The ENTIRE History of The British Monarchy | 4K Royal Family Documentary

the British royal family we know today are just one generation amongst a remarkable monarchy spanning over a thousand years but how did An ancestry that once ruled the lands eventually forfeit power with over a millennium of bloody succession Wars Global conquests betrayals and grandstone buildings Still Standing Tall all Royal history has been documented and preserved with countless kings and queens each with their own stories this is the entire history of the British Monarchy our story doesn't begin with the Scots or with the English for that matter but with a Saxon Prince named Egbert III at the time of Egbert III's birth in 771 ad England did not exist instead the British Isles looked like this a patchwork of Waring kingdoms made up of angal Saxons Judes and Britain all fighting one another for control and influence over the Dominion born the ilman king of Kent and Grandson of E king of Wessex the Young Prince Eggbert had strong claims to both territories his father died when Eggbert was 10 and a bloody Scramble for the crown ensued it eventually came to rest on the head of Boi of Mera a young Eggbert challenged Boi's Rule and lost forced to take refuge in the nearby Court of Mercia and eventually sent into Exile in Francia Eggbert was forced to bite his time learning from the French courts of Charlemagne and gaining experience as a military leader on the continent Eggbert grew into a king who was about to change the course of English History in 800 ad after the death of Boi Eggbert crossed the channel returning to the land of his father and made his claim to the throne of westex despite overwhelming support in both Europe and within the westex nobility Eggbert 's Ascension was by no means easy threats from nearby kingdoms were constant and after losing his brother-in-law on the day of his Ascension to an invading Army of mercians Eggbert was finally crowned king of Wessex in 802 ad immediately he set about consolidating his power he took control of the kingdoms of Kent Essex Sussex and Cornwall as well as large swaths of Wales even the kingdom of North Umbria eventually submitted to the crown of Wessex placing all anglosaxon Kingdoms in Britain under the direct and indirect rule of Eggbert of Wessex well almost all his old enemy the kingdom of Mera was a different story the two sides had been locked in a constant state of warfare for Centuries with each kingdom trading territory in blood as the years wore on King Egg bird of wesex would see brief success driving the king of meria weof out of his land but he was unable to hold them and weof returned only a year later despite this though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles remember Eggbert favorably for his role in uniting the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain they bestowed onto him the title of Brett Walda or wide ruler of Britain and while he was never able to fully conquer the mercian crown his rule changed the landscape of Britain forever Eggbert of Wessex set in motion a policy of consolidation and expansion that his offspring would continue to enforce for the next 200 years eventually leading to the unification of Britain and the birth of England but there's still a lot of mess before we get [Music] there King Eggbert of westex died in 839 ad and was succeeded by his eldest son ethelwolf who soon faced a new threat The dames adorned an animals skins and brandishing axes stained with blood the Danish Invasion officially began in 842 ad while eth wolf was Victorious at the Battle of Acca in 851 ad driving the Danes back into the Seas he knew that this was just the beginning the new threat worried the kingdoms of Britain so much that it forced Mera and wessix into an uneasy alliance with one another putting an end to an almost 300-year conflict Ethel wolf was succeeded by his son ethelbald whose Reign was short and unpopular especially amongst the clergy this was mainly because of the new King's decision to marry his father's Widow something that even at this time was considered weird after just four years of rule Ethel bald died passing the crown of Wessex onto his younger brother aelbert [Music] like his father before him aalbert too was threatened by Foreign Invaders from the north Viking raids along the coast led by Ragnar L Brock and his son Ivar the Boneless had been growing in violence and frequency with Viking forces even sacking the Wessex capital of Winchester in 865 ad aelbert rallied his troops and drove the Vikings back but died of unknown causes that Autumn leaving the throne to his younger brother AAL red I who was about to inherit an island on the verge of a major [Music] upheaval the same year of aled's Ascension 867 ad the Vikings captured and settle the town of York establishing the first major Danish foothold on English soil alel red had no choice but to meet the great Heathen Army in battle together with his younger brother Alfred they gathered an Army and marched out to defeat their Invaders the cautious King alal red Was Defeated at the Battle of reading in 871 ad but was saved by his younger brother at the Battle of ashtown the same year impatient as Only the Young are Alfred took his army while King alal red prayed and met the Danes in open battle he pushed the Viking horde back and bought his brother's Kingdom some time but the Danes rallied and struck the armies of westex again securing victories at the battles of basing and meron AEL red died from his wounds leaving the throne to his younger brother Alfred who now inherited a kingdom on the brink of [Music] collapse in 874 ad the great Heathen Army marched on the kingdom of Mera defeating BurGR of merca and forcing the king into Exile with Mercia defeated all that stood between the northern Invaders in total control of England was Alfred and the Kingdom of Wessex as Danish forces closed in all around him Alfred was pushed back and forced into a remote Marsh in Somerset he'd been betrayed by his allies who now chose to negotiate with the Invaders rather than fight total Danish control of Britain looked imminent but the young king had not given up hope he emerged from the marsh and surprised the Danish Army in Edington chasing the Danish King Guam back to his base in Chippenham and forcing the Danes into a Siege Gotham held out for 2 weeks before he surrendered to Alfred's forces and Alfred was Victorious the terms were simple guthrum was to leave Wessex and receive a Christian baptism the Danish King obliged and after his baptism was solemnized at wedmore he retreated to East Anglia leaving Alfred to consolidate his gains Victorious Alfred took on a new name Alfred the great with the Viking threat tamed Alfred set about transforming Anglo-Saxon Society for the better he established fortified towns throughout his Kingdom built schools and encouraged the acquisition of knowledge there's even an unsubstantiated myth that he founded Oxford University but perhaps his most important policy was the establishment of Daye law England was to be divided the south and east belonged to the Saxons and Saxon law applied while the north and west belonged to the Danes and thus were subject to Dane law this divide is still seen culturally politically and financially in Britain today Alfred brought Anglo-Saxon England into a golden age he tamed the Danish threat and kickstarted a new age of Saxon rule that permanently changed the landscape of Britain [Music] forever Alfred the Great was succeeded by a son son Edward the Elder in 8899 ad Edward was in many ways like his father learned Pious and a keen military tactician his Reign focused on two things improving the administration of his lands and increased expansion both North and South he was able to capture the Viking capital of York but only held it for a year before he was forced to abandon it he also successfully defeated the Viking presence in Southern England and now either directly or indirectly ruled over all the old kingdoms barring North Umbria which was still under Viking control Edward the Elder died in 924 ad from wounds he received while quashing a mercy and rebellion in Chester and passed his crown unto his son [Music] ailan after consolidating his power at home athlan set his sights North and did what his father could not he conquered the kingdom of North Umbria and took control of the Viking capital of York Conquering the last Viking territory on the island and pushing the Danes into Scotland he continued his campaign into the Scottish territories and after heavy losses on both sides he emerged Victorious at the Battle of brunenberg forcing the Scottish King to pledge overlordship to him this made him the first true ruler over all the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms in Britain with his control extending from the shores of Cornwall up to the highlands of Scotland by uniting the Anglo-Saxons aaland formed the kingdom of England and is thus remembered as the first real English king with the realm now firmly under his control King avalan continued the policies and reforms of his grandfather Alfred the Great he centralized government brought about massive legal reform in the realm and concerned himself with European politics in a way his predecessors seldom had he died in 939 ad passing the throne onto his half brother Edmund the [Music] Magnificent edon's Reign would be almost entirely focused on keeping his half brother's Kingdom together he faced continuous threats from the Danish who had now settled north of the Border shortly after edan's Ascension they revolted against the new king retaking York and mounting destructive raids on the Midlands but like his predecessor Edmund the Magnificent wasn't to be messed with leading his army North he briefly stopped to quash a Welsh Rebellion that had been brewing since before aalen's death he then defeated the Danes at the siege of Lester and sent his armies into Scotland seeking revenge against the king of Strath for his decision to side with a Danish during the recapturing of York he deposed the king of Strath and installed Malcolm the of Scotland on the condition I that Edmund would have overlordship of the territory this gave Edmund control directly and indirectly of the entire island of Great Britain but for all his successes edman the Magnificent could not escape a violent death in 946 ad while attending a St Augustine's mass in Gloucester sh Edmund was attacked and killed by a thief named leofa who the king had previously banished for his crimes Edmund the Magnificent was Buri Reed glastenbury Abbey and the realm scrambled to find his successor since edon's two sons were too young to rule the burden of the crown fell to edon's brother edred who rained for 9 years before succumbing to an unknown intestinal illness in 955 ad edon's eldest son edwig was now 15 and took the crown as his own he decided to split the realm between himself and his younger brother Edgar ruling everything south of the river temps while Edgar ruled the North King edg's Reign was short with the young king dying just four years after his coronation he passed the kingdom of England in its entirety to his younger brother Edgar the peaceful in 959 ad his Reign was as the name might suggest considered a peaceful golden age where England was free from external attacks and internal disorder he introduced a standardized coinage and was at the Helm of the English Benedictine religious reforms that swept across the realm but this piece did not last his death in 975 ad thrust England back into a period of conflict and uncertainty the throne was disrupted by Edgar's two remaining Sons Edward the Martyr and eved the unready Edward successfully took the throne in 9 75 ad but was murdered Just 4 years later in circumstances not totally clear to us today his younger brother elel red soon took charge at just 12 years old before the young king had even a hair on his chin an old enemy reared from far in the north the Danes had returned and set about raiding English territories again with every year the threat grew more serious and soon the English king could not afford to ignore them any longer he gathered his armies and marched North but was eventually defeated at the Battle of Malden seeking a compromise King eeled II was forced to pay off the Danish King and leave them to settle in the Kingdom of North Umbria but as it turns out the King was not content to just let the Invaders be a decade after his defeat he ordered the infamous St Bryce's Day Massacre a brutal slaughtering of a Danish settlement which had dire con consequences to not only his rule but his entire family's place in history hearing of the attack on his people King Spain forkbeard of Denmark sailed to England forcing Eed to flee to Normandy in 1013 ad Sven Fork be ruled over England for Just 4 weeks before his sudden and mysterious death seizing the opportunity Evel returned and quickly retook control of the crown despite the brief Danish interruption Red's 37-year Reign was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon King and it would become the last period of Royal stability until the 12th century almost 100 years later King eeled the unready died in 1016 ad and the crown was passed onto his son Edmund Ironside who like so many of those before him was now forced to clean up the mess his father had made you see unbeknownst to Edmund the Danish King Spain had a son Cano the great who had been amassing an Army in Denmark in preparing it to sail to England just weeks after the death of his father and with a coronation wine barely out of his system Edmund was forced to meet Cano and the Danes in battle he was unsuccessful with Edmund wounded the two reached an agreement Edmund Ironside was to rule Wessex while Cano could have the rest of the country this was October 30th by November 18th Edmund was dead and Cano assumed kingship over the entire realm after 214 years of hegemony the house of Wessex had officially lost its control over England ruling uninterrupted since Egbert III in 802 ad 1016 would prove to be the dawn of a new age on the British Isles the age of Danes [Music] after centuries of Danish activity on the island a Danish King now sat on the English Throne canut the great was crowned in 1016 ad and wasted no time proving he was an astute leader and capable King he understood that to rule the English he would need their help he appointed English counselors and clergymen choosing to uphold the traditional customs and values of the land he'd inherited rather than to suppress them he married the Widow of eeled the unready and Allied himself closely to the church all of which helped Cano cement his legitimacy in 107 ad in 1018 he was crowned king of Denmark and later conquered Sweden uniting the Three Kingdoms to create the North Sea Alliance medieval historians look back on Cano's Reign favorably his presence brought stability to England and allowed the realm to flourish now that the threat of Viking Raiders had been eliminated he died in 1035 ad and the crown was to be given to his son Harold harfoot Harold had not been the first choice for succession but with his older brother hardock knuk stuck in Norway dealing with a Swedish Rebellion therefore it was decided that Harold would be appointed King instead this was not a popular decision and many in the realm opposed it most notably Godwin the Earl of wessix and Emma of nor Harold's stepmother and the Widow of elel red the unready she' had two other sons while with eel red both of whom had been exiled to Normandy after the Danish Conquest but now with hardig nut absent and Herold struggling to consolidate his power she called on them to return to England and take back their father's Throne Alfred the noble and Edward the Confessor sailed across the Channel with a large army and sought support from the house of Wessex but Godwin who initially opposed herold's claim to the throne betrayed the young princes and seized Alfred the noble with the aim of delivering him to Harold harfoot fearing he would be next Edward the Confessor fled back to Normandy this time taking his mother with him to safety during his captivity Alfred the noble was blinded and eventually succumbed to his wounds in 1036 ad Harold would rule for just four more years before dying in 1040 hearing of his half Brothers passing hardk nut returned from Scandinavia and crowned himself King of England that same year but like his brother his Reign too would be short and he died in 1042 ad from an unknown illness he had no sons and during the last years of his life perhaps encouraged by his mother Emma of Normandy he called his half-brother Edward the Confessor back from Exile and named him as his Heir King hardig nut's passing would Mark the last time aane sat on the English throne with Edward now on the throne England was once again ruled by an Anglo-Saxon King except Edward was only really anglosaxon by Blood he'd spent 25 years of his life in Exile in Normandy and as a result had an extremely Norman outlook on things he appointed Norman counselors and nor church leaders and opted to speak French as opposed to Old English he is best remembered as the founder of Westminster Abby still a major landmark in use in London today as his life Drew to an end and with no Sons to succeed him Edward was expected to choose an heir he was left with two options Harold godwinson a prominent Earl of Wessex and William Duke of Normandy choosing Harold made more political sense he was angloa and came from a prominent family with ties to both the court of king Edward the Confessor and the former Danish King can the great meanwhile William had been an aid to Edward during his Exile in Normandy and was related to the anglosaxon king through Emma of Normandy who was his aunt the issues that arose from Edward the confessor's succession was that it wasn't clear what the king had wanted there are rumors that he'd promised the throne to William but those claims are unsupported in 1065 ad Edward the Confessor slipped suddenly into a coma never clarifying who was to take over the English crown Edward died on the 5th of January 1066 a day later Harold was crowned King of England at the newly built Westminster Abbey upon hearing the news of Harold's Ascension William of Normandy was outraged and began preparing to invade the island what followed was a brief period of warfare that was about to shape England [Music] forever King Harold found himself in an unfavorable position he knew of William's Invasion force and gathered his armies along the coast expecting the Norman Duke to set sail soon after he had been crowned but William didn't bad weather made the channel too rough to sail across and William was forced to postpone his invasion by several months back in England and with Provisions starting to run out Harold was forced to dis B his army and returned to London that same day on the 8th of September 1066 a new threat appeared only this time far up north Harold hardrada king of Norway had arrived in North Umbria and defeated the English Earls in charge of protecting the northern kingdoms Harold had no choice but to react he hastily regrouped his army and began a forced March north of nearly 400 km to meet the Viking Invaders it took 4 4 days for King Herold and his men to reach modern-day Yorkshire but on the 25th of September they faced off against the Norwegian Army at the Battle of Stamford Bridge just outside the city of York the English army clashed with the Norse Invaders harda was killed and Harold emerged Victorious stopping the invasion dead in its tracks but Harold had little time to rest just 2 days after his victory at Stamford Bridge word reached the king that the Norman invasion Fleet had finally set sail for England he gathered what men he had left and began the 400 km March back to the English Capital meanwhile William of Normandy and around 7,000 men landed at pavy Bay in East Sussex and quickly took control of the old Roman fortifications nearby it took King Herold and his army a week to reach the southern English coast and Harold hoped his speech would catch William and his men by surprise but Norman Scouts had spotted herold's Army moving down and warned William of the king's arrival on October 14th 1066 a date forever etched in the annals of British history the two armies clashed the battle began at 9 a.m. and lasted the entire day the English Shield walls initially stood strong surprising the Norman Duke in forcing him back but William had come prepared while Harold had only foot soldiers the Norman Duke had brought with him Cavalry and archers to supplement his main Force the Norman Army feigned a retreat which prompted the English troops to rush forward this allowed the Norman cavalrymen to Route the disorganized English foot soldiers and slaughter them where they stood Harold the last Anglo-Saxon King of England was killed by an arrow which struck him in the eye Harold's mother reportedly begged William for her son's body back offering to pay his weight in gold for custody of of her son's corpse but William refused Legend has it he threw the body into the ocean allowing the waves of the English Channel to swallow the Saxon King never to be seen again William of Normandy was Victorious he marched on London burning his way through Southern England and forcing Lords to swear fty to him as he went he was crowned on Christmas Day 1066 marking the beginning of the Norman age of England his Ascension to the English Throne earned the Norman Duke a new name William the [Music] Conqueror as King by Conquest William now faced the unenviable challenge of consolidating his power he brutally punished those who had stood against him by confiscating their lands removing their Royal titles and executing anyone he deemed a threat to his rule families that had remained neutral during The Invasion or were quick to pledge their support to William after it were rewarded and allowed to continue operating as they had before some were even allowed to marry into the new royal family but a change in leadership was not all William brought with him one of his most enduring policies was the construction of MOT and Bailey castles throughout his kingdom initially made from wood and later rebuilt with stone these fortifications became the landmark feature of Williams rule in England from pavy where he first landed to as far north as modern day Newcastle these buildings were a sign of William's strength and influence over the land historians estimate that around 500 of these castles were built within the first 20 years of Norman rule alone and they gave William and those loyal to him a position from which to defend themselves against revolts and usurpers of which there were many William's first test came when his former Ally Eustace the count of bullin rebelled at do over unhappy with his Spoils of the conquest he rallied local troops against the king and attempted to take do Castle but he failed and was forced to return the land he had won next the King was faced with a number of English rebellions further Inland there was edric the Wild and Wessex as well as githa mother of Harold godwinson organizing revolts as South as exiter William dealt with those rebellions swiftly and with relatively little Bloodshed but in 69 ad the North Rose up in