in a true act of chivalry, a tradition highly cultivated in England during that time, the namesake invited John II and his men to a banquet where he humbled himself by refusing to sit at the same table as his kingly opponent and left with him and his captured booty for London after the banquet

1320 - 1394 - John Hawkwood (All Facts)

• English Mercenary Leader

• His troops were a force to be reckoned with in the politics of northern Italy

• He died and was buried in an elaborate cathedral tomb

1377 - 1399 - Richard II (All Facts)

• 27th King of England and 8th and Final King of the House of Plantagenet

  • Son of Edward the Black Prince

  • When he assumed the throne, he was still a child, so the Royal Council assumed power

• He helped support the rebels in the Revolt of Ghent against France

• Under his reign,

  • The Peasants Revolt had occurred, led by Wat Tyler

    • As London burnt around him, he parleyed with Wat Tyler, but, angered by Tyler’s attitude, her lunged at him with his sword, killed him, and displayed his head on a pole in a London field for all to see

    • However, he pardoned all of Tyler’s followers

    • He was best remembered for his courageous handling of the Peasants’ Revolt, when he set himself at the head of the rebels and persuaded them to disband

  • A group of his aristocratic opponents launched an attack on his friends and associates, executing eight of them and driving others into exile

  • Forged iron guns weighing 600 pounds were used by the namesake and his forces to defend the Tower of London

• He signed a deed of abdication under pressure from a delegation of English nobles

  • Amongst the delegation was his successor, the earl of Hereford and son of John of Gaunt, who had promptly claimed the crown for himself and instituted the new namesake dynasty

  • A document of 32 articles accusing him of tyrannical rule was prepared for presentation to Parliament

    • The namesake king had surely had caused resentment for his

      • claim that the “laws of England lay in his mouth”

      • the wanton luxury of his court

      • having seized the estates of his namesake successor on the death of John of Gaunt

  • Thus, he was deposed and his namesake cousin succeeded him

  • He was eventually brought to London as a prisoner

  • He was thus overtaken by the English nobles initially under him of the House of Lancaster

• His absolutist reign ended in disaster

1320 - 1381 - Wat Tyler (All Facts)

• Leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in England during the reign of Richard II

• He was killed by sword by Richard II for his supposed “arrogant attitude” with the king, who tried to parlay with him

  • However, Richard II pardoned all of his followers

1399 - 1413 - Henry IV (All Facts)

• 28th King of England and First King of the House of Lancaster

  • He had been living in exile in Paris, but set sail for England and landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire

• Under his reign,

  • The “Suppression of Heresy Act” was passed, which

    • Suppressed the Lollards / Lollardy Movement

    • Punished seditious heretics with burning at the stake

    • Was one of the strictest religious censorship statues ever enacted in England

• During his reign,

  • He and Richard Beauchamp, the 5th Earl of Warwick, and their forces defeated Henry “Hotspur” Percy and the Welsh and the Scottish and their forces

• He died and was succeeded by his son

1413 - 1422 - Henry V (All Facts)

• 29th King of England and 2nd King of the House of Lancaster

• He adopted the French claims of King Edward III as his own and asserted his right to the inheritance of the House of the Plantagenets

• Under his reign,

  • The Oldcastle Revolt occurred, in which the Lollards rebelled against his Catholic rule

  • He made a memorable triumphant entry into Paris in France

• During his reign,

  • He and his English forces defeated France in the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War

    • He had not wanted the English forces to fight the French forces and had prepared to strike bargains with France to avoid it

    • Despite his forces being outnumbered 5-to-1, he led them to victory

    • Before the Battle, he and his army attended Mass and made confession

    • Next, he walked along their lines, talking quietly to archer, foot-soldier, and knight alike

    • Then, he donned his armor and a bejeweled helmet and took his position in front of his army

  • He conquered Normandy, with the exception of Mont. St Michel (which remained in French control)

    • He and his forces besieged and captured castles and walled towns

    • He was prompted to do this after his victory in the Battle of Agincourt

  • He signed a treaty of “perpetual peace” with Philip III of Burgundy of France called “The Treaty of Troyes,” in which

    • They brought England and France under one crown, following the namesake’s victory in the Battle of Agincourt

    • He agreed to marry Catherine of Valois, the daughter of King Charles VI of France at the time

    • He believed the agreement with bring “perpetual peace” between the two kingdoms despite the customs and kingdoms being completely separate, the union of the two crowns was to be personal

    • He and Philip III of Burgundy failed to tackle the question of succession as no woman could succeed to the French throne

    • Despite this treaty, he continued to conquer France bit by bit until he fell ill and struggled on for three months until he was to weak to ride his horse

• He died at Vincennes after securing himself to be the heir designate to the kingdom of France

  • Initially, he was recognized as heir to the French throne

  • However, he died at the very moment when the crown of France was within his grasp and he was about to realize his ambition to rule over both kingdoms

