(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 854, 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 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

• 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 allied did homage to his predecessor, at Winchester