Revolt and William responded in what would later be known as the harrying of the north it was a put down so brutal that it left the areas of York and Durham underpopulated for centuries after but his show of force had done its job England was now firmly in his control with this stability the king felt confident enough to travel between England and the continent with increasing frequency after 1072 he gave up making the journey and spent the majority of his time in Normandy leaving England to be ruled by his half brother Odo of Bayo and his wife Matilda of Flanders it was during this time that the first ever National census was conducted in England the dramatically named Doomsday Book was in effect a royal survey of all the lands in England simply for administrative and tax purposes its name derives from the Christian day of judgment and the aim of the project was to streamline and ulate tax collection in the realm its historical relevance cannot be understated as it gave historians an incredibly detailed look into what life was like at the time of the Norman Invasion and it currently lives in the National Archives at Q in London a year after the book was completed on the 9th of September 1087 ad William the Conqueror died of denter while on expedition in France as was the custom of the time he divided his properties between his three living Sons Sons Robert got Normandy William got England and Henry Henry got money while the new King William may have inherited his father's lands and name he had unfortunately inherited little else crowned King a month after his father's death he quickly established himself as an unpopular greedy and self-centered ruler he was a poor administrator who frequently angered the church and provoked his nobility with an unpredictable temperament and unyielding attitude it's perhaps no surprise then that after 13 years of Rule King William II met his end during a hunting accident the details of which aren't totally clear but it is reported that William stepped in front of a stray Arrow dying of his wounds on the spot the man who shot the arrow William Drell fled after giving his account of the ordeal with King William II dead the throne was to be passed onto his older brother Robert Duke of Normandy but Henry the youngest of the three had other ideas with Robert busy on the continent ruling as duke of Normandy Henry took control of the royal treasury in London and proclaimed himself King of England in 1100 ad Robert did eventually challenge his younger brother for the English throne but King Henry was Victorious at the Battle of tin in 1106 defeated Robert was stripped of his dukedom and would spend the rest of his life in prison thankfully for England Henry I turned out to be a much better ruler than his brother before him he successfully expanded Royal Administration throughout the realm and further solidified the rule of law he set up the court of the ex Checker to directly handle all financial matters something which greatly improved the processes of collecting taxes and granting Charters he ruled for 35 long peaceful and prosperous years during a time of great social and political change on the island many of the administrators King Henry had appointed were new men obscure Untitled subjects who had risen through the ranks through sheer Brilliance and ability and not simply because of their names but tragedy struck Henry during his Twilight years his son and eventual heir to the English Throne William meline died in the wreck of the white ship while returning from France the widower Henry was forced to remarry in the hopes of having another son when it became clear Henry would not bear another son he decided to name his daughter Matilda as his successor to the throne this was an unprecedented move and while many Barons publicly swore fty to the Future Empress privately they had other ideas King Henry the died in 1135 ad believing that he had solved the issue of succession immediately however the Barons of England abandoned the dead King's wishes in favor of a different claimant Henry's nephew Steven of BL you see the English nobility weren't keen on the idea of a woman ruling the country English society believed a woman simply couldn't rule as effectively as a man patriarchal biases aside Steven of blah was a well-known and well-liked figure within the angl Saxon upper class he was respected well-mannered decisive and best of all wealthy traits that made him an attractive Prospect to put on the English Throne Matilda meanwhile was stubborn arrogant and because she had been married off at a young age to the Holy Roman Emperor and therefore spent her life away from England she was considered by many a foreigner What followed was a period of English History that later came to be known as the Anarchy [Music] the news of King Henry's death reached Steven of blowa first and he crossed the channel and Crown himself King in 1135 ad arguing that the stability of the land took precedence over any earlier commitments to support Matilda as Henry's Heir Matilda who now was married to the count of anju was still in Europe and news of her father's passing was slow to reach her as a result King Steven enjoyed an early period of ruling that was free of turmoil and challenge when news reached Matilda of Steven's usurpation she was Furious in 1139 she crossed the channel and traveled to the court of her half brother Robert the Earl of Gloucester seeking his support against the usurper King Robert obliged trouble began in 1141 when the king's forces met Robert's Army at the Battle of Lincoln King Steven is said to have fought bravely but was overwhelmed by Robert's men the captured King was then taken to speak with Matilda she immediately imprisoned Steven at Bristol castle and set out for London with one aim in mind her coronation but her attempts at becoming Queen were soon halted she faced bitter opposition from the crowds that had gathered in the capital these were not soldiers but ordinary citizens forced to retreat her half brother Robert was captured during the route of Winchester and only by releasing King Steven did Empress Matilda secure her half brother's safety with Steven free once again the fighting continued Empress Matilda was herself captured at the town of devises but managed to slip away from the King's Men by pretending to be a corpse on a cart she was again captured and this time held at Oxford Castle but Matilda mounted another daring Escape lowering herself from the castle walls on a rope during a snowstorm wearing white so as to camouflage herself the empress traversed the bitter cold and made her way to the town of Wallingford By Night making sure to avoid detection from hastily formed search parties that hoped to find her the war soon turned into a stalemate as neither side could claim they controlled much of anything in 1153 Matilda's son Henry landed in England and began building his own alliances with power Barons to support his mother's claim to the throne but Empress Matilda had grown tired of the fighting and by now had retreated to Normandy passing her claim solely on to her son King Steven was in a similar position with his rule undermined by the constant fighting so he agreed to the Treaty of Westminster it stated that King Steven would remain King for life and then Henry the lawful Heir would succeed him as king of England upon his death as it turns out Stephen only lived for another year and died in 1154 ad passing the English Throne to Henry From the Ashes of the Civil War England was reborn under a new family one that would eventually rule over the island for almost half a millennia introducing the plantagenet Henry II was crowned King of England on the 19th of December 1154 ad and immediately set about fixing his kingdom 18 years of Civil War had taken its toll and the realm his grandfather had ruled over less than a lifetime ago was now unrecognizable the treasury was virtually empty Royal Administration was almost non-existent and local Lords had slowly wrestled power away from the crown weakening its influence in the realm Henry began by restoring the power of Royal administrations as well as reestablishing English hegemony over Wales he raised unlicensed C castles that had sprung up during the Anarchy and reclaimed many of the rights and Powers the crown had lost during the reign of King Steven next Henry focused on restoring the Crown's finances the war had disrupted almost all the king's traditional sources of income and as a result Henry inherited a kingdom that had lost an estimated 46% of its funding faced with an administrative nightmare the king needed help he was soon introduced to a cleric from London who had earned a reputation as an astute and capable administrator his name was Thomas Beckett ruthlessly efficient and Brilliant at this post Becket was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1155 giving him direct control over the king's sources of revenue Beckett was successful at his new post and King Henry had a lot of admiration for the chancellor as a new man Becket championed the idea set forward by Henry's grandfather that of promotion through ability and not title and even Beyond this the two men quickly became friends the king even sent his son Henry to live in the Becket household as a young boy highlighting just how close the two families really were so when the Archbishop of Canterbury died Henry saw a golden opportunity wanting to reassert his rights over the church in England which had been growing increasingly powerful in recent years King Henry II encouraged a reluct Thomas Becket to take up the position of Archbishop it was a win-win for Henry Becket was a powerful Chancellor and his new position as Archbishop would weaken him politically meaning Becket would have to rely more on King Henry for support moreover Henry assumed his old friend would act in the Crown's best interest weakening the church's growing influence over the kingdom of England but he was wrong almost immediately after his ordination in 1162 ad Thomas Becket changed he abandoned his links to the royal family and fashioned himself as a new protector of religious rights Henry's plan had backfired enormously their friendship did little to stop them from clashing on a number of issues mainly the question of the supremacy of ecclesiastical courts put simply during Henry's Reign clergy members could only be tried for their crimes in church courts the king didn't like this as it made the crown a appear weak and subservient implying that the church and its clergy were above Royal ordinance add to this the fact that a huge portion of England's administrative body was made up of clergymen and Henry was anxious to wrestle power back from the church he argued that criminis clerks should be tried in Royal courts instead Becket disagreed this enraged King Henry II who was known for having a wild and unpredictable temperament fearing for his life Archbishop Bishop Becket fled to France where the pope was forced to intervene mediating a fragile peace between the old friends upon his return Beckett immediately angered Henry by excommunicating the Bishops who had supported the king during the archbishop's Exile Henry flew into another rage and Four Knights perhaps hoping to Curry favor from the King rode to Canterbury and killed Becket on the steps of his altar where he stood it was a shocking move and one that Henry came to deeply regret filled with remorse King Henry walked to Canterbury Cathedral and Sack cloth and Ashes allowing himself to be whipped by the monks there Becket was martyred and the power of the church grew as a consequence Henry's own demise would eventually come at the hands of his three sons in 1173 the heir to the English Throne young Henry rebelled against his father joined by his two brothers Richard and and Jeffrey as well as several European States the great Revolt began and King Henry II was forced to meet the rebels in battle the Revolt was only stopped thanks to Henry's talented local commanders many of whom were new men appointed for their loyalty and administrative skill young Henry and Jeffrey LED another Revolt a decade later in 1183 but they were again unsuccessful and died a few years after Philip II King of France a neutral Richard to his side and together they LED one last revolt against King Henry II of England with his army defeated the king retreated to his castle in ANW where he died from a bleeding ulcer shortly after in 1189 having forced his father off the throne Richard prepped himself to take over Richard I was crowned King at Westminster Abbey on the 3rd of September 11 98 fondly Remembered in English History as Richard the lionart for his bravery and skill in battle Richard's rule is unique as he spent the majority of it abroad fighting in what would later be known as the third Crusades in fact King Richard spent just 10 months in England before leaving to join Philip II of France on his crusade to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim Invaders Richard proved himself to be a brilliant military strategist and he fought cruy and decisively as he led his army deep into the Levant his rivalry with Muslim Commander Saladin became the stuff of Legend and the Crusaders were able to recapture a sizable portion of their territory back but as a result England quickly became an afterthought to King Richard he used the realm mainly to finance his wars in the Middle East after failing to retake Jerusalem King Richard was captured by Leopold of Austria a personal enemy of the English king and held for ransom John the youngest of Henry II's children and brother of Richard had been left in administrative charge of the realm when news reached him of his brother's capture he was hesitant to pay the £60,000 ransom with help from the Archbishop of Canterbury and his mother Eleanor of aquatan King Richard's Ransom was paid and he was free once more but Richard the lion har died as he lived fighting by a crossbow bolt in France the wound quickly turned gangrenous and it was apparent to all that the king wouldn't make it Richard reportedly asked to have the crossbow man brought before him and was surprised when a boy was thrown at his feet the child said King Richard had killed his father and brother and that he had intended to kill Richard in Revenge he expected to be executed but in one final Act of Mercy Richard the lionart forgave him saying live on and and by my bounty behold the light of day Richard died in his mother's arms on the 6th of April 1199 chroniclers of this time said this of the King's death the lion by the ant was slain with his brother now dead John was crowned King of England in 1199 ad like his older brother before him John 2 was given a nickname although one far less romantic he was called John Lackland or lack of land as he was not expected to inherit any significant lands upon his father's death but as fate would have it as the youngest of Henry II's four Sons Jon had not been involved in any of the wars against his father and had therefore been given lands in Ireland and France as a thank you for his loyalty unfortunately though this was about as good as it got for King John while Richard the lionard was an absent but popular King JN was the complete opposite he was a poor administrator a greedy Statesman and a terrible fighter whose over involvement in ruling led to a sharp decline in the power of the English crown in 124 he lost all his family's lands on the continent severing the aristocracy of Normandy from England for the first time since William the conqueror's assession in 1066 he was briefly excommunicated in 1209 by Pope Innocent the third after an argument with his clergy and was becoming increasingly unpopular with the Barons of England for his poor leadership and decision-making after failing to recapture his territories of Normandy King JN was forced to return to England and face a powerful Rebellion from his Barons unhappy with the King's new fiscal policies and demanding that their rights as nobility be respected they forced the king into signing the great document or the Magna Carta in 1215 ad the English crown changed forever that day as the king agreed to be bound by common law and tradition especially where it affected the rights and privileges of the nobility it essentially put the crown directly under the rule of law as opposed to the other way around as it had been since England was founded its impact was astronomical although not immediate while it was nothing more than a power grab by the Barons of England it eventually went on to form the Beast of the English Constitution and included several Clauses that were later interpreted as definitions of democratic freedom and the rights of an individual under common law King JN had hoped that by signing the Magna Carta he could appease his nobility and stop a war from breaking out in the Kingdom but once again he was wrong still unhappy with King John's rule the first Barons war ignited in England in 1215 but despite backing from the King of France the the English Barons were unable to score any decisive victories over King JN and his men and the war quickly became a stalemate while on campaign King JN died of dissenter he'd contracted while overindulging on peaches A fitting death perhaps as a result the throne was passed on to his son Henry who now had the unpleasant task of finishing what his father had started at just 9 years of age Henry III was crowned King of England on October 28th 1216 inheriting a kingdom on fire the new King Henry was faced with a challenge of ending the first Baron's War the king's Army was led by William Marshall first Earl of PMR Shire and servant to five English rulers before him he was a brilliant commander and successfully defeated the barren Army at the Battle of Lincoln and the Battle of sandwich that same year with the Barons defeated they now had to answer to their new King Henry showed great diplomacy and maturity by promising to abide by the Magna Carta agreeing to limit his royal power and protect the rights of the nobility with the Rebellion quashed Henry now turned his attention to repairing his kingdom with the help of able Statesmen and administrators the next few years of King Henry's Reign focused on regaining Royal control that had been lost during the war in 1230 ad he had secured his power and now well into adulthood he set his sights on his father's greatest shame their provinces in France the English crown had never fully recovered from losing its grip on the Ang of an Empire and King Henry III sought to fix that he prepared an invasion Fleet planning to take the territories by force and reestablish English control over land he deemed his Birthright but the invasion was a disaster perhaps on the advice of the first Earl of Ken who had been ruling the realm on behalf of the young king while he was still coming of age Henry avoided meeting the French in open battle and instead marched his troops across the countryside forcing local Barons and Lords to pay homage to him some did some didn't and it was a pointless Venture that didn't really mean much for English control in the region eventually Henry was forced to return to England having achieved nothing as soon as Henry and his troops left France those bar who had pledged themselves to him went right back to supporting the French King The Invasion had been a costly Fiasco that made Henry extremely unpopular amongst his nobility Hubert first Earl of Kent had now fallen out of favor with the King and upon their return to England Henry dismissed him eventually imprisoning Hubert in the Tower of London and the man chosen to replace him was no better Peter de ro took over as the King's justicier and immediate medely set about reversing the policies of his predecessor he stripped his enemies of land and wealth circumventing the Royal courts and angering the nobility who believed that their rights were being infringed upon once again Richard Marshall the son of William Marshall who had led the Royal Army in the first Baron War began to amass troops only this time in support of the English Barons they argued that the king had again failed to protect their rights as outlined in the Magna Carta and thus a new civil war broke out unable to gain a clear military advantage against the rebels and with tension in France growing King Henry had no choice he agreed to the dismissal of Peter deos and submitted fully to the rebels demands King Henry had learned his lesson never again was England ruled through senior ministers and the King now chose to administer the realm personally the only problem was that Henry was not a good administor strator he filled the church with absentee Italian appointees and much of the Civil offices with French bureaucrats actions which unsurprisingly angered the nobility of England once more this led to the Barons to once again take action against the king he was forced into signing the provisions of Oxford a document which gave Barons the legal right to veto the king's decisions although initially supportive King Henry tried to back out of the deal which led to the third Civil War of his Reign led by Simon De monford Henry's brother-in-law the rebel Army successfully captured King Henry at the Battle of Lewis in 1265 with the King now at his Mercy Simon called the first English Parliament into action from the French word for talk or parl he summoned two knights from each Shire and two burges from each burrow for a discussion the men talked and created a new system of government on the island that is still in use in England today King Henry's eldest son Edward Long Shanks so named for his linky build had been captured alongside his father at the Battle of Lewis shortly after the first parliamentary discussion Edward escaped and within a few short months he had defeated Simon at the Battle of IAM in 1265 the second Baron's war ended shortly after and Edward Long shins left England with his father King Henry once again on the Engish throne in 1275 King Henry III announced his intention to embark on the Crusades alongside his son but died just a few months later Edward was recalled from the continent and slowly made his way back to the English Shores landing on the island in 1274 Edward Long shins was crowned at Westminster Abbey shortly after becoming King of England inheriting an island that had suffered through three major insurrections in the last 56 years King Edward I had his work cut out for him he immediately set about reforming Royal Administration and reinforcing common law writing a series of statutes that regulated criminal and property law in the realm Edward had also learned from his father's mistakes and was more supportive of the demands of his nobility he regularly convened with knights and towns people alike on matters that affected them and quickly proed proved to be an able and just ruler but despite his focus on repairing England domestically King Edward could not help but be drawn into foreign conflicts the first was a Revolt in Wales led by a Welsh Chief named Luellen in 1282 here the Royal Army came face to face with the brutal efficiency of the Welsh long bowman and despite taking heavy losses they subdued the rebel threat in an attempt to exert more control over the region King Edward constructed a series of castles