You Gotta Know These British Monarchs!

Henry The Second

• Clue 1: Developed common law and due process

• Clue 2: Fought with Thomas à Becket over submission to the Pope

Henry The Second

• Clue 1: Invaded England, forcing Stephen of Blois to acknowledge him as his heir.

• Clue 2: His Queen Eleanor and her four sons conspired with Philip II against him

Richard The Lion-Hearted

• Clue 1: Fought Philip II in Normandy

• Clue 2: Died while defending possessions in Aquitaine

Richard The Lion-Hearted

• Clue 1: House of Plantagenet

• Clue 2: Third son of Henry II

Richard The Lion-Hearted

• Clue 1: Ransomed handsomely by Leopold V, Duke of Austria

• Clue 2: Went on the Third Crusade to Jerusalem

Alfred The Great

• Clue 1: Saxon House, King of Wessex

• Clue 2: Expelled Danes from London in 886

Alfred The Great

• Clue 1: Conquered most of the Danelaw territory

• Clue 2: Encouraged bishops to foster literacy

Alfred The Great

• Clue 1: Translated works of Boethius, Augustine, and Venerable Bede into Anglo-Saxon

• Clue 2: Kept England from the worst of the Dark Ages

William The Conqueror

• Clue 1: Invaded England in 1066

• Clue 2: Promised succession to the English throne by Edward the Confessor

William The Conqueror

• Clue 1: Authorized the 1086 Domesday Book

• Clue 2: Replaced Anglo-Saxon nobles and clergy with Normans

John Lackland

• Clue 1: Excommunicated by the Pope for refusing Stephen Langton as Archbishop

• Clue 2: Defeated by French King Philip II at Bouvines in 1214

John Lackland

• Clue 1: Forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, marked the rise of the British constitution.

• Clue 2: Tried to seize the crown from his brother Richard but was forgiven and made as legitimate successor anyway.

Richard The Third

• Clue 1: Became regent to his nephew Edward V, suspected of having him murdered in 1483

• Clue 2: His death marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and the beginning of Henry Tudor/The Eight’s reign

Henry The Eight

• Clue 1: Only Jane Seymour bore him a son, sickly Edward VI

• Clue 2: Brought England into the Renaissance and Reformation

Henry The Eight

• Clue 1: Executed ministers who crossed him, including Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More

• Clue 2: Married six times

Henry The Eight

• Clue 1: Patronized Erasmus, Hans Holbein the Younger, and Thomas More

• Clue 2: Originally supported the Catholic Church, named “Defender of the Faith”

Henry The Eight

• Clue 1: Patronized Erasmus, Hans Holbein the Younger, and Thomas More

• Clue 2: Originally supported the Catholic Church, named “Defender of the Faith”

Elizabeth The First

• Clue 1: House of Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

• Clue 2: Known as the “Virgin Queen” because she never married

Elizabeth The First

• Clue 1: Considered illegitimate by the Catholic Church

• Clue 2: Succeeded her Catholic sister Mary I

Elizabeth The First

• Clue 1: Declared England a Protestant state

• Clue 2: Named herself “Governor” of the Church of England

James The First

• Clue 1: House of Stuart

• Clue 2: Succeeded his mother Mary as King of Scotland at age one

James The First

• Clue 1: Claimed the English throne as the great-great-grandson of Henry VII

• Clue 2: Became king upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603

James The First

• Clue 1: Target of Guy Fawkes’ failed Gunpowder Plot in 1605

• Clue 2: Believed in absolutism, dissolved Parliament from 1611 to 1621

Elizabeth The First

• Clue 1: Favored ministers Robert Cecil and the Duke of Buckingham

• Clue 2: Oversaw English expansion into North America

Elizabeth The First

• Clue 1: Issued royal charter in Virginia

• Clue 2: Saw Puritan protest in Massachusetts

Charles The First

• Clue 1: House of Stuart, son of James I

• Clue 2: Became king in 1625 after James I's death

Charles The First

• Clue 1: Signed the Petition of Right in 1628 after conflict with Parliament

• Clue 2: Ruled without Parliament from 1629 to 1640 (Personal Rule)

Charles The First

• Clue 1: Imposed English church forms on Presbyterian Scotland

• Clue 2: Resulted in the Bishops' Wars (1639–1640)

Charles The First

• Clue 1: Called the Short Parliament in spring 1640 and Long Parliament in fall 1640

• Clue 2: Bickered over the fate of the Advisor Earl of Strafford, the Irish Rebellion and Anglican reforms of the English church

Charles The First

• Clue 1: Tried to arrest five opponents in the House of Commons in January 1642

• Clue 2: Led to civil war in August 1642, fled to Oxford

Charles The First

• Clue 1: Became a prisoner of Parliament in January 1647 after his armies were defeated

• Clue 2: Tried for treason by a "High Court of Justice" and executed on January 30, 1649

Charles The Second

• Clue 1: Restored to the English throne through the Declaration of Breda

• Clue 2: Fought two lackluster wars against the Dutch

Charles The Second

• Clue 1: Succeeded Oliver Cromwell

• Clue 2: Crowned King of Scotland in 1651

Charles The Second

• Clue 1: Needed protection from Louis XIV via the Treaty of Dover

• Clue 2: Married Catherine of Braganza, no legitimate heirs

Charles The Second

• Clue 1: Known as the "Merry Monarch" with up to 14 illegitimate children

• Clue 2: Tolerant of Catholics, dissolved Parliament in 1681

Charles The Second

• Clue 1: Refused to prevent his Protestant brother James from succeeding him

• Clue 2: Dissolved Parliament over his Catholic tolerance and their staunch Protestantism.

James The Second

• Clue 1: Succeeded Charles II

• Clue 2: Faced the fabricated 1678 Popish Plot by Titus Oates

James The Second

• Clue 1: Favored Catholics heavily during his reign

• Clue 2: Deposed in the Glorious Revolution

James The Second

• Clue 1: Exiled to Louis XIV’s court

• Clue 2: Attempted to regain his crown in 1690, routed at the Battle of the Boyne