  • He was supposed to have acted as regent and to have succeeded to the French throne on Charles VI of France’s death

  • His son and successor was only nine months old, so his successor was ruled over by a regent but this caused fears of collapse of English power in France

1422 - 1461 / 1470 - 1471 - Henry VI (All Facts)

• 30th and 32nd King of England and 3rd and 4th and Final King of the House of Lancaster

  • He was crowned King of France at Notre Dame by Henry Beaufort, the Bishop of Winchester

• During his reign,

  • He founded Eton College in Buckinghamshire

• Under his reign,

  • The English were defeated by the French in the Battle of Formigny during the Hundred Years’ War

  • The English were defeated by the French in the Battle of Castillon, during the Hundred Years’ War

  • The English were defeated by the French in the Hundred Years’ War

  • Jack Cade’s Rebellion against him took place due to the losses in the Hundred Years’ War and the maladministration and abuse of power of the namesake’s closest advisors

  • The Wars of the Roses began, in which the House of York would win out over the House of Lancaster until the two houses, branches of the House of Plantagenet, would be united via marriage under the House of Tudor, in which the Tudor Dynasty was thus established

    • He royalist forces were defeated by Richard Plantagenet and his forces in the Battle of St. Albans

• During his reign, he suffered from multiple mental breakdowns, so Richard Plantagenet was appointed “Protector of the Realm” of England

  • When the namesake recovered his senses at the end of the same year he suffered from lacking them, Richard Plantagenet was dismissed as “Protector of the Realm” of England

  • However, he would go onto suffer more mental breakdowns and the House of York would win over him and the male line of his House (of Lancaster) would end

• His reign was interrupted by the rule of his successor from the House of York

• He was restored to the throne with

  • French aid

  • The Earl of Warwick

  • His namesake successor’s brother, the duke of Clarence

• He was likely murdered in the Tower of London as his namesake successor usurped the throne of the House of Lancaster from the House of York during the Wars of the Roses

1389 - 1435 - John, Duke of Bedford (All Facts)

• English Lieutenant in France

• He had been the one man capable of controlling the factions within the minority government of his nephew, King Henry VI of England

• His death prompted King Henry VI of England himself to take power

1382 - 1439 - Richard Beauchamp (All Facts)

• English medieval nobleman and military commander

  • He was England’s most powerful nobleman during the reigns of Kings Henry IV, V, and VI of England of the House of Lancaster

• He is considered the “Father of Courtesy” and “Father of Chivalry”

• He fought in the Battle of Shrewsbury

• He set out for the Holy Land

• He spent six years touring the courts of Europe

  • On his return, he was made captain of Calais by King Henry V of England

  • He organized a “pas d’armes” (a series of formal personal combats, a surrogate for actual war)

• King Henry V of England sent the namesake as ambassador to the general Council of Constance where the namesake met the pope and the emperor and was offered by the emperor the heart of St. George

  • When he declined, the emperor himself brought the heart of St. George to England

• He helped arrange King Henry V of England’s marriage to Catherine of Valois, the daughter of the king of France at the time, Charles VI

  • He then became guardian of King Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois’s son Henry VI

  • This was a tribute to his chivalric preeminence

• He was the 5th Earl of Warwick

  • He was a trusted counselor to King Henry V and King Henry VI of England

  • He tutored King Henry VI of England

• He resided in France as lieutenant of France and Normandy

  • He was the English commander at Rouen during the trial of St. Joan of Arc

  • He died at Rouen in France

1387 - 1453 - John Talbot (All Facts)

• He was the First Earl of Shrewsbury under King Henry VI of England

• He was a much respected and feared general by both the English and the French during the Hundred Years’ War

• He led an expeditionary force which had been welcomed into Bordeaux by its inhabitants, a welcome that cooled when it became known that three French armies were approaching

• He had planned to take on all three armies in one battle

• He had reckoned with neither the firepower of the 600 cannons that the French brought with them

• He was killed by being pinned beneath his horse that was killed from a French cannon ball

1411 - 1460 - Richard Plantagenet (All Facts)

• 3rd Duke of York during the reign of King Henry VI of England

• He and his forces defeated the royalist forces of King Henry VI of England in the Battle of St. Albans, which marked the beginning of the Wars of the Roses

• He laid claim to the throne upon King Henry VI’s having been stricken with a mental illness

• He and his forces were defeated by the forces of the House of Lancaster and he was killed in the Battle of Wakefield during the Wars of the Roses

• However, his son, King Henry VI’s namesake successor, beat King Henry VI’s forces in the Battle of Towton and became King Henry VI’s successor

1461 - 1470 / 1471 - 1483 - Edward IV (All Facts)

• 31st and 33rd King of England and First and 2nd King of the House of York

  • His assumption to the English throne was secured by his supporters and forces’ of the House of York having defeated the forces of the House of Lancaster in the Battle of Towton during the Wars of the Roses