in the Welsh territory and increased Royal presence in the region his son Edward was born in Wales in 1284 and was soon after named Prince of Wales a title that the heir to the English Throne still wears to this day in 1291 another foreign conflict called his attention this time at the northern border asked to arbitrate between three rival claimants to the Scottish Throne Edward chose to CR John balol the only problem was that John balol had previously paid homage to the English king thus ruining any impartiality Edward was supposed to have this angered the Lords of Scotland who in turn Allied themselves with France leaving England threatened on all sides King Edward then retaliated claiming feudal suery over Scotland he marched his army North and invaded defeating balol in 1296 and taking the Scottish crown for himself he also took the stone of scone an important relic of Scottish nobility where all Scottish Kings were crowned upon the stone is still used to Crown British monarchs today and currently resides at Westminster Abby in London for his actions in Scotland King Edward earned himself a new nickname Edward Long Shanks had become Edward the hammer of Scots back in England Edward was overseeing a rapidly transforming English government he encouraged petitions to Parliament with Council sitting much more frequently than they had previously and he continued to clarify the responsibilities of the different courts criminal and Crown cases were handled by the court of King's bench the court of the ex cheer dealt with royal finance and the Court of Common Plea handled more of the day-to-day cases between subjects from these roots a new profession sprouted lawyers needing to keep his new courts running smoothly he took the profession of law away from the clergy and formed a new social class of educated young men whose job was to learn the law away from the influence of the church this led to the establishment of the ins of Court gr Mansions where students and barristers lived together the barristers taught the students English common law along with necessary social skills such as music and dancing these ins of Court also set the precedent for other Collegiate systems around around the country it was during King Edward's Reign that the academic system we know today as Oxford University was founded building on the earlier schools established by Alfred the Great over 200 years before King Edward I died of dysentery in 1307 while fighting the Scottish up north there is a rumor that on his deathbed Edward wished for his bones to be taken with the Army while they continued their fight into Scotland another rumor claims that Edward wished for his heart heart to accompany the next Crusaders as they marched into the Holy Land once more regardless what these stories show is that Edward very much considered himself a warrior king while he was a successful military commander it was his administrative actions that had the biggest impact on England as a whole the introduction of lawyers mingled with the burgeoning merchant class to form a Proto middle class where before there had been none Parliament was strengthened and legitimized during his Reign and despite his warlike Tendencies King Edward's Reign was peaceful and prosperous for the average Englishman King Edward I was succeeded by his son Edward II who was crowned in 1307 at Westminster Abbey while his father had immediately launched into fixing the realm he had inherited Edward II had no need to his father's kingdom was flourishing bolstered by great social changes and the newly inherited Scottish Crown it was a stable territory that was emerging as one of the most powerful Kingdoms in all of Europe but despite its power and Prestige the new King Edward appeared to almost resent the English crown that now rested on his head he grew bored of his Royal responsibilities and quickly turned his attention towards other Pursuits young men the first of the deep infatuations the king would come to have was with Pierce gaveston gaveston was arrogant and well aware of his position as the King's favorite abusing his power and coming to blows with many of the other Barons of England he was a close companion to the king accompanying him everywhere but this wasn't well received by everyone soon gaveston's Behavior angered the French royal family to whom Edward II had married into through his wife Isabella of France with pressure mounting from both his nobility and the French Crown King Edward II was forced to Exile Pierce gaveston but this didn't last long by 1307 gaveston was back in England and once again at the king's side Parliament met in 1308 with the King eager to discuss potential government reform but the Barons were unwilling to proceed until the issue of gaveston had been dealt with the King was initially dismissive and a violent out come seemed inevitable but after the Archbishop of Canterbury threatened to have gaveston excommunicated Edward miraculously yielded gaveston was to be sent to aquatan away from England for good unsurprisingly though this did not last the king once again recalled gaveston angering the Barons and sparking an Insurrection after a period of cat and mouse between the king and the armies of his nobility gaveston was eventually captured at Scarboro castle and taken to Warick where he was tried as a traitor gaveston was beheaded on the authority of the Earl of Lancaster the King was reportedly inconsolable still reeling from the death of his friend Edward was decisively defeated at the Battle of banic bur by Robert the Bruce and after just 18 years of English rule Scotland gained its independence once more in 1314 however the king tempered his foreign losses with a new favorite Hua dispenser like with gaveston before dispenser and his family grew increasingly powerful as King Edward's favorites but the Barons of England had had enough a fresh civil war broke out which saw an army led by the Earl of Lancaster gaveston's killer face off against the crown and her royal forces after 5 years of Bloodshed King Edward II emerged Victorious the Earl of Lancaster got a taste of his own medicine and was beheaded at pontefract Castle in 1326 the dispenser Clan whose power had been growing even before the war now saw their influence Skyrocket across England with the Barons defeated Isabella was once again forced to step in with backing from the French Crown Queen Isabella raised an army and marched against her husband aided by her longtime lover Roger Mortimer the king defeated deed King Edward and his army captured Hugh the dispenser and tried the young Chamberlain with treason dispenser was unsurprisingly found guilty and hung drawn and quartered for his crimes fearing that her husband would once again undermine her Queen Isabella forced King Edward II to abdicate his throne it was decided that their son Edward III would take over in his place he was only 15 when the English crown came to rest on his head but the young king already had a big mess ahead of him to clean up his father's unorthodox style of governance had left England in a financially precarious position and the Crown's influence had been steadily undermined by the Barons who administered the lands but before he could set about fixing his kingdom he would have to wait to come of age in the meantime his mother Isabella and Roger Mortimer ruled as Regents in his place however King Edward hated this Mortimer held all the power and Edward grew resentful of his mother who always sided with her lover on courtly matters in 1330 on the eve of his 18th birthday King Edward III rebelled against his Regents having his mother's lover hanged and taking full control over the English crown with power now firm ly his Edward did what most medieval kings do he waged War turning his attention to the newly independent Kingdom of Scotland he mounted a successful campaign against them crushing their army and retaking land his father had lost but these gains were hard to hold on to and soon a new conflict would demand all of King Edward's attention in 1337 King Philip I 6 of France confiscated the English King's duy of aquatan a move that greatly angered Edward instead of seeking a peaceful resolution like his father had King Edward responded by laying claim to the French throne he didn't know it but this would be the start of a long and bloody conflict that would come to claim the lives of millions outliving him and his grandsons as the grandson of Philip IV of France Edward did technically have a claim to the French throne but because of the newly set precedent of agnatic succession which only gave the male heirs a claim to succession Edward's link through his mother was rejected by the French courts regardless King Edward III was ready to fight after some initial setbacks the first phase of the war went well for England their success at cresy and puer led to the highly favorable Treaty of bretony which saw England make territorial gains on the continent but forced Edward to renounce his claim to the French throne this was by no means a peace treaty and fighting quickly resumed between the two kingdoms but by this point either side had other greater problems to deal with all of Europe in fact was reeling as a result of the single most deadly event in human history in 1348 the black death had arrived in England pus-filled tumors bile and blood the Streets of London were littered with the rotting corpses of the Dead believed by many to be a curse from God himself the Bubonic plague claimed anywhere between 1/3 to half of the population of Europe in just 5 years King Edward was fortunate enough to avoid contact with the disease which spread in the cramped and overcrowded living conditions of England's major cities and decimated the normal population the plague did more to accelerate social change than any singular event in English History before it the unimaginably high death toll led to a labor shortage that severely impacted the English economy with fewer hands to work the fields many land owners were forced to enclose their lands switching from traditional labor intensive crop farming to the comparatively less labor intensive sheep herting raising sheep required 1 of the man power and feudal Lords allowed peasants who had previously been tied to their land in a style of serfdom to purchase their freedom and Le a new class emerged free laborers people who had been previously bound to an area for Generations were now free to move about and many settled in the large cities that had been devastated by the plague this switched to sheep hurting and wool farming would also transform the English economy in the coming years but more on that later as a result by the end of his Reign King Edward III's Kingdom looked almost unrecognizable he had transformed England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe further developed legislation in the role of government and completely revamped the economy ushering in a golden age as England recovered from the Black Death his 50 years on the English Throne made him the longest ruling King the English Throne had ever seen but those final years were dominated by by sickness and ill health he died on the 21st of June 1377 having outlived his own son the black prince the crown was instead passed on to Edward's grandson Richard II Richard was a young king first wearing the crown at just 10 years of age which meant like his grandfather before him he was forced to rely on the Regency of others while he came of age John of Gant was the first ver ual ruler to take over he had stepped in during King Edward's final years when sickness and age kept the king bound to bed and contined to rule after King Richard's coronation in 1337 there was just one problem Edward's Long Reign had by no means been easy and by now the cracks that had started to form previously were on the verge of entirely breaking apart you see the English treasury had been stretched to its limits as it struggled to keep financing the ongoing hundred years war France was larger and wealthier than England and so had no problem pouring vast amounts of money behind their armies specifically during this time there was a very real fear of a French invasion on the island and the English army was in no position to challenge it so John of G introduced a new pole tax that required every person over the age of 15 to pay one shilling towards the war effort on the continent this was not an insignificant amount of money for people at the time and the peasantry strongly opposed the new tax with the post-plague economic boom now firmly over peasants had returned to lowp paying work in an effort to keep food on the table alongside this land owners in England had been trying to reintroduce cility and serfdom back to the land and all these factors combined to form one major event that threatened King Richard's rule immensely led by the priest John Ball a mob of 100,000 people marched on London demanding the new pole tax be abolished a major Uprising known as The Peasants Revolt the crowd was unruly and within hours of their arrival in the capital a destructive Rampage broke out the protesters burnt down the seavoy palace home of John of Gant and even murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury faced with a little Choice King Richard II in the Lord mayor of London met with the demonstrators in a field just outside the city to discuss their terms the conversation began amicably enough but one of the other leaders watt Tyler grew abusive and demanded more than the king and mayor would conceed offended the Lord mayor of London drew his sword and killed Tyler on the spot fearing that the crowd would turn violent again the young king made an extraordinarily Brave move standing before the crowd he shouted to The Peasants to follow him leading them away from their Leader's dead body he promised that he would enact the reforms they had insisted on and successfully dispersed the crowd these were however Hollow promises immediately after the protesters had returned home the king's Council of advisers revoked any concessions made by their ruler and swiftly set about crushing the Rebels the leaders of the peasants Revolt were tried and hanged as traitors for their crimes the king never forgot the actions of his Council and this episode ignited a deep sense of mistrust between himself and his advisers as a result his inner circle shrank until it only included three men who in turn became extremely powerful due to their closeness to the king the other Nobles became resentful of this favoritism and feared that their power would soon diminish as a result bending together a group of powerful Lords United to form a group called The the Lords appellant They seized control of the English government in 1387 and demanded the king expel his inner circle from Court a period of instability followed and culminated in the king being forced to banish or execute those closest to him for the next decade the fragile peace held and King Richard was slowly able to reestablish Royal Authority and bring it away from the merciless parliament of the Lord's appellant in 1397 the king had admass enough support to get his revenge in a period that historians would come to call Richard's tyranny the king captured tried and executed a number of the appellant Lords in 1398 Richard's tyranny went a step further as he declared all acts of the merciless Parliament to be null in void he then delegated all parliamentary power to a committee of 12 Lords and six commoners each chosen by the king himself effectively making Richard an absolute ruler who no longer needed parliament's support but there still existed a threat to Richard's rule House Lancaster at its head sat John of gun who represented the most powerful non-royal household on the island King Richard had exiled John's son Henry Boilingbrook during his initial take over a year before but House Lancaster still stood in his way not only did they possess enormous wealth but they were Royal descendants John being King Edward III's youngest surviving son as a result it was the wish of many in the land that house Lancaster would succeed a childless Richard to the English Throne lucky for Richard though John of Gant died in 1399 giving the king time to secure his power he had John's son Henry Boilingbrook who he'd exiled to France disowned confiscating his lands and effectively stripping boiling broke of his claim to the throne feeling as though he'd effectively dealt with the lancastrian threat Richard turned his attention to the growing Irish problem in the west he amassed an army of 8,000 men and left England in May 1399 Landing in Dublin within the week but just a month later trouble on the continent spilled over into England Charles I 6 King of France had been deposed by Louis the and the new French King saw a chance to gain the upper hand against his English foe in a continuation of the Hundred Years War Louie allowed Henry boiling broke to return to England with a small Force where Henry soon gathered more support and made a claim to the throne with Richard off fighting in Ireland Henry's arrival was entirely unchallenged he gathered an army and soon defeated King Richard II in battle the King was then imprisoned and later died of starvation while in the tower of of London while Henry's claim to the throne was weak it was unopposed by both the people and Parliament and Henry Boilingbrook was crowned Henry IV on the 30th of September 1399 the reign of Henry IV was marked by a series of Firsts he is believed to be the first king since the Normans had invaded in 1066 to address his people in English as opposed to Norman French he also hosted a visit from manwell II poal Loos shortly after his coronation in 1400 making this the only time a Byzantine emperor ever visited England in 1406 English pirates captured the future James I of Scotland then aged 11 off the coast of Yorkshire the Young Prince would remain Henry's prisoner for the rest of his Reign aside from that though the reign of King Henry IV was largely uneventful he was mainly forced to deal with plots and rebellions from abroad as well as a number of domestic assassination attempts on his life he put down a rebellion in Wales against o glendor in 1400 and was forced to deal with a series of rebellions led by Henry Percy first Earl of Northumberland in the north the Percy Rebellion as it came to be known ended at the Battle of shrewbury in 1403 where Henry Zelda's son Henry of Monmouth showed great military prowess leading his troops in a decisive Victory against Percy's forces during the battle though Henry of Monmouth was struck by an arrow to the face but luckily survived during the last years of his rule the rebellions had become more frequent a rumor soon took hold in London that Richard II who had died of starvation in the Tower of London was actually still alive this was all in spite of Henry's best efforts to prove Richard had died while in captivity King Henry had the body of Richard on display at St Paul Cathedral shortly after his death in an effort to prove to his supporters that the Old King had in fact died and that his death had not been violent however this didn't stop Scottish emissaries from traveling throughout the Villages of England declaring that Richard was alive and residing at the Scottish Court sir Elias liet and his associate Thomas Clark searched for an appropriate lookalike and promised him Scottish Aid to carry out the Insurrection unsurprisingly the Rebellion came to nothing liet was released and Clark was thrown into the Tower of London towards the end of his life Henry was taken by recurring bouts of serious ill health Henry died in London at the Abbott's House of Westminster Abbey in the Jerusalem chamber during a convocation of parliament he was buried at Canterbury Cathedral adjacent to the shrine of Thomas Beck the English throne in its entirety would go on to his son Henry of [Music] Monmouth on April 9th 1413 Henry of Monmouth was crowned Henry V at Westminster Abbey on the day of his coronation a terrible snowstorm blew over the crowds but the king addressed his people despite it described as very tall with a slim build and a ruddy complexion the Young King had developed a taste for battle during his father's Reign before him he'd helped quash the Welsh rebellion and personally commanded the Royal Army to victory at the Battle of Shrewsbury at just 16 years of age but Henry V had inherited many of the same problems his father had dealt with the lancastrian claim had its fair share of doubters and the young king immediately set about securing his position on the throne he wanted to rule a unified England and not deal deal with the constant threat of Pretenders and usurpers like his father had he allowed his past indifferences to be forgotten honorably reentering the late Richard II giving Richard's son Edmund Mortimer a place on the council and gradually restoring titles in Estates of those who had suffered under his father's Reign when he did face a serious threat he proved a decisive decision maker he ruthlessly put down the Lawler discontent in 1414 and the Southampton of 1415 which involved a number of Earls and Barons who supported Edmund mortimer's claim to the throne which was easily dealt with as it failed to gain much popular support Mortimer himself remained loyal to the king throughout the plot he promoted the use of the English language in government keeping records in English and using English in his personal correspondence for the first time since the Norman Conquest 350 years earlier with his domestic situation now under control Henry could turn his attention abroad the hundreds year war was still ongoing despite a brief period of inactivity from both sides in 1415 King Henry V took an army and landed at harlor in Normandy intent on regaining territory on the continent after a brief Siege Henry and his men take the city of harlor but it's a costly Victory it had taken Henry longer than he would have liked and his men had suffered having arrived in Normandy with 12, th000 men Henry's troops now numbered only 6,000 due to desertion starvation and disease against the advice of his Council he ordered his men to march across the French Countryside towards the english- held Port City of Cay where they could rearm and return to England unable to cross the river Som Henry V was forced to make a detour Inland where he was intercepted by French forces near the village of aen Court Henry's men were exhausted the French army outnumbered them 5 to1 and many of the rank in file were suffering from dissenter regardless Henry had little choice but to meet the French in battle Heavy Rain the night before had made the ground around them a marshy bog and as the astute tactician that he was he intended to use that to his Advantage at 11:00 a.m. the French army attacked mounting a cavalry charge straight at the main English line Henry brought his archers forward and ordered them to unleash hell with a 250 M killing range the English long bowman slaughtered the French Cavalry who had been slowed down in the mud many were forced to Dismount and some drowned in the thick mud where they stood by the time the Cavalry reached the English line Henry had ordered his archers to drive large pointed Stakes into the ground a new tactic never before