England/Catalogs/Kings and Queens

The English monarchy is usually regarded as beginning with Egbert. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had acknowledged one among their number as overlord in some sense. Egbert of Wessex displaced the Mercian overlordhsip. Over the next century, the Vikings conquered most of England, destroying all the other kingdoms in the process, and Wessex then reconquered their territory. When Athelstan completed this process, he was effective king of all England, not just an overlord of independent kingdoms.

Saxons

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
829-839	Egbert
839-855	Ethelwulf	abdicated
855-860	Ethelbald
860-865	Ethelbert
865-871	Ethelred
871-899	Alfred	the Great
899-924	Edward	the Elder
924-939	Athelstan
939-946	Edmund
946-955	Edred
955-959	Edwy
959-975	Edgar
975-978	Edward	the Martyr
978-1016	Ethelred	the Unready
1016	Edmund	Ironside

Danish rulers

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1017-1035	Canute
1035-1040	Harold I	Known as Harefoot
1040-1042	Hardicanute

Saxons

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1042-1066	Edward	The Confessor
1066-1066	Harold II

House of Normandy

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1066-1087	William I
1087-1100	William II
1100-1135	Henry I
1135-1154	Stephen

House of Plantagenet

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1154-1189	Henry II
1189-1199	Richard I
1199-1216	John
1216-1272	Henry III
1272-1307	Edward I	Known as Longshanks and as 'Hammer of the Scots'
1307-1327	Edward II
1327-1377	Edward III
1377-1399	Richard II

House of Lancaster

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1399-1413	Henry IV
1413-1422	Henry V
1422-1461	Henry VI

House of York

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1461-1483	Edward IV
1483-1483	Edward V
1483-1485	Richard III

House of Tudor

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1485-1509	Henry VII
1509-1547	Henry VIII
1547-1553	Edward VI
1553-1558	Mary I
1558-1603	Elizabeth I

House of Stuart

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1603-1625	James I	James VI of Scotland
1625-1649	Charles I

Commonwealth/protectorate

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1649-1653	Commonwealth
1653-1658	Oliver Cromwell	Protectorate
1658-1659	Richard Cromwell	Protectorate

House of Stuart restored

Date of Reign	Name	Comment
1660-1685	Charles II
1685-1688	James II	James VII of Scotland
1689-1694	William and Mary	jointly
1694-1702	William III	sole ruler; William II of Scotland
1702-1714	Anne

Notes

After King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Witan elected Edgar Atheling as king. He was never crowned, and submitted to William shortly after. He is sometimes included in the list of monarchs.

In 1141, the Church declared King Stephen deposed, but then restored and recrowned him.

Although Henry VI was deposed in London in 1461, he remained king in parts of the country till 1465. He was restored for 6 months in 1470-71.

After the death of Edward VI, the Council in London, and the local authorities in King's Lynn and Berwick-upon-Tweed, proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as queen. The rest of the country supported Mary, and Jane was deposed after 9 days. She is sometimes included in the list of monarchs.

After the execution of Charles I a republic ("commonwealth") was proclaimed. The Cromwells were given the title of Lord Protector.

Faced with invasion and rebellion, James II fled the country in 1688. Parliament, meeting the following year, deemed him to have abdicated at that point.