  • His reign was interrupted by his namesake predecessor’s brief second reign

  • He returned to the throne after he had his predecessor murdered, in the Tower of London, having usurped the throne of the House of Lancaster from the House of York during the Wars of the Roses

    • He did this with support from the Burgundians and reconciliation with his brother, the duke of Clarence, who had initially went against him by restoring the rule of his namesake predecessor

• During his reign,

  • He and his forces of the House of York defeated King Henry VI of England and his forces of the House of Lancaster in the Battle of Towton during the Wars of the Roses

  • He and his forces of the House of York defeated the Earl of Warwick and his forces of the House of Lancaster in the Battle of Barnet during the Wars of the Roses

    • This helped secure his position on the English throne

  • He and his forces of the House of York defeated Prince Edward and his forces of the House of Lancaster in the Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses

• During his reign,

  • He re-established stability after the upheavals of the War of the Roses

• Under his reign,

  • The Treaty of Utrecht with the Hanseatic League was signed

• During his reign,

  • He signed the “Treaty of Picquigny” with King Louis XI of France

• He died at Windsor

  • His son and successor was only 12

1428 - 1471 - Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (All Facts)

• English military commander

• He and his forces of the House of Lancaster were defeated by Edward IV and his forces of the House of York in the Battle of Barnet during the Wars of the Roses

1453 - 1471 - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (All Facts)

• He was the son and only child of King Henry VI of England

• He and his forces of the House of Lancaster were defeated by Edward IV and his forces of the House of York in the Battle of Tewkesbury during the Wars of the Roses

• His death represented the end of the male line of the House of Lancaster, which was ultimately defeated by the House of York before being merged with them as the House of Tudor during the Wars of the Roses

1483 - Edward V (All Facts)

• 34th King of England and 3rd King of the House of York

  • Upon assumption to the throne, he was only 12 years old

  • He was the son of his namesake predecessor

• Along with Richard of York, his younger brother, he disappeared and it is widely believed he was murdered, along with his younger brother Richard, on the orders of their uncle and namesake successor

  • He and his younger brother were put in the Tower of London before the namesake’s successor announced his own claim to the English throne

  • Rumors almost immediately began to circulate that he and his younger brother were dead with stores saying they had been drowned in malmsey, stabbed, poisoned, or smothered

  • This situation lends itself to the work corresponding to the “Princes in the Tower”

1483 - 1485 - Richard III (All Facts)

• 35th King of England and 4th and Final King of the House of York and Final King of the House of Plantagenet

• It was widely believed that he had his predecessor and his predecessor’s younger brother Richard murdered - despite both belonging to the same house as the namesake - in order that he could obtain the English throne

  • The “Princes in the Tower” - his predecessor and his predecessor’s younger brother Richard disappeared upon his announcing his own claim to the throne

  • Rumors thus circulated that they were dead and that the namesake had them drowned in malmsey, stabbed, poisoned, and/or smothered

  • The beliefs in their deaths led to

    • the abandonment of restoring his namesake predecessor to the throne

    • a rebellion against the namesake, in which the English worked to find another claimant to the English throne

    • his namesake successor, from the House of Lancaster but exiled, whom they preferred as candidate to succeed the namesake

• He and his forces of the House of York were defeated by his namesake successor and the forces of the House of Tudor in the Battle of Bosworth Field, thus ending his reign and ending the Wars of the Roses

  • He decided to enter the battle in person at the head of a stupendous cavalry charge due to his frustration with the Duke of Norfolk’s inability to defeat Henry Tudor’s commander, the Earl of Oxford

  • However, Henry Tudor stood his ground defiantly, and Lord Stanley, initially on the namesake’s side, joined the melee and defected to Henry Tudor’s side

  • At the battle’s end, he was forced into a swamp, unhorsed, and hacked to death by Welsh pike-men

  • After the battle, his coronet was received and placed on the head of Henry Tudor, his successor

• His reign marked the end of the House of Plantagenet

• His reign also marked the end of the Middle Ages in England

1485 - 1509 - Henry VII (All Facts)

• 36th King of England and First King and Founder of the House of Tudor

  • He and his forces defeated Richard III and his forces in the Battle of Bosworth Field, which ended the Wars of the Roses and secured the namesake’s assumption to the English throne

    • Despite being heavily outnumbered and a novice in battle, he and his forces stood defiantly against Richard III and his forces

    • He had Richard III’s coronet retrieved and placed on his head

  • He thus established royal independence from baronial support, having ended the Wars of the Roses

  • His original last name was Tudor, but his official name marked the continuation of the monarchical title

    • His family and house had influential Welsh elements

• During his reign,

  • He and Charles VIII of France signed the Peace of Etaples in which Charles VIII of France agreed to

    • pay the money due to England via the Treaty of Picquigny

    • not aid any rebels against the namesake

  • He gave John Cabot money from the Privy Pursue and an annuity for his expeditions to North America

    • He also gave John Cabot a boat to sail to Cathay (northern China)