employed by the English against the French the charge was rendered useless and a melee broke out eventually the English archers abandoned their bows and took the fighting hand to hand the tide of the battle quickly turned in favor of the English who hacked the French soldiers to death many of whom who were stuck in the mud due to their heavy armor before long Henry was Victorious his army marched in Cay unopposed when he returned to England just a few months later he received a hero's welcome crowds lined the streets pageants took place and choir sang in all the churches it was a great moment of Pride for England and proved to be the greatest English victory of the Hundred Years War from a practical standpoint it greatly bolstered Henry V's claim to the French throne it directly led to infighting within the French court and by 1420 the Treaty of Troys was signed acknowledging Henry as Regent and heir to the French throne by now Henry had regained control of Normandy was allied with the duche of burgundy and had received support from King sisman of Hungary who signed the Treaty of Canterbury acknowledging the English claim to the throne unification of the kingdoms of England and France seemed inevitable it was Henry's intention that after unifying the two crowns he would embark on a crusade however he died just a few years later in 1422 passing the throne unto his son Henry V 6 while Henry VI's Reign was short it trans transformed England into a powerful player in European politics and forged in her a new national identity England once again had a land on the continent and under King Henry England reached its territorial peak in Mainland [Music] Europe Henry V 6 was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the first of September 1422 young kings were nothing new in the realm but Henry V 6 broke every English record ascending to the throne at just 9 months old and becoming the youngest ever King of England still breastfeeding the burden of administration quickly fell to Regents who ruled England together just a few months after his coronation in England the baby King Henry traveled to France and was crowned King of France at notredame Cathedral in accordance with the Treaty of Troy his father had signed just a few years earlier this made King Henry V 6 the only English king to also be crowned King of France in French territory while he waited to come of age Henry's mother Catherine remarried to Owen tutor and had two sons Edmund and Jasper Henry gave his half Brothers earldoms in Normandy and their influence would later have a huge impact on English History by the time he reached 16 Henry had resumed full authoritative control over England however it came at a bad time it was the beginning of the great slump a period of economic decline that would last for the next 50 years and weakened the Crown's power in the realm things were only further Complicated by the king's problematic personality described as shy passive and utterly opposed to conflict and violence Henry V 6 was nothing like his father and these traits were undesirable of a king during the medieval times and made him appear weak in court had he been an able administrator he might have salvaged some respect but Henry would soon prove to be unreliable in a totally different way the King was prone to debilitating bouts of Madness that forced administrative decision-making back into the hands of Regents this made England unstable and weakened Royal Authority it wasn't long before England declined into Anarchy and lawlessness disaffected Noble sense that the crown was weak and capital ized on this quarreling with one another and amassing private armies to fight for local Supremacy the king would intermittently resume control but with each bout of Madness that Afflicted him his grip on the realm weakened to make matters worse the 100 Years War that had now been raging for five generations would sputter to its end under Henry's watch England had seen many successes and victories during its time but by its conclusion Henry had lost all of his father's lands in France retaining only the port city of Cay further adding to his image of a weak King with his kingdom fracturing around him it wasn't long before England broke out into Civil War again one of the more powerful Noble houses had been slowly amassing support while Henry struggled to keep a grip on his sanity house York who claimed descendency from Edward III the plantagenet king who ruled before Henry Bowling Brook took the the throne by force less than 100 years ago was preparing to make its move on the English throne in 1460 tensions finally erupted and the War of the Roses had begun so named for the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York the yorkist rebels scoured a quick and early victory at the Battle of Northampton on the 10th of July 1460 capturing King Henry and making him a yorkist prisoner the queen however was able to escape traveling through Wales and into Scotland where she sought refuge in the court of the Scottish queen regent Mary of gelders after amassing an army of her own she marched back into England seeking to rescue her imprisoned husband after defeating the yorkist Army at the Battle of Wakefield she marched her Army South to St Albans where the King was being held there she engaged with the Earl of Warwick defeating him and freeing the king from captivity Henry's mental State at this time was so fractured that reports state that the king laughed and sing as the battle raged around him the lancastrian victories were short-lived however as Edward of York rallied his troops and met the Royal Army at the Battle of ton in 1461 under a thick blanket of snow the Battle of ton became the bloodiest battle that ever took place on English soil and resulted in a decisive yorkist Victory Edward deposed Henry V 6 from the throne and hastily crowned himself King of England despite this though the war would continue as Henry fled the battle and became a fugitive in his own kingdom Henry V 6 was eventually betrayed by the black monk of Addington and captured by yorkest forces the new King Edward decided to spare the Mad King's life instead putting him in the Tower of London Edward of York was crowned found Edward ivth on the 28th of June 1461 following his victories against the lancastrian Army as a usurper the new king desperately needed parliamentary support to back his claim but many of the Lords in England still supported the Old King Henry and chose to stay neutral during the conflict this forced Edward to rely heavily on a small group of noblemen mainly Richard Neville Earl of Warwick this over Reliance would directly lead to King Edward IV losing his grip on the English crown Warwick had advised the king to marry either Anne of France or Bona of seavoy to strengthen England's ties with France and effectively outmaneuver the duche of burgundy which had been growing in power and influence in Europe over the last decade Edward however had other ideas he married Elizabeth woodwell a woman of considerably lower social class than the king and a widow but someone who historians claim was in enchanting nonetheless this enraged Warwick who began to seek allies elsewhere in 1467 King Edward dealt Warwick another humiliating blow dismissing his brother from his position as Lord Chancellor by now though Warwick had amassed enough support to challenge the unpopular King he traveled to London with an army and intended to remove the evil counselors that had taken hold of the English government with the King preoccupied in the North Neville's Army was easily able to defeat the Royal troops at Edge coat Moore in 1469 the king's father-in-law Richard Woodville alongside his youngest son Richard were captured and executed at Kennelworth however it quickly became apparent that Warwick had little support in the capital and Edward who had been captured and imprisoned at middleham Castle was released and allowed to resume the throne what followed was a period of tense stability Warwick was ousted from Edward's courts and decided on traveling to France where he sought support from the continent and vowed to restore Henry V 6 who was currently still alive in the Tower of London to the English Throne yorkist rule had become increasingly unpopular and Warick was able to gather an army of 30,000 men in support of his cause Landing back in England on the 9th of September 1470 King nedward was no match for Warwick's Army and he fled to Brugge to avoid capture Warwick restored King Henry V 6 to the throne but with this the same problems that had plagued the Mad King's Reign simply returned mental instability meant a lack of central leadership and caused the nobility to fight amongst itself for power like it had previously Edward meanwhile returned to England aided by powerful Flemish merchants and immediately sought support in York marching through the realm he slowly gathered an army and turned his attention to the capital he entered London unopposed and imprisoned Henry V 6 once again Warick was killed at the Battle of Barnett in 1471 while a second lancastrian Army Was Defeated at the Battle of tuxbury only a month later Henry's only son Edward of Westminster died on the battlefield while Henry himself passed away less than a year later with the old King and his Heir de King Edward had hoped his throne would now be secure but the realm was in disarray plagued by instability and infighting after years of Civil War King Edward was able to maintain his grip on power but toward the end of his Reign he became increasingly ill and died on the 9th of April 1483 his son Edward V was to take over as king of England but as Edward was only little the king named his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester as Lord protector and Regent while Edward came of age but Edward would never be crowned and England would soon discover that the new Lord protector had little intention of vacating his position on the throne Richard took over as Lord protector of the realm immediately after the death of his brother King Edward IV Royal records do show that plans were made for Edward V's coronation but there is great debate among Scholars as to how much of this was genuine or merely a show put on by the new Lord protector to appease the old King's supporters Richard's reputation as a ruthless power Grabber initially stems from the speed with which he took control of the English crown shortly after his appointment as Lord protector he brutally put down a supposed plot against his life that involved the new King's uncles Anthony Woodville upon the Queen's request Richard and Anthony Woodville were to meet at Northampton and accompany the young Edward down to the capital providing him safety and legitimacy as he ascended the throne but while the young king waited for the arrival of his uncles Richard got to work he had Anthony Woodville and his associates arrested and sent to pontif frat castle where the men were tried and executed for an alleged plot against the new Lord protector's life Richard quickly notified his nephew of the treasonous actions of his uncle and reassured the boy that they had been dealt with accordingly he alone LED Edward into London and transferred the boy to the Royal Apartments in the Tower of London as was customary for any King awaiting his coronation but Richard's plan was only just beginning upon hearing the news of her brother's demise The Dowager Queen fled to the capital and sought support from those who had been loyal to her husband but Richard had beaten her to it he accused those close to the queen of being complet IIT in the plot against his life and had them executed within days of the trial with the woodville's power base and tatters Richard had only one obstacle in between himself and the English Throne the princes in the tower as luck would have it the Lord protector was informed by the bishop of baath and Wells that King Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was in fact invalid due to King Edward still having been married to Eleanor Butler at the time of his Union with Woodville this meant that Edward and Richard the princes in the tower were illegitimate and could not rule a sermon was preached on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral on the day of the new King's coronation declaring Edward V to be a bastard and asserting that Richard III was the rightful heir to the English Throne shortly after this the citizens of London and its nobility converged and Drew up a petition asking Richard to assume Direct Control of the Throne on the 6th of July 1483 Lord protector Richard was crowned Richard III King of England power was his that same summer the princes who had been quietly living in the tower silently disappeared there are many theories as to what happened from being murdered by Richard himself to fleeing to Europe under the cover of Darkness but the mystery of the princes in the tower Still Remains one of the greatest unsolved questions in English History but despite the ease with which Richard had assumed the throne his power base was still fragile and it wasn't long before he was faced with his first major threat the Buckingham rebellion led by the Earl of Buckingham and a number of disaffected nobility who had been fiercely loyal to the Old King Edward IV they quietly planned to overthrow the new King Richard they saw the new regime for what it was a power grab and they sought to give the crown back to the young prince Edward currently in the Tower of London but when rumors of Prince Edward's Death began to circulate throughout the realm Buckingham had to change his plan luckily for him there was another candidate ready and willing just to cross the channel Henry tutor as the son of Lady Margaret bour herself a descendant of king Edward III Henry had a legal claim to the English Throne regardless of how weak it actually was Buckingham gathered his troops in Wales while Henry tutor who had been exiled to France gathered an Army on the continent however just like it had in 1066 bad weather once again played an important part in the fate of England as Henry and his ships were delayed crossing the English Channel by a fierce storm most of his fleet was forced to turn back to their ports in Normandy and Cay while Henry himself anchored at Plymouth to wait out the Gale Buckingham's Army was troubled by the same storm on land and when Richard's troops arrived to face the rebel Army many of Buckingham's men deserted leaving the Earl to be captured tried and beheaded in Salisbury when Henry heard of Buckingham's fate he fled to Paris where the French Regent supplied him with a fresh army with which to invade a year later in 1485 on the 22nd of August the armies of Henry tutor and King Richard III met at Bosworth field near the city of Lester accounts of the battle claim that the king's forces heavily outnumbered that of the tutor Rebel but as Richard was about to discover who he had with him was about to become far more important than how many he had with him King Richard divided his army into three main units one section would be led by the Duke of norfol the other by the Earl of North umberland while Richard himself would take control of the bulk of the army the battle began with King Richard attacking Henry tutor's forces head on the melee was brutal and fierce hand-to-hand combat broke out but Henry's Army was well drilled and led by the Earl of Oxford an incredibly competent military strategist despite a numerical disadvantage the Earl was able to inflict serious casualties on the Royal Army causing some of the Duke of norfolk's troops to flee the battle it was at this moment that Richard turned to North umberland and signaled for the Earl to reinforce his lines but North umberland refused meanwhile on a hill overlooking the battle Sir William Stanley son of the Earl of Stanley had arrived with his army he had been loyal to Richard in the yorkist regime since the start of the War of Roses 30 years ago Stanley had been present at the Battle of tesb when Edward ivth took the throne and Richard had even rewarded him after his Ascension to power with land in North Wales but this meant little to Stanley who held off on joining either side until a clear winner had emerged with North umberland refusing to come to his Aid Richard feared that he might lose control of his army soon so he mounted a risky attack intending to charge right into Henry's forces and kill the young Pretender himself ending the battle and securing a victory but seeing the king separated from his main Army Stanley made a decision that changed the course of English History he joined on the side of Henry tutor surrounding King Richard and his men and removing the king from his horse my horse my horse a kingdom for my horse the king shouted as he fought bravely surrounded by swarms of his enemies King Richard reportedly came within a sword's length of Henry tutor before finally being overwhelmed by Stanley and his men he was killed where he stood the Battle of Bosworth field was over and the reign of Richard III had ended he would be the last English king to die in battle myth has it that the English crown was found propped up against a bush nearby it was taken and placed on Henry tutor's head right there on the battlefield Richard's body was buried without ceremony in a nearby Abbey in Lester his death marked the official end of the war of roses and Richard III became the last plantagenet king to rule over the [Music] island after over three decades of Civil War England had a new King Henry tutor was crowned Henry viith at Westminster Abbey on the 30th of October 1485 his Ascension marks the beginning of the early modern period of English History as a king by right of Conquest Henry faced the difficult challenge of consolidating his power and securing his position on the throne he did this by marrying Elizabeth of York daughter of Edward IV and uniting the Waring houses of Lancaster and York together to form the new house tutor he punished those loyal to the Old King and rewarded any man who swore falty to him promising not to confiscate their lands or remove their Royal titles many welcomed the change in leadership and pledged their support to the tutor King once his position as ruler was more secure he turned his attention to repairing the kingdom he had won and England was in serious need of repair Decades of Civil War and twoe pations in the last 3 years had left the realm in serious administrative and financial disarray but thankfully King Henry proved to be the right man for the job the new king believed in something called royal absolutism essentially the divine right of kings to rule as they saw fit without having to answer to nobility church or Parliament this led Henry to take a much more Hands-On approach to the everyday running of his kingdom he was a stickler for details and quickly proved himself to be a highly capable administrator and Diplomat up first was the Crown's finances Civil Wars are never great for the treasury and after 30 years of fighting on top of the great slump that had only ended 5 years before his Ascension England's financial situation was in tatters he revitalized the ex Checker and improved tax collection in The Realm by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his entire Reign this gave the office of the ex- Checker a strong sense of stability and allowed the men to refine their process es he was also far less extravagant than his predecessors choosing to be fiscally responsible instead of spending lavishly on feasts and events he introduced the acts of resumption in 1486 which gave him access to all the lands given away during the War of the Roses and placed them directly under the Crown's control greatly improving his financial situation but perhaps his greatest economic achievement was the Magnus inter cursus or the great AG agreement as you might remember a few Generations ago England had switched from majority crop farming to sheep tending now centuries later the English wool trade had exploded and become the Island's main economic export into Europe but that export was directly threatened when Margaret of burgundy supported Perkin warbeck a pretender to the throne and one of the first major rebellions Henry was forced to deal with during his Reign the king enacted a trade embargo with burgundy cutting off their supply of wool and severely limiting the amount of English trade that was going into the continent but wool was an important material an English wool was prized from Paris to Rome so it wasn't long before the two Nations began talks of negotiation what emerged was the Magnus inter curses a treaty which reopened trade between the two countries but heavily favored England as it removed the taxation of English Goods going into Europe making the island rich in the process and speaking of Pretenders Henry had two major uprisings during his Reign the first was Lambert simnel a young boy who had been somewhat forced into pretending to be one of the young princes in the tower after his army Was Defeated King Henry showed great Mercy in sparing the boy's life giving him a job in his kitchens for the remainder of his existence the next was Perkin warbeck a more serious threat as he gained support from Margaret of burgundy and gathered an invasion forc to invade the Island warbeck 2 was defeated but unlike Lambert simnel he did not escape a gruesome death he was hung alongside his supporters in all King Henry II's Reign was a remarkably peaceful and prosperous time he was a fantastic and able administrator and ruled for a long 24 years where the Crown's influence and control grew alongside her treasury the realm welcomed the stability King Henry brought and his legitimacy was never seriously questioned or challenged but the later years of his Reign were marked by personal tragedy he lost his eldest son Arthur to the English sweating sickness and was reportedly stricken with grief the normal stoic and reserved King could apparently be heard sobbing at the loss of his son a year later he lost his wife Queen Elizabeth and reportedly locked himself away for weeks speaking to No One many of his courtiers note that King Henry never truly recovered after the death of his wife he died on the 21st of April 1509 and was succeeded by his son Henry Duke of [Music] York there is a strong argument to be made that there is no English king more famous than Henry VII an ironic sentiment when you consider he was never actually meant to be king King Henry VII's eldest son was Arthur Prince of Wales born in 1486 he spent his life training in the Royal courts and being groomed to take over from his father before him his younger brother Henry meanwhile was raised as a prince with little responsibility hunting drinking and competing these were the Pursuits Henry occupied himself with during his childhood and he was more than happy to watch his brother take the throne at just 15 years old Arthur was married to Catherine of Aragon daughter of the powerful Catholic monarchy in Spain uniting the two kingdoms is one however just 6 months after his marriage to Catherine the Newly Weds came down with a bad case of sweating sickness Catherine survived while Arthur unfortunately perished leaving the throne to fall to his younger brother Henry history has not been kind to Henry VII and the tutor King is often remembered for two main things his Six Wives and his break from the Catholic church he is often portrayed as large bordering on obese rude mad and wholly uncultured a stark contrast to how Henry was actually perceived during his life he was a natural athlete a talented musician religious and well-learned traits which made the young King Henry extremely popular in court and to the other rulers of Europe but while Henry may have impressed in court he was not an able Statesman by any means he had zero interest in administration and was considerably less Frugal than his father which unsurprisingly resulted in the vastly filled treasuries being depleted of gold by the end of his Reign Henry had a council who listened to him due to his willingness to kill the council fulfilled their duties Sir Thomas Moore a member of the council served Henry though the two became very close friends seeking to unload the burden of administration King Henry put Cardinal waly in charge of England the son of a suffk wool Merchant waly was a shrewd Diplomat and was able to keep England afloat despite the king's best efforts to bankrupt her wo's rise through the ranks of the clergy was unparalleled from Bishop of London to Archbishop of York and then Cardinal and Lord Chancellor of England to finally papal legot himself walie was one of the most successful new men of his generation there were even serious considerations to make walie Pope scholars believe that part of the reason waly was eventually passed on for Pope was because of the role England was playing during the Reformation Europe as a whole was undergoing major religious upheaval where Many religious Scholars and academic thinkers were challenging the established ideas of the church it was called the reformation and many of these reformers called England their home they believed the church had become corrupt but it's important to note King Henry's break from the Catholic church had nothing to do with his support for the Reformation Henry was in fact a religious conservative and his break from the Catholic church was wholly selfish and for personal gain only you see after the death of his brother Henry had received special dispensation from the pope to marry his brother's widow thanks to the fact that their marriage had never been consummated for a long time the pair were happily married but as the years wore on a problem soon became evident Henry desperately wanted a male Heir and after 24 years of mar marriage to Catherine of Aragon they had produced only one child Mary this led the king's eyes to wander and they quickly landed on Anne boand one of the Queen's ladies in Waiting Anne boand refused Henry's advances and insisted that if he wanted her he would need to marry her Henry turned to his expert Chancellor Cardinal waly waly had the unenviable task of asking the pope if he would anull the king's marriage to Catherine the pope denied it Henry was Furious and looking for someone to blame he fired waly from his post and accused him of treason waly was saved from a long and humiliating trial as he died shortly after his deposition Henry soon found himself in a Race Against Time and had fallen pregnant and the King was certain she was carrying a boy as he was still married to Catherine any child born from another woman would be illegitimate and unable to succeed him as Heir knowing the pope was unsympathetic to his cause he turned to Parliament forcing them to declare his first marriage void he married Anne in secret and their child was born soon after to Henry's dismay however it was a girl the future Elizabeth I Henry's actions greatly angered not just the clergy but the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon sparking a conflict that would come to have serious consequences on England in the coming decades as his relationship with the Pope had soured Henry decided to take matters into his own hands in 1534 the acts of Supremacy was passed making Henry not the pope head of the Church of England but how was Henry able to pull this off Rome had been the head of the English church since the time of the great Anglo Saxon kingdoms put simply the Reformation the church had incurred a tremendous amount of bad feeling from everyone in England with church officials being seen as wealthy corrupt and removed from the ordinary men man with Henry now at the head of the Church of England he was free to do as he pleased those who disagreed would be killed Henry asserted the greatest power when he had Thomas Moore beheaded for refusing to take the oath of succession it didn't matter who you were Henry would punish Henry VII deeply regretted the killing it was his one life regret after Anne boand failed to provide Henry with the male Heir he wanted Henry believed she was having an affair with her brother he had both of them char charged with treason and beheaded he married Jane Seymour next a woman of considerably lower education than his previous two marriages but someone he was deeply fond of she was successful in giving Henry a male Heir Edward but the boy was sickly and there were serious doubts about his ability to make it into adulthood so Henry kept trying Jane Seymour died of post-natal complications a few weeks after the birth of Edward and the heartbroken King mourned her l heavily in 1540 however he was persuaded to marry Anne of cleaves but Anne wasn't exactly what you'd call a looker and their bond lasted only a year before Henry had that marriage and old too that same year he married the 19-year-old cathine Howard cousin of the late Anne boan she too was beheaded his final wife Katherine Parr had the luxury of being widowed by the 55-year-old Henry who died in 1547 he was was buried at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle beside the remains of his third wife Jane Seymour his Reign had been described as one of the most important in English History Henry VII died believing he had achieved what he'd wanted all along a male air on the English throne but as we'll soon find out his actions were about to plunge England into a period of instability and destruction that would lead to the death of all but one of his children crowned on the 20th of February 1547 Edward was just nine when he came to the throne and thus saw his kingdom ruled by a Regency Council led by his Uncle Edward Seymour the youngest of Henry's three children Edward was the first English king raised completely Protestant and his Reign was marked by Major economic and religious upheaval the former was very much a gift from his father Henry VII who spent and squandered the vast wealth of the crown through excessive flamboyance and mismanagement things were not helped by a costly and ineffective War Edward I waged against Scotland which ended in peace in exchange for the withdrawal of troops from Scottish territory and northern France but perhaps most impactful was the immense religious change England soon found itself under while Henry had broken away from the Catholic church he still remained fervently Catholic in Doctrine upholding its traditions and practices throughout the realm but King Edward meanwhile was raised a total Protestant and under the Regency of the Lord protector Seymour vast and sweeping religious reforms were passed in England Staples of the Catholic Church like mass and clerical celibacy were abolished and Seymour passed the acts of uniformity which forced all people in the realm to attend worship on Sunday while a little tyrannical it did introduce the concept of Sunday as a mandatory day off for the English peasantry but while the Regents ruled in his place King Edward II struggled with his health he was feeble ghostly pale and constantly sickly in 1553 Edward fell ill and died he was only 15 years old before his death he alongside his Council devised a plan for succession childless Edward wanted to ensure that his kingdom remained Protestant and so passed his crown onto his first cousin and granddaughter of Henry viith Lady Jane gray this action however removed his older sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the line of succession Mary was a devout Catholic and would no doubt have reversed many of Edward's reformist policies as is the case often with royal succession Edward's passing on the 6th of July brought chaos to England Lady Jane Gray never had a coronation she struggled to gain support outside the Royal courts and after just 9 days on the throne she was removed by Mary the first Henry's eldest daughter from his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon amassing an Army in East Anglia Mary marched on London and deposed Jane beheading her for treason and taking the English Throne as her own excluding the contested Reigns of Lady Jane gray and Empress Matilda Queen Mary was the first queen Regent of England but while Mary was able to wrestle control of the crown back from her Protestant cousin England's foothold on Cay would finally be lost ending centuries of English presence on the continent of Europe for now England was once again just an island Edward's fear that his half-sister would try to undo most if not all of his religious reforms was confirmed shortly after she came to power as a devout Catholic Mary disliked protestantism seeing it as one of the vehicles that led to her mother's humiliation and her own disownment during her Reign Protestants were severely repressed and many were burnt at the stake as Heretics earning the queen a new name Bloody Mary but conflict with the Protestants wasn't enough for Mary as she soon became diametrically opposed with her own Parliament it was Parliament who stopped many of Mary's counter reforms against protestantism from becoming law something she was great angered by she entered into an extremely unpopular marriage with Philip of Spain himself a devout Catholic but was blocked by Parliament from making him co-ruler of England essentially barring him from taking over the throne should Mary die before him the pair never had any children and in 1558 Queen Mary the fell Gravely ill it was obvious that she would soon die as Parliament blocked Philip from inheriting the English Throne the crown was to be passed onto Mary's younger sister and the last person on Earth who thought she would inherit the English crown Elizabeth the pendulum swing of religious Reformation that had gripped England since the reign of Henry VII once again shifted towards the side of protestantism with the Ascension of Elizabeth as ruler she was crowned Queen Elizabeth the on the 17th of November 1558 unlike like her siblings before her Elizabeth possessed a Keen Eye for diplomacy and a shrewd political mind she knew that to remain in power she would need both the support of Parliament and the religious bodies of England under Queen Elizabeth the Church of England as we know it today was officially established in 1563 it based its Dogma on the Protestant belief system but the Liturgy rights and organization were very much still Catholic in form appeasing both sides in somewhat calming the volatile Reformation for now however religion still posed a great threat to the new queen as she soon faced a Catholic Uprising from the north led by her cousin Mary Queen of Scots as the granddaughter of Henry the 7th Mary made a claim to the English Throne actions which many of the Catholics in England wholeheartedly supported Queen Elizabeth felt threatened by Mary and her Growing Power base but was initially reluctant to take direct action against her she settled for imprisoning Mary in the Tower of London but during her imprisonment it was discovered that she was in regular correspondence with many of the Queen's enemies Elizabeth had no choice Mary Queen of Scots was executed for treason in 1587 soon however her attention would be turned away from domestic matters and onto more International threats England's relationship with Spain had slowly been souring since the reign of her father angered by the treatment of Catherine of Aragon and further angered by the treatment of Mary's husband Philip of Spain relations between the two European superpowers was at an alltime low Spain was still firmly Catholic meanwhile England spearheaded the new Protestant Reformation that was sweeping over Europe but the Catalyst which finally ignited war between the two Nations was the new world discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 the Spanish Crown had been made Rich thanks to the influx of new materials and minerals from its territories in the new world as England's own empirical Ambitions had yet to fully begin they resorted to piracy English Sailors would raid Spanish frigs traveling across the Atlantic stealing their wealth and bringing it back to England publicly Elizabeth denounced those pirates but in private she supported and even praised them for their actions night prominent privateers as they were called like Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins by 1588 Spain had had enough they amassed a large Fleet of ships with the intention of invading England dubbed the Spanish Armada it left Lisbon with over 150 ships and 18,000 men at their control at the time it was the largest Fleet ever seen in Europe and was widely considered to be Invincible it easily outnumbered and outgun the English Fleet and with news of its departure fear set in at Westminster the Armada was sighted off the coast of Plymouth where English Commander Sir Francis Drake was enjoying a calm game of balls Legend has it that Drake insisted on finishing his game before meeting his enemy in battle the English ships sailed out to meet the Armada and light skirmishes began off the Cornish Coast English used its smaller and faster ships to outmaneuver the large and bulky Spanish Fleet inflict inting some early damage on the invading Navy following the Armada up into the channel the Spanish commander in charge of the fleet was advised to stop and occupy the aisle of white but refused and instead continued on with his planned rendevu with the Duke of paras's forces in Flanders they reached Cay largely intact but that night things were about to change knowing he could not beat the Spanish in an open battle Drake devised a plan they set entire ships Al light and sailed them into the Spanish Fleet anchored at Kay causing the fleet to scatter and take heavy losses the Spaniards suffered another defeat at the hands of the smaller English ships at the Battle of gravelines and as the Armada fled up into the North Sea English ships gave Chase around the island now firmly in the North Sea Drake and his Navy gave up chasing the Spanish Fleet and returned home the ships that remained of the Armada now had the long journey back to Lisbon a huge and violent storm erupted while the Spanish sailed around Scotland and many ships were Shipwrecked by the time they returned to Spain the mighty Armada was in pieces Drake was a hero and England was safe the reign of Elizabeth was an incredibly transformative time in English History it marked the emergence of England as a global power and not just a European one the investment into a royal Navy led directly to England's Colonial Ambitions in the years that followed a cultural Renaissance also took hold of the island great playwrights like Shakespeare and Christopher Maro packed theaters in the capital while adventurers like Drake and Walter Raleigh explored a new world beyond the borders of Europe her 44 years on the throne was welcomed by all and Queen Elizabeth enjoyed great popularity amongst her subjects one of her most defining features was her Chastity Elizabeth died a virgin in 16003 she never married never publicly took suitors and as a result had no heirs she was the last tutor monarch of England the issue of succession loomed large in Elizabeth's later years but before she died an agreement had been reached that the throne would pass on to her cousin James the 6th of Scotland son of Mary Queen of Scots this unified England and Scotland peacefully under one Banner for the first time in its history and laid the foundation for the Kingdom of Great Britain that was about to take it place as a superpower on the world stage on the 24th of March 16003 James I 6 of Scotland was crowned James I King of England it's worth noting that while James was ruler of both England and Scotland the two kingdoms were not a unified entity they still had separate parliaments their own laws and individual judiciaries King James was just a shared head of state but it was the first step towards the unification of the island of Great Britain and King James spent most of his rule fighting to unify the two administrative bodies despite this however the reign of the first Stewart king would mostly be remembered for its conflict and division religion still dominated English domestic policy and the King continued to support the Protestants and their Reformation that firmly took hold in England during the early years of his rule the King had a new version of the Bible commissioned named the King James Bible it was an English language Bible that soared in popularity thanks to its poetic pros and vivid imagery many historians credited for helping to spread the English language across the globe as it quickly became the most printed book ever and Still Remains a popular version of the Bible today in 16004 he expelled all Catholic priests from the island a move that would Spark an explosive reaction from the increasingly radical Catholic minority which still called England their home one wet and dark evening in Northampton Shore 11 men quietly murmured to one another at a nearby Inn bathed in candle light and gripped by religious fervor they devised a plan to put an end to the Protestant Reformation and its supporters they would take 36 barrels of gunpowder into the cellers of the newly constructed houses of part parament and ignite them on the day the building was to open killing the King and his Council in a bang of smoke and fire it was to be known as the Gunpowder Plot over the course of a few weeks they rolled their barrels down avoiding deduction and capture night after night with the grand opening set for the 5th of November and the gunpowder ready to blow all the plotters had to do was wait but their plans failed an anonymous letter betrayed the plotters and on the morning of the grand opening Royal Guards flooded into the cellers to discover a lone man standing amidst the barrels of gunpowder guy Fox was caught and arrested he was brutally tortured for several days finally giving away the identities of the other conspirators after 3 days on the rack the gunpowder plotters were rounded up captured and executed all around London people lit bonfires in celebration of the foiled attack on Parliament and the King this tradition still exists in England today the plotters had hoped their attack would stop the Reformation in its tracks but in fact it had the opposite effect King James had once promised not to persecute Catholics as long as they be quiet and give but an outward obedience to the law after the failed Gunpowder Plot however he passed a wave of anti-catholic legislation and many in Parliament who had had remained decidedly neutral on the Reformation now firmly supported the Protestant cause but for all the religious Strife in the realm King James's biggest threat actually came from within Parliament had been growing increasingly powerful and at the start of the 1600s their influence in the kingdom was at an alltime high in 1614 he commented that he was surprised his ancestors should have permitted such an institution to come into existence it is sedation in subjects to dispute what a king may do in the height of his power like many before him King James believed in the absolute power of the monarchy and as a result resented parliament's ability to challenge and contest his rule but while they may have had their differences both ruling bodies were able to compromise and maintain the peace as a result the reign of King James I was widely considered to be a peaceful and prosperous time in England the English crown established its first colony in the new world Jamestown in Virginia so named after King James and the Virgin Queen Elizabeth before him meanwhile the great literary tradition of English writers continued to flourish as England became a center for culture and art in Europe by the end of his life King James suffered from ill health brought on by a lifestyle of excesses he would eventually die during a strong bout of dysentery on the 27th of March 1625 at his funeral it was remarked that the king died as he lived in peace but cracks in the Kingdom had started to show too long had England labored under the strains of parliamentary conflict and religious upheaval the heir to the English Throne Charles I was about to inherit a realm that was on the verge of tearing itself apart crowned on the 27th of March 1625 Charles I became king of England Scotland and Ireland in front of a large crowd at Westminster Abbey he shared in his father's ideas of a Monarch's Divine Right To Rule and as such was determined to limit the power of Parliament and govern over England unchecked and unquestioned their first Showdown came in 1627 when King Charles attempted to Levy taxes without parliamentary backing Parliament responded with the petition of Rights a year later its basic premise was that no taxes of any kind could be allowed without the permission of parliament for Charles this was the final straw he dissolved Parliament and ruled without it for the next 11 years levying a number of dubious taxes and passing new laws without parliamentary backing actions which made the English king extremely unpopular during this time England saw an unprecedented level of immigration from the island it is estimated that up to 60,000 people left England with half of them going to the new American colonies across the Atlantic it wasn't only because of the unjust and steep taxation levied by King Charles but because they sought religious freedom in the new world the calvinist movement had become increasingly popular in the Kingdom especially amongst the middle and lower classes and given rise to puritanism Puritans believed that the new church of England wasn't Protestant enough in its practices and thought it needed to further separate itself from Catholic Doctrine which still permeated some aspects of its worship because of the increasing amount of protestant offshoots that were springing up Archbishop loud attempted to impose uniformity on the English church opposing the Puritan ideal of a stripped back ceremony in favor of a traditional ceremonial Splendor similar to that of the Roman Catholics as a result a vast majority of the people who left for the colonies were Puritans who wished to practice religion the way they saw fit but the impact of King Charles's taxes should not be understated he attempted to Levy ship money a form of Taxation that previously only applied to port cities but now applied to the entire country leading to a sharp decline in his popularity and firm opposition to the Royal regime angry at the lack of support and desperate for money King Charles had no choice but to call Parliament the short Parliament as it came to be known sat for just 3 weeks it came to an abrupt end after Parliament refused to vote on any new taxes until the king had listened to their long list of grievances after a rebellion broke out in Scotland just months later Charles was once again forced to call Parliament this time Parliament would sit for 20 years earning itself the nickname the long parliament it was apparent to all that King Charles's power was growing weaker by the day and Parliament seized on the opportunity to make increasingly larger demands all of which the king refused the fractured intense relationship between the king and his Parliament that had been festering since the reign of King James I finally caved in fighting broke out in 1642 marking the beginning of the English Civil War it was a conflict that was largely split up along class lines parliamentary troops or Roundheads as they were known were were largely made up of the Protestant middle class meanwhile the king's army or the Cavaliers were mainly supported by the nobility clergy and peasantry the War began as a series of indecisive skirmishes across the region it was during this time that a parliamentary General from East Anglia began to make a name for himself in the roundhead Army Oliver Cromwell Rose the prominence by organizing The Irregular parliamentary troops and transforming them into a disciplined New Model Army capable of taking on the king but while conflict raged for the fate of the Kingdom Life for most during the Civil War went on as usual few were involved and even fewer knew about the fighting in 1644 a farmer at marsten Moore was told to leave because the armies of Parliament and the armies of the king were preparing to fight on his land he responded by saying what has them two fallen out then the farmer was probably equally unaware that the farmland land he tilled at marsten Moore was to be a turning point in the war King Charles's Army was decisively beaten by Cromwell and his men earning Parliament the first major victory of the conflict and gave them direct control over the north of England a year later the king and his army was once again defeated at the Battle of nasby losing control of the south of England as well the English Civil War was over Parliament had won marching back into London they sought peace with the king during the conflict however the Parliamentary cause became increasingly radicalized and extreme in their Protestant beliefs Archbishop LOD who had pushed back many of the calvinist reforms was executed in 1645 and many within Parliament called for the execution of the king as the only way to prevent the nation falling into Anarchy again in 1649 King Charles was brought to trial in Westminster the King was unyielding stubbornly stuck to his absolutist beliefs refusing every one of parliament's calls for reform the radical core had had enough charged with treason by a parliament whose authority he refused to acknowledge King Charles I was executed in whiteall on the 30th of January 1649 for the first time since the Roman Republic England was ruled in its entirety by a council of Representative officials and not a Divine ruler England had become a commonwealth the king's execution was actually delayed by several hours so that the House of Commons could pass an emergency bill that declared itself the source of all just power in the realm the reality of the situation was very different almost all power was in the hands of one man Oliver Cromwell he'd proven himself a highly capable military leader and retained control of the Parliamentary Army even after the war had ended King Charles's son Charles thei landed in Scotland shortly after his father's death and attempted to invade England through the north Cromwell defeated his army at wer in 1650 and Charles was forced to flee to France back in London Parliament was struggling to agree on how the realm should be governed Cromwell growing tired of the unending debates dissolved the rump Parliament with the use of his armed forces in 1653 he established the protectorate an executive Council that would directly rule over England just like the king had before you can probably guess who he installed as its leader a king in all but name Cromwell ruthlessly enforced a set of rigid and strict laws that followed the Puritan ideal unwaveringly Church attendance was compulsory horse racing and fighting were banned gambling dens and brel closed down and Cromwell even cancelled Christmas it wasn't long before the Lord protector had become as autocratic as the king he'd overthrown he called Parliament when he wanted to raise taxes and dismissed it when they argued in all it was a time of great repression and Prudence Pursuits of pleasure were banned and many in the realm longed for the days when kings ruled England Cromwell eventually died on the 3rd of September 1658 and was buried at Westman Mr Abby a luxury previously only afforded to kings and queens of England there were attempts to have his son Richard Cromwell take over the post of Lord protector but Richard was a less impactful character than his father and as such he was ousted shortly after taking the post the Commonwealth had become so unpopular during cromwell's rule that after his death the people called for the king to be reinstated Charles II came back from Exile and was Rec crowned king of England on the 29th of May 1661 the body of Oliver Cromwell was exuded from its grave at Westminster and hung at thurn for all to see when he began to rot his head was cut off and put on public display outside Westminster hall for the next 20 years a statue of Cromwell still stands at the foot of the houses of Parliament today the Commonwealth and its protectorate had a profound impact on English society puritanism became inexorably linked with military rule and from this point onwards the more Puritan aspects of the Reformation were staunchly opposed by Parliament as the fervor of religion began to take a back seat in domestic rule it also strengthened the bond between the kingdom and its king in the next centuries while Europe burned in The Crucible of Revolution England remained a staunch supporter of dynastic rule but more on that later considerably less hard-headed than his father King Charles II oversaw the restoration of the crown and the reintroduction of the royal family in England the new king agreed to many of the proposals his predecessor had fought so hard against and the relationship between King and Parliament improved considerably King Charles II then set about reverting many of the strict Puritan laws that Cromwell had passed during his protectorship ale houses were reopened opened theaters were allowed to put on shows again and sports and dance were revived throughout the region but for all the Splendor and Mary that King Charles II oversaw fresh challenges awaited as the kingdom settled back into its familiar rhythms the English Navy was at an all-time low having just lost the second Anglo Dutch war that saw the Netherlands retain their position as the dominant European traitor on the high seas back at home the Great Plague had struck London killing an estimated 70,000 people and decimating the already dwindling English population the following year the Great Fire of London burned through the capital leaving as much as 450 acres of London real estate and ash and soot while the fire killed many and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of londoners it did bring about the end of the Great Plague as all the infected rats burned in The Inferno moreover it gave the king a chance to rebuild parts of the old rundown and ancient city houses were rebuilt with highquality materials civil planning was introduced widening streets and making the capital feel less cramped the old St Paul's Cathedral also needed to be rebuilt giving us the stunning architectural Masterpiece we still have today huge changes in government were also beginning to take shape during the reign of King Charles II there was a move to the cabinet style of government England still uses today political parties were formed that became the forerunners to the Tories and wigs England was modernizing at a rapid rate spurred on by the new King in the restoration of the monarchy it was considered to be a model nation and despite its flaws it truly was leading the way in Europe in terms of freedom and quality of life but for all modernization religion still plague domestic policy in the Kingdom there was an apparent plot to kill the king and establish Catholicism in England once again known as the popish plot of 1678 it highlighted how Catholics in the realm still severely opposed the Reformation its ideals and the King's perceived role in all this as a result of the plot anti-catholic sentiments soared and Catholics were banned from Parliament for the first time in the nation's history despite this though King Charles was considerably more popular than his father before him and was considered something of a modern man he was affable friendly and reportedly very easygoing his court quickly developed a reputation for being morally LAX and the King was often criticized for being overly reserved especially in political matters his marriage to Katherine of briganza saw the pair produced no surviving heirs but the king did recognize 12 illegitimate children to various ious Mistresses as a result when King Charles II died on the 6th of February 1684 the throne had to be passed on to his brother James James was crowned James II of England on the same day of his brother's passing in 1684 he was a staunch Catholic and despite the growing anti-catholic sentiment that defined England during this time he was accepted as king but while Parliament may have been accepting of his personal Catholic persuasion they were far less tolerant of any supporting legislation King James tried unsuccessfully to enact a number of pro-catholic policies in the realm this quickly turned the two political parties that had formed the wigs and tories against him and the King grew increasingly more isolated by the day in 1685 one of Charles's illegitimate Sons the Duke of Monmouth landed in Somerset and and launched a rebellion against his uncle supported by local farmers and laborers in the region the Pitchfork rebellion was a short-lived Affair that ended with the battle of sedore the last battle on English soil and culminated in the bloody ass sizes a series of brutal trials that punished all those who had supported the rebellion led by the infamous judge jeffes hundreds of men were condemned to their death and the King's popularity in the realm plum lied to make matters worse King James had recently had a son and short up his line of succession with a Catholic Heir Parliament feared a new Catholic line of succession in England and acted quickly to stop this they invited the firmly Protestant William and Mary of orange from modern-day Holland to take over the English Throne from King James II amassing an army William led the Glorious Revolution in 1688 landing brium and deposing King James II un opposed the Old King fled to France where he was welcomed by Louis V 14th and given a small Court of his own where he could live out the rest of his days in quiet and comfort now it's important to note that William of Orange and his wife Mary of England were by no means usurpers of the English Throne Mary was actually King James's eldest daughter while William was a descendant of Charles I this legally meant William and Mary had as much claim to the throne as say James himself but Bloodlines aside what really made the pair such an attractive Prospect was their firm belief in protestantism William of Orange was widely considered a champion of the faith having LED multiple Wars against the powerful Catholic King Louis the 14th on the continent together with his wife Mary they ruled over England together as co- regions but in reality king King William spent a majority of his time in Europe fighting the 9 years war this left Queen Mary II to rule over the realm alone in his absence she quickly proved to be an exemplary Regent ruling with a firmness and speed all of which made her popular with her Parliament and people for the first time since the reign of Queen Elizabeth the two governing bodies that ruled over England enjoyed a period of considerable peace and cooperation Parliament was able to pass Pass New bills and Levy taxes with little Royal push back and in 1689 they passed the Bill of Rights a landmark moment in English History that forever altered the power of the crown it essentially banned all Catholics from being crowned king or queen of England again and also barred the region from interfering with political matters neither ruler opposed the new bill and the power of the English Monarch was diminished forever Queen Mary died of small pox in 1694 leaving King William alone to rule the English Kingdom shortly after she passed the King was notified of a Jacoby Uprising in Scotland and he led an army North to confront the Rebels the jacobites were a group loyal to the depose James II and wanted to assassinate King William and restore James to the English Throne you see after the Glorious Revolution Parliament argued that King James had forfeited the English Throne by fleeing leaving room for William to take it not by force but by invitation this set a precedent of contract between the king and their people where any breach in this case Kings James II fleeing the capital could result in the legal deposition of the king at the hands of the people jacobites staunchly opposed this believing that the King was chosen by God as a Divine ruler and could not be removed therefore making the post 1668 regime of King William illegitimate the king swiftly crushed the Jacobite Rebels but their cause had not been defeated and they would continue to threaten the crown for decades to come but for now King William and the house of Stewarts were secure having had no children and with the death of his nephew Prince William Duke of Gloucester in 1700 the issue of succession soon took over as the main threat to steuart rule not wanting to give the jacobites any room to maneuver he decided the name Anne Queen Mary's sister and daughter of James II as the successor to the English Throne on the 8th of March 1702 King William joined his wife in death after Contracting pneumonia while he recovered from a broken collar bone he'd sustained falling off his horse his Reign had been incredibly stable and he was a popular figure in the realm both with Parliament and the people the stability he ushered was a welcome change as the iron grip of of religious tensions appeared to have relaxed somewhat an was crowned shortly after his death and inherited a peaceful prosperous kingdom Queen Anne was no stranger to the island and had already been a notable figure during the reign of her sister and brother-in-law before her when she came to power herself in 1702 she had long established herself within the English upper class and enjoyed popular support from powerful Nobles and politicians alike for the first part of her Reign Queen Anne was under the influence of Sarah Duchess of Marboro and her husband John Churchill eventually though Queen Anne and The Duchess fell out with one another but not before the Churchill's Rose to prominence and Power in the Kingdom John Churchill established himself as a premier Naval Captain who earned a claim for his role in the Spanish war of succession the Churchills would continue to play a large role in English history for the coming Generations all culminating in their ancestor Sir Winston Churchill leading England through the second world war when we look back at the reign of Queen Anne the most enduring and notable part of it is without a doubt the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain while Ireland was subordinate to England and Wales had long been made a part of the kingdom of England Scotland was still its own sovereign state Queen Anne sought to ch CH that expressing her desires to unite the two kingdoms as early as her coronation speech at Westminster Abbey in 1707 she got her wish with the act of the Union the kingdom of Scotland and the kingdom of England unified to form one sovereign state Great Britain a new flag was adopted to symbolize the unity of the two Realms giving birth to the Union Jack now unlike her Catholic Father James II an had been raised Anglican and as such supported policies and policy makers who shared in her religious views she famously favored the Anglican majority Tory party in government but faced increasing opposition from the wigs who had grown in power since the war of the Spanish succession things came to a head in 1710 when she dismissed many wig politicians from Parliament for their hawkish behavior and continued insistence on an English presence in a European War but the conflict had its upsides the English Navy had been revitalized and rebuilt since the early Stewart days earning itself a fierce reputation on the high seas as one of the most formidable navies in the world a powerful navy also helped bolster Colonial expansion as territories in the Americas were quickly developing into profitable and important territories thanks to the tobacco farms and growing slave trade but while the kingdom flourished Queen Anne priv privately suffered she lost her husband Prince George of Denmark only a decade into her Reign and towards the end of her life she suffered from severe ill health she gained a lot of weight and had a stroke that left her without the ability to speak towards the latter half of her life not long after that Queen Anne died on the morning of the 1st of August 1714 her doctors thought that her death was a release from a life of ill health and tragedy despite 17 pregn ancies none survived and as such Queen Anne had no one to succeed her on the throne because of the ban on Catholic monarchs and needed to find a suitable Protestant successor it was decided that her cousin George I of the House of Hanover would take over the British crown queen anne was the last Steward ruler of England for the first time since William the Conqueror almost seven 100 years ago England would again have a truly foreign King sitting on its throne but while the realm welcomed their new Protestant ruler who had served with distinction during the Spanish war of succession there was just one glaring issue King George I was outrageously unsuited to rule over the Kingdom of Great Britain he didn't speak a word of English he was pedantic decidedly slow when it came to decision-making and showed a great disinterest in ruling over the king as a result he passed over the control and authority of the realm to a small group of trusted politicians this was a role that would later be known as the Prime Minister and officially gave birth to the cabinet system still used in England today he was crowned on the 20th of October 1714 and before he'd even had time to learn his counselor's names he was quickly forced to deal with an old threat up north jacobites had once again landed in Scot seeking to overthrow the king and install James Stewart son of James II as the King of Great Britain like King William before him the new King George easily quashed the rebel Army and James Stewart later called the old Pretender fled to France just like his father had meanwhile back in Westminster Churchill the Duke of Marboro had now returned from Spain and came to the king to cash in his checks the war of Spanish succession had been fought on credit with the idea that once it was over the English crown would repay Marlboro for his men and material but there was just one issue the crown was in serious debt and in theory couldn't pay Churchill what he was owed King George was himself a big spender and famously had a number of mistresses who abused the Court's finances racking up huge bills on luxury goods and fine dining so King George I and his financial advisers came up with a plan plan they created the south sea company a shell company little more than paper on some Clerk's desk that would assume the 31 million pound national debt and turn it into Company stock to be sold off to investors this would in theory allow the crown to recoup their money and repay Churchill without bankrupting itself but the stock was grossly overinflated and inevitably it crashed bankrupting investors and the government all at once Westminster was in disarray Lord stanh hope who was personally innocent of any wrongdoing apparently collapsed and died after a stressful debate on the matter in the House of Lords it was during this time that Robert Walpole Rose to prominance his expert management of the crisis and rescheduling of the debts allowed the kingdom to return to some Financial stability and saved King George from disgrace for his actions he was promoted and became England's first de facto prime minister in the aftermath of the crisis the bank of England took over in managing the crown and government funds A Move which eventually led to England's economy becoming the best managed in the world over the next Century however King George who was already an unpopular figure had become borderline despised as a result of the south sea Fiasco and with the establishment of the Office of Prime Minister royal power was one once again undermined forever King George I died from a stroke while visiting his native Handover in June 1727 he is the most recent English king to be buried outside of Great Britain his son George II was to take over the throne George followed in his Father's Footsteps as a firmly German English king he is the most recent King born outside of England and chose to spend the majority of his this time as ruler abroad in Hanover where he exercised considerably more control over the running of the realm you see almost all of the domestic running of Great Britain now fell into the hands of Parliament and the new prime minister and King George II grew frustrated at the lack of influence he had as a royal he was able to exercise some control over matters of international policy and warfare but those decisions were few and far between one of these moments was the third jackaby Uprising led by the young Pretender Bonnie Prince Charles another son of the former James II the jackaby rebels amassed support in Scotland and marched South in English territory hoping to depose the Hanoverian monarchy Charles Stewart had hoped that upon his arrival in England he would be flooded with popular support and easily overpower the unpopular hovan King but he was wrong while his army was able to get get as far south as Derby they were plagued by indecisive leadership and failed to gather any support in the realm fearing a retaliation from the King Charles Stewart retreated back to Scotland where he prepared to face King George's troops at the Battle of Kaden in 1745 the final jackaby stand would be slaughtered by William Duke of Cumberland on behalf of the British crown the fighting was brutal and William gave his men orders to spare no one not even the wounded Charles escaped the slaughter making his way back to France where he lived out the last of his days a drunkard the Scottish Nobles who had supported the jacobites were mercilessly rounded up and executed it was so brutal that Cumberland earned himself the nickname butcher Cumberland for his actions north of the Border but the Revolt had been quashed and finally the Jacoby threat had been silenced forever the uprisings give us a unque unique look into how life during King George's Reign was perceived life was good Placid and peaceful and it was clear that there was no genuine animosity for the king as exhibited by the lack of popular support the uprisings garnered while the King was by no means popular there was little incentive to depose him the everyday running of the realm was firmly in the hands of Parliament and a new King was not likely to change that and this domestic Comfort was very much a side effect effect of Britain's growing International successes the East India Trading Company that had been set up almost 100 years before defeated a combined Army of French and Indian troops on the Indian subcontinent earning themselves a total Monopoly in the region elsewhere the Seven Years War was raging with fighting taking place as far away as the new world and the first truly global conflict Britain was ultimately Victorious against the French gaining new territories in Canada Florida Granada Sagal and east of the Mississippi Great Britain was beginning to emerge as the most dominant force not just in Europe but on the entire planet King George II lived to be 77 years old then the oldest ruler in the nation's history but by the end of his life he was completely deaf and blind in one eye and as a result spent much of his time bedbound and unwell he died on the 25th of October 1760 after collapsing near his closed stool a precursor to the modern toilet because his eldest son Frederick Prince of Wales had died suddenly in 1751 succession was passed under Frederick's son George III despite England enjoying a period of remarkable growth and expansion abroad opening new museums and extinguishing long-standing threats King George was remembered by his contemporaries as a buffoon ruled by wives and ministers he was considered an inept ruler and subsequent Memoirs all painted an image of a king and gorged on Pleasure and drink but had they known who was to come next the buffoon and his wife might not have been treated so harshly after [Music] all there was no way to know that the reign of King George III was to be one of the most tumultuous and eventful in English History domestically internationally and personally George I third faced pressure and conflict at every turn crowned on the 22nd of September 1761 King George III differed from his grandfather and great-grandfather in the sense that he was more English than they ever were he was born on the island spoke the language and spent his formative Years Learning in the British Kingdom those who hoped this would make him a more capable Regent were quickly brought back to reality King George III would frequently become Afflicted with bouts of debilitating Madness rendering him incapable of ruling and sending Westminster into disarray this earned the king the nickname Mad King George and there were many attempts by Parliament to install his son the Prince of Wales to the throne but every time they tried King George would regain his senses and resume his rule before any permanent decisions had been made his early rule was defined mainly by conflict both at home and abroad the American War of Independence was won by the colonists in 1783 severing the Americas from the British control forever and giving birth to the United States of America as an independent nation closer to home King George was forced to deal with the Gordon Riots of 1780 where a mob of protesters rioted against the Spectre of Catholic emancipation and left the city looted and burnt after 3 days of violence before that in 1799 the United Irishmen rebelled on behalf of the Irish people and demanded Irish autonomy from Great Britain they were easily defeated at Vinegar Hill and 2 years later Ireland was officially unified into the Kingdom of Great Britain forming the United Kingdom that still stands today but framing all this was the Napoleonic Wars a corsac general with a skill for Warfare and lofty Ambitions had quickly come to dominate Europe plunging the continent into a state of Perpetual Warfare fighting with IC and a number of coalitions were formed to try and defeat the pin siiz General British Naval victories in the Nile and at traler earned the United Kingdom a reputation as the fiercest Navy in the world while the land war in Spain decisively pushed Napoleon out of the Iberian Peninsula Britain was eventually Victorious at waterl marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 185 historians often cite this as the moment Britain became the most dominant power in the World under George III the early Industrial Revolution also began as steam engines were introduced to the British Workforce protests against these new machines were common and culminated in the Lite protest where Farm Workers broke into factories and smashed up the machinery for taking their jobs away from them the rapid changes in the workforce alongside the economic disaster that was the Napoleonic Wars meant that social unrest in Britain was at an all-time high mass unemployment depression and civil unrest ran rampant and the King's response was to ruthlessly quash descent usually by force and keep in mind during all this King George would often descend into crippling bouts of Madness leaving the realm without its Figure Head for months at a time in 1810 Parliament had had enough it was clear that George could no longer Rule and it was decided that his son George IV would take over his Regent in his his place King George lived for another 10 years while his son ruled in his place when he died age 81 in 1820 he was the longest reigning and longest living British monarch in history to this day he's still the oldest reigning male king of England George Prince of Wales or prinny as he was known to those closest to him had already been ruling over Britain as Regent since 1810 but after the death of his father in 1820 he ascended to the throne as King George ivth following in his father's footstep King George IV was known as an impulsive extravagant and morally dubious man who enjoyed the Finer Things in life and behaved in a way that was allog together unkingly he had the Brighton Pavilion built as an homage to East Asia right here on the English Coast its Gody and lavish design was polarizing at the time but it has since become a national treasure he remodeled Buckingham Palace and rebuilt Windsor Castle to reflect the Splendor and power of the English crown on a personal level King George was known for being something of a ladies man now while having multiple Mistresses wasn't uncommon it was his behavior with them that earned him the scorn of his cabinet one a lady Mrs ferbert was said to have married the king in secret and a tunnel from Brighton Pavilion leads directly into her home nearby as a prince King George earned himself a reputation as an extremely charming and cultured man he is often remembered as the first gentleman of England but faced an increasingly hostile public after his Ascension to the throne ground on the 19th of July 1821 there was drama on the day of his coronation as the new king attempted to have his wife carollyn of Brunswick barred from the ceremony he then petitioned Parliament for help in getting a divorce under British law a divorce could only be granted on the grounds of adultery since neither King George or Caroline would admit to that the king got creative he tried to pass the Bill of pains and penalties essentially a public trial that accused his wife of adultery and planed to use Parliament as his judge and jury to get a divorce and deny Carolyn her right as Queen of England the debate was heavily reported in the press and public opposition to the bill was high it eventually passed but only just and as public unrest towards the bill grew the government decided to withdraw the bill in an effort to save the reputation of the Royal Crown but the damage had been done the court of King George IV developed a reputation for extravagance and Scandal George was himself an impulsive and unreliable Statesman who frequently behaved selfishly and Drew the eye of many in his cabinet the king's power continued to diminish and George was forced to accept accept Catholic emancipation a reversal of many of the anti-catholic legislation that had been passed since the reign of Henry VII despite being staunchly opposed to it Catholics were once again given the right to vote hold public office and sit in Parliament it was also during the reign of King George IV that the first regular police force in London was established by Robert Peele but a life of overindulgence and Grandeur had its toll on the King by the time he ascended to the throne he had gained so much weight that he was the subject of much ridicule during public appearances he reached a whopping 17 Stone or 108 kg and after a decade on the throne his lifestyle had caught up to him King George ivth died on the 26th of June 1830 surrounded by servants and cabinet members a senior Aid to the king privately confided in his diary a more contempt cowardly selfish unfeeling dog does not exist there have been good and wise Kings but not many of them and this I believe to be one of the worst as his only legitimate child had died a few years prior the throne was to be given to his younger brother William [Music] Henry nicknamed the Sailor King William had spent the majority of his life at Sea as part of the royal Navy he had been made Lord High Admiral in 1827 and inherited his brother's Throne at the spritely age of 64 crowned on the 8th of September 1831 King Williams comparatively short Reign was nonetheless highly transformative to British Society the poor laws were updated and streamlined centralizing their administrative function and establishing workhouses across the country many of these reforms set as a precedent for the modern welfare system still used in Britain today meanwhile child labor which had had been allowed to run rampant and unchecked since the start of the Industrial Revolution was officially banned thanks to the factory Act of 1833 King William also oversaw the passing of the slave abolition act that same year Banning slavery and all its forms across the British Empire it's worth noting however that the King was staunch anti- abolition and campaigned against the passing of the bill despite this the new King was far less involved in politics than his brother and father before him the Crown's political influence had diminished past the point of no return and after his failure to remove the Melbourne Ministry he resigned himself to matters away from politics for the remainder of his Reign he would be the last king to select a prime minister against the wishes of parliament but away from the chatter and dealings of Westminster King William's personal life was much more under his control he was in a 20-year-long partnership with Irish actress dorothia BL land with whom he had 10 children five boys and five girls the pair appeared to have enjoyed each other's company as evident by their extended courtship and drama-free years together William's father King George III was supportive of his son's relationship and bestowed onto William the title of Ranger of Bushy Park a role which included a large residence known as bushy house on the outskirts of London but dorothia bland would never be queen as the pair split in 18 11 Bland was given custody of the five girls and paid a monthly sum for their upkeep under the condition that she never return to the stage she however did return to acting hoping to earn some extra money to pay off a debt one of her daughter's husbands had incurred when news reached William he stopped paying her monthly allowance and she eventually fled to France to avoid the debtors who she'd failed to pay off she died impoverished in 1816 just a few years later William searched for a proper wife concluded with his marriage to Adelaide of sax mingan she was of Royal stock in her prime childbearing years and it's reported that she and William became extremely fond of one another this luck continued well into kingship as William proved himself to be an expert Diplomat especially on the international stage he oversaw the initial phases of the construction of the Suez Canal and stressed the importance of its ability to Garner good relations between between the British crown and Egypt he also helped repair Britain's relationship with America which had suffered immensely under King George III at a dinner party with the American ambassador King William loudly proclaimed his regret for not being born a free independent American so much did he respect that nation which had given birth to George Washington the greatest man that ever lived anglo-american relations steadily improved under his Rule and the two nations are still close to this day but for all his charm and diplomatic tact he and Adelaide had no surviving children and as such King William was presented with a succession crisis towards the end of his life the King was extremely fond of his niece Princess alexandrina Victoria of Kent and named her as his Heir during his final birthday banquet by this time the King was Gravely ill but wanted to survive to see his niece turn 18 ensuring that the crown was passed directly to her and not placed under a Regency Council as was custom for under 18s his last year alive was a torturous one princess Adelaide reportedly stayed by his side refusing to go to bed for 10 days as his health worsened King William IV died in the early hours of the 20th of June 1837 he was the last Hanoverian King to rule over England at just 18 years old Victoria found herself at the head of the greatest Empire the world had ever seen as it was against Hanoverian law for a woman to rule over the province the new Queen was stripped of her role as ruler of the kingdom of Hanover however by now Britain had emerged as the most dominant superpower on the planet under her rule the Empire would reach its territorial Peak controlling 35.5 million square km it was and still stands as the largest empire ever seen in human history on the 28th of June 1838 400,000 people traveled to the capital to see Victoria Ascend to the British throne she became the first Monarch to take up permanent residence at Buckingham Palace which has since become the administrative and residential headquarters for the royal family and England but the cheer and pomp soon faded and the start of her Reign was r with social tension and conflict in The Realm there had been widespread demand for electoral reform and calls for Universal male suffrage rang across the kingdom as ordinary men demanded the right to vote there were also calls to abolish the Corn Law which heavily taxed imported grains and barley that came into the island in 1846 the Corn Laws were repealed and free trade one out greatly improving the standard of living and contributing to a Victorian era boom in population unlike her Uncle William Queen Victoria sought to involve herself in politics far more than she really should have because of the laws that prohibited the English Monarch from meddling in political matters she had to get creative the queen attempted to influence government outcome and ministerial policy through private meetings and backro dealings something she quickly developed a talent for as an astute Diplomat she knew how to conduct herself in the murky political world of VI Victorian England and as such was far more successful in influencing the decision-making processes of Parliament and her Lords however she publicly maintained Her Image as a busy and charitable Monarch who directly involved herself in a number of Public Works projects under her husband's patronage the first world fair was held in London in 1851 Prince Albert directly oversaw the construction of the Crystal Palace which stood in Sydenham until it burned down and welcomed exhibits from all over the empire in a show of unity and strength but while the world fair may have bolstered these ideas of togetherness at home the reality of things was very different in 1857 the kemian war broke out as a result of growing tensions on the continent between emerging superpowers and old empires in the East Britain chose to fight for the Ottomans against Russia wanting to maintain the balance of power in Europe and limit Russian expansion ion despite the war's unpopularity at home Britain and her allies were eventually Victorious and Europe was once again stable but before any celebrations could be had the Indian Mutiny called the Army's attention once more and resulted in the British taking complete administrative control over the subcontinent of India as a result Queen Victoria officially became Victoria Empress of India previously the Indian government had worked alongside the British East India Company in the day-to-day ruling of the region however after the mutineers were put down and the Rebellion quashed the British government ousted both the Indians and the East India Company from their administrative positions and took control for themselves during a proclamation to the Indian people the queen promised her new subjects rights and freedoms equal to that of the British public these rights were not always maintained and her Proclamation was referred to many times during the long fight for Indian independence back in London Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had been steadily reproducing giving birth to a total of nine children all of whom married into European royal families this earned the Queen the nickname the grandmother of Europe the death of Albert in 1860 devastated Victoria who fell into a prolonged period of mourning the previously active Monarch was seldom seen by your cabinet and for a Time disappeared completely from the public stage in her absence British republicanism grew and there were real murmurs in the capital of a potential Revolution against the Royal institutions but these amounted to nothing she would eventually compose herself and resume a life in the public eye but continued to mourn wearing black until the day she died the queen ruled for 40 more years without her prince and in that time her kingdom erupted as a center of Industry art and Science in the world factories dominated the landscape from London to Glasgow as new cities tripled in size places like Birmingham and Manchester which had before only been minor Villages and settlements were now the second and third largest cities in the country great writers produced some of their finest Works Bram Stoker wrote Dracula Sir Arthur Conan doy wrote Sherlock Holmes and Charles dickin published some of the greatest works of literary fiction in the English language since Shakespeare advancements in science and medicine also progressed massively under her rule Darwin published his theories on the evolution of man Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and germ Theory became the leading idea that pushes medicine and the prevention of disease forwards after King George III Queen Victoria stands as the second longest reigning monarch in British history her golden and diamond jubilees were a time of great celebration and her 63-year Reign remains an iconic chapter in British history referred to as the Victorian era in 1901 while on a trip to Osborne house in the aisle of White Queen Victoria died from a stroke at 81 years of age her death marked the end of the House of Hanover and its rule on the British Isles with the throne now passed on to her son Edward Britain had to leave its ancient Queen behind as it ran head first into the modern a age perhaps if it knew what that meant it might not have done so as [Music] willingly as the first of the modern monarchs of Britain King Edward iith exemplified many of the tropes and ideas we associate with the royal family today throughout his time as the Prince of Wales and later as king he traveled extensively throughout the country and the world performing traditional ceremonies to the public and acting as a figurehead to Institute tions and Charities King Edward oversaw the crown shift to being a vehicle for public philanthropy as he opened new Bridges schools and hospitals in an effort to modernize the role of the royal family since monarchical influence in politics was now legally prohibited King Edward took a leaf out of his mother's book and took to the Shadows to impose his will he reinvented Royal diplomacy fostering good relations with many of the powerful Elite in Europe most notably the French for whom he was called Peacemaker but he was not always successful in these Endeavors he married Alexandra of Denmark in 1863 and together they had six children like in the reign of his mother King Edward ruled over an island that was rapidly changing scientific and technological advancements doubled year onye as man took flight Wireless signals were sent across the Atlantic and the South Pole was reached by humans for the first time in human history but but for all its developments in science and culture the Edwardian era is best remembered for the rise of socialism all across the world the working classes had benefited from increased education and literacy and as such at the start of the century a huge number of poor British subjects had become educated and increasingly vocal about their rights as humans murmurs of Independence rang throughout Britain's colonies and strong attempts were made to ER the long-standing class divides that had kept hold in England since the reign of King Egbert all those years before at the time of his death in 1910 King Edward iith faced a constitutional crisis spurred on by socialism and its ideals a year prior the Liberal Party had enacted the people's budget an unprecedented set of new taxes against the richest in the realm that was intended to help fund social housing projects across Britain the house of Commons passed it but when it came to the House of Lords an unelected Council who sit for life it was vetoed technically speaking the House of Lords had every right to do this but there had been a long-standing honor code between the two branches of government that essentially said the House of Lords was not supposed to amend money bills as only the House of Commons had the power to decide on the Monarch's resources their block of the bill while not illegal was in bad spirit and and further emphasized the growing social divide in the Kingdom many in Parliament believed their system of government needed to be reformed it was under this unrest that King Edward iith died on the 6th of May 1910 he left the throne to his son George who was to inherit not just a fractured Kingdom but a planet on the verge of tearing itself apart but before he was accosted by arms races and constitutional crises George was a young man who was not always meant to be king the second son of King Edward he spent his youth serving abroad in the Royal Navy enjoying his freedom and reveling in the life of a prince however fate had other plans for him and after his brother and the heir to the British throne Prince Albert died unexpectedly in 1892 George was hurriedly recalled to Britain to begin a life of preparation and education to eventually Ascend to the British throne he married his brother's fiance Princess Victoria Mary of tech and together the pair had six children in 1910 with the passing of his father George was crowned King emperor of the United Kingdom on the 22nd of June to joyous celebrations in the capital the Constitutional crisis that had defined the end of his father's Reign was quickly dealt with thanks to the parliament Act of 1911 which saw the House of Commons establish Le legal Supremacy over the House of Lords England itself was experiencing a period of civil unrest and social upheaval these socialist ideals that had been gaining popularity now had Europe in a vice grip Irish politicians began calling for home rule and separation from the British Kingdom while socialist politicians grew in numbers power and ambition within the House of Commons but all this turmoil was about to take a backseat as Europe erupted into war Fair the first world war had begun on the 4th of August 1914 4 years after his coronation King George V declared war on Germany on the day of the Declaration the king wrote in his diary I held a council at 10:45 to declare war with Germany it is a terrible catastrophe but it is not our fault please to God it may soon be over it was not and the war raged for 4 years years as England and her allies battled against the Central Powers it was a conflict that would claim the lives of around 40 million people with fighting happening all over the world the new machines which had taken Society into the Modern Age Now brought death on an industrial scale and the war had a profound impact on the British psyche inflicting scars that to this day have yet to heal even the king could not escape this to him the war was personal the Russians Zar and the German Kaiser were his cousins as they shared ancestry to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert the men had grown up together spending summers at Buckingham Palace playing makeb believe and fighting in homemade trenches in the palace Gardens now their countries played out these childhood fantasies with unforgiving brutality consequently the English King George still carried a German surname sax koberg and gotha as anti-german German sentiment skyrocketed the king Drew ey for his perceived connections to their new enemy famous English writer HG Wells wrote about Britain's alien and uninspiring Court in reference to the King George responded to the author I may be uninspiring but I'll be damned if I'm alien to appease British nationalists King George V changed his surname from the house of sax cobber and gotha to the house of Windsor on the 17th of July 1917 that same year the Russians who had allied with Britain during the conflict had capitulated and Russia was overcome with the fervor of Revolution the downtrodden Russian people overthrew the Zar and his family imprisoning him and establishing the Soviet Union Not only was the Zar King George's cousin but the two were dear friends and George made plans to rescue his cousin from the revolutionaries that had arrested him and his family but that same fervor that had led to Revolution in Russia was beginning to bubble in Britain compounding social issues had decreased the quality of life in the country so much that there was a genuine fear of Revolution similar to that of the Russian Communists King George worried that bringing the romanovs who represented all the Gody excesses and societal disconnect between a king and his people would look bad on the British crown Zar Nicholas and his family were gunned down by the revolutionaries and Russia would never have a king Again by 1918 the war was over the Armistice was signed and Germany sent their Kaiser into Exile of the great European monarchies only a few now stood King George was alone the later half of George's Reign was dominated by the growing threat of socialism and its offshoots fascism republicanism communism these political ideologies grew in popularity and promised the working classes of the the world a chance at retribution and equality the world had seen What communists were capable of during the Russian Revolution an anti-communist sentiment perforated throughout the British upper class the Socialist labor movement had gained massive popularity in Parliament but instead of an allout Revolt like in Russia they sought to work alongside the king to introduce more democratic measures to the island the king submitted to their demands and together they revamped the role of the the British Monarchy bringing it closer to the public and the working class in 1926 King George became a central figure in the push for self-governance in the British dominions in 1931 the statute of Westminster gave territories like Australia and Canada greater autonomy in self-governance while still keeping them firmly under the British crown the king also oversaw Britain's financial recovery after the 1929 stock market crash he encouraged the formation of a national government and agreed to reduce the Civil list essentially lowering the number of people on the government's payroll all of this helped in stabilizing the economy and as a result Britain was able to maintain peace and a basic standard of living during a time when the entire world was reeling from economic hardship he was deeply suspicious of the Nazi party which had been rising in power in Germany following the first world war in 1934 he told the German ambassador Leopold Von hush that should Germany continue on its current trajectory there would be a war in Europe once again in the next 10 years he was wrong but only just in 1935 a year before his death George celebrated his silver jubilee to cheering crowds in the capital he was a popular and well-loved King the people respected him for his hard work and commitment to the Empire as well as his charity and care to the British public as crowds waved him on he reportedly said I cannot understand it after all I'm only a very ordinary sort of fellow his relationship with his eldest son Edward deteriorated towards the end of his life as he grew increasingly disappointed at Edward's inability to settle down and his continued affairs with married women in contrast he was deeply close to his second son Albert and became a doting grandfather to Albert's daughter Prince Elizabeth who referred to him as Grandpa England in 1935 he said this of his eldest son Edward after I am dead the boy will ruin himself within 12 months I pray to God he does not marry and have children and that nothing stands in the way of Birdie and lilibet and the throne on the evening of the 15th of January 1936 King George took to his bedroom complaining of a cold he never reemerged 5 days later when it was clear the King was was going to die his physician administered a mild sedative intending to peacefully end the King's life he argued that he wanted to preserve the Monarch's dignity and spare him and his family any more suffering it was decided that he would be killed by 1155 p.m. to ensure that the news broke in time for the morning papers and not the less inappropriate evening journals against the king's personal Wishes the British crown was passed on to his eldest son Edward Prince of Wales as the second Monarch of the House of Windsor there were many in the Kingdom who hoped that the crown would prove a stabilizing influence on The Eccentric Prince Edward it did not the new king showed great impatience at following Royal protocol and caused major concern amongst the political factions of Westminster for his complete disregard for established constitutional conventions he caused a serious constitutional crisis only a month into his rule after he proposed to marry Wallace Simpson an American woman who had divorced twice already the British prime minister himself opposed the marriage arguing that a twice divorced woman with two living husbands was not a politically or socially acceptable person to have as Queen consort furthermore his proposed marriage would jeopardize his position as the head of the Church of England which forbade marrying a divorce e if their ex- partner was still alive it became clear that if King went through with the marriage to Wallace the Prime Minister and his cabinet would retire and protest this was serious as it would ruin his status as a politically neutral Monarch and could potentially draw opposition calling for the total removal of the Royal Institution as a whole King Edward would have to choose between love or Duty he chose love after only 326 days on the Throne King Edward VII abdicated unknowingly he had given his late father the very thing he had wished for Prince Albert now would be king of Britain and her [Music] Empire upon his assession to the throne Prince Albert chose to adopt a regnal name and was thereafter known as King George V 6 he was crowned on the 12th of May 1937 to much popularity but behind the scenes The Smiling King rejected his new position he wrote in his diary that after hearing the news of his brother's decision to abdicate he broke down and wept like a child rumors spread across the country that the new King George was physically and mentally unfit to rule this is in some ways true King George had a speech impediment and a stutter not the kind of trade you want when you need to portray yourself as a strong figurehead he frequently saw a speech therapist who was able to coach the king through his public engagements and in all surviving recordings of the king There is almost no noticeable stammer to be heard the queen and I are very happy to be in Scotland once more during the first years of his Reign King George toured in North America in an effort to bring the isolated Americans closer to the issues in Europe you see King George along with the rest of Europe knew that war was imminent he was forced to publicly support British prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement even bringing the Prime Minister onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace in an extraordinary show of unity but it was increasingly clear that peace in our time wasn't going to last very long the King was well-received in the US and he was successful in Shoring up American support in any upcoming conflicts war broke out in Europe in 1939 after Hitler invaded Poland and prompted Britain to respond in in the defense of her Ally throughout the conflict the king and queen decided to stay at the Royal residence of Buckingham Palace as a sign of unity and solidarity with the English people a decision that made them wildly popular as London suffered through the Blitz the king and queen hunkered down narrowly escaping death themselves as two German bombs landed in the palace Gardens one night they were subject to British rationing restrictions just like everyone else and were looked at around the world as model rulers who shared in their subject suffering his daughter princess Elizabeth even enlisted in the Army mending Jeeps as part of the auxiliary territorial service unsurprisingly Neville Chamberlain lost the ensuing election and Winston Churchill took over as prime minister while King George was initially hesitant of Churchill the two quickly developed the closest personal relationship in modern British history between a monarch and a prime minister every Tuesday for 4 and 1/2 years the two men met to privately eat dinner and discussed the war with unparalleled frankness in the meantime the king and queen would regularly make visits to bombed out houses and factories around the country boosting morale as they went King George even visited the Army in France Italy North Africa and Holland and the British king became a symbol of national resistance across the globe in 1945 the war war was over guns ceased to Fire and bombs stopped being dropped Britain and her allies had won during celebrations crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace chanting we want the King King George gave them what they wanted and echoing his actions almost 6 years ago he brought prime minister Churchill onto the balcony to join him this time however peace would last King George even spoke at the First Assembly of the United Nations which was held in London a year later but while the war had strengthened his popularity at home it had come at a Monumental cost Britain and her Empire was in Ruins financially the fighting had destroyed large portions of England in her factories while the lend lease program had put the country in unimaginable amounts of debt with the US abroad the many arms of the Empire that had fought for the British crown now demanded Independence there had already been a move into recognizing some of Britain's overseas territory iies as independent dominions like Canada and Australia but after the war there was a clear shift towards recognizing all her territories as independent states as Colonial sentiment diminished the British Empire was renamed and reorganized into the Commonwealth of Nations some stayed while many chose to fully separate from the British Crown King George was named as head of the new Commonwealth and as such Nations like Canada Biz Jamaica Australia and New Zealand still recognized the king as their head of state but others sought full Independence India became a republic while the nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan were formed during the British split from the subcontinent Britain and her territory shrink and the Empire where the Sun never set was no more but while the world celebrated peace the king battled with the personal toll of the war he was a heavy smoker and subsequently developed lung cancer alongside a laundry list of other ailments and the stress of the conflict pushed his ill health over the edge his later year saw his daughter Elizabeth take over in many of the royal duties he could no longer attend on the 31st of January 1953 King George made the trip to London Airport despite the advice of those closest to him to see off princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip Mount Patton as they embarked on a royal tour to Australia it was his last public appearance 6 days later King George V 6 was found dead in bed at Sandringham castle at 56 years old he was buried at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle upon hearing the news of her father's death princess Elizabeth returned to England and took her place in history at 25 years of age princess Elizabeth ascended to the British throne becoming Queen Elizabeth II it was the first televised coronation ceremony in British history and over 100 million people tuned in worldwide to watch it prior to this though drama had already been brewing close to the new Queen there was the issue of the royal house which needed to be sorted prior to her Ascension it was custom for the Royal House to take after the husband's name which in this case was house mon Batton after her husband Phillip the queen however had other ideas she issued a declaration a month before the coronation stating that the Royal house would go on as is maintaining the name House Windsor philli complained telling people I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children resentment against his role as Royal consort would dominate the early years of their marriage but Philip soon grew to be a loyal comforting and dutiful partner to the queen immediately after her coronation Elizabeth and her husband embarked on a 7-month tour of the newly established Commonwealth of Nations she was the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those Nations and it's estimated that half of the Australian population came out to see the queen on her State visit throughout her life she traveled extensively around the world and by the end she was the most widely traveled Head of State in history she was the first British monarch to visit a communist country visiting Yugoslavia in the70s and her visit to the People's Republic of China in the80s was the first state visit by a British monarch to China in the two country's Millennia long history but once she had returned from her tour and was once again back in Westminster the queen saw the political power of the monarchy diminish once again you see the ruling conservative party had no formal system for choosing a leader so after the resignation of Anthony Eden as prime minister the burden fell to Queen Elizabeth to decide who would form the next government she met with a small number of council members and politicians and appointed their recommended candidate Harold McMillan this alongside the failure of the Suz crisis would earn the queen her first bit of major personal criticism Lord altringham accused Elizabeth of being out of touch in a magazine which she owned and edited this led to altringham being denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public for his comments against the queen 6 years later McMillan himself retired and the queen was once again tasked with choosing a replacement she selected Alec Douglas Hol as prime minister but again Drew criticism for making her decision based on a small number of close advisers in 1965 the conservative party established a formal mechanism for choosing their leader and the Queen's direct involvement in politics was gone but a further loss of political power was just the beginning the process of decolonization that had begun in Earnest during her father's Reign had sped up in recent years Africa rapidly shed the colonial shackles that Britain had imposed on her as 20 African nations gained full Independence throughout the 1960s and' 70s as her power overseas weakened Britain sought to join the European Community a precursor to the European Union a goal it achieved in 1973 there was great concern during this time about the power and influence of the crown especially amongst her dominions Australian republicanism was on the rise and Canada's prime minister Pierre Trudeau seemed to wholly disregard the reagent in her importance sliding down the banisters at Buckingham Palace and petting behind the Queen's back during a state visit to London a few years later when Canadian politicians were sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constit ution they found Queen Elizabeth to be better informed than any of the British politicians and bureaucrats Canada would get its independence in 1982 but the queen maintained her role as their head of state she suffered great embarrassment when the surveyor of the Queen's pictures Anthony blunt was unmasked as a communist spy and during the 80s numerous attempts at her life were made none proving successful but each growing in danger and intensity during a trooping of the color in 1981 six shots were fired at the queen in close range as she rode her horse down the mall in London that October during a state visit to New Zealand a 17-year-old Christopher John Lewis fired a shot from a 22 rifle at the queen as she stepped out of her vehicle a year later an intruder broke into Buckingham Palace and sat watching the queen sleep when she awoke the two calmly chatted while Elizabeth waited for Palace police to arrive in all instances the queen escaped harm throughout all this she had managed to endear herself to the public showing immense Poise and Grace during each and every attempt on her life Royal popularity was relatively high but the 1990s would prove to be a difficult decade for not just the queen but the monarchical institution as a whole during a speech to marker Ruby Jubilee the queen commented on her Anis horribilis or horrible year in 19 1992 many of her children had suffered highly public breakdowns in their marriages prince Andrew had separated from his wife Sarah while Princess Anne had officially divorced Captain Mark Phillips but the biggest blow to Royal popularity came with her Elder son Prince Charles and his now estranged wife Diana on the 7th of June Diana published her tell all Memoir Diana the true story revealing all the problems in her marriage and the stifling atmosphere of the royal family it went into sorted detail about Charles's affair with Camila Parker balls and made Diana incredibly popular with the public all while Bringing Down the reputation of the crown and besmer merching the heir to the British throne a fire broke out in Buckingham Palace in November of that year and it was under all these events and more that the queen remarked 1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure in the words of of one of my more sympathetic correspondents it has turned out to be an anest horribilis the '90s saw the crown combat the rise of tabloid journalism Sensational headlines and growing personal dramas made the royal family a frequent front page presence in 1997 Diana who by now had officially separated from Charles died in a high-speed car crash in France after being followed by Paparazzi the queen took her young grandchildren to Balmoral Castle so that the young boys could grieve in private away from the intense media coverage but the crown silence and seclusion led to a wave of public outrage later rumors would arise that the queen had ordered Diana's death but these claims are unsubstantiated and a toxicology report on the driver showed he was drunk at the time of the accident before the end of the century the queen would play an integral part in the Devolution of the UK Parliament formally opening the new legislatures in Wales and Scotland in 2002 she celebrated her golden jubilee to enormous crowds that surprised even the queen herself a decade later she would see the same crowds celebrating her Diamond Jubilee that summer the queen opened the 2012 Olympic Games becoming the first Head of State to open two Olympic ceremonies after her role in the 1972 Montreal Olympics but as she crept steadily into old age the well-traveled and beloved Queen began to slow down she had a number of surgeries in minor Health scares and officially gave up driving on public roads after an accident involving her husband in 2019 in September 2015 Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history overtaking Queen Victoria who had ruled over 150 years ago a few years later she became the first British monarch to celebrate a saire jubilee as well as a platinum wedding anniversary to Phillip she was present at the marriage of her grandson an eventual heir to the throne Prince William and Kate Middleton as well as the marriage of Prince Harry and actress Megan Markle in 2022 she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the British throne that year she became the second longest living Monarch in history behind King Louis the 14th of France who had ruled for 72 years by by this time though the queen was visibly much frailer and soon passed public appearances and engagements over to her son Charles on the 8th of September the queen fell ill and her family rushed from all over the globe to be by her side she died peacefully at 1510 British standard time at balm moral Castle in 2022 age 96 her Reign spanned an immensely transformative period of not just Royal history but world history the crow had undoubtedly fallen in power but the queen and her conduct ensured that it held on to its Prestige she was a well-respected States woman and during her Reign her popularity remained steadily positive despite moments of tension and drama she made the transition into the technological age with all its trappings seamlessly and with Grace modernized the role of the Monarch for the 21st century and earned the respect of people all over the globe her death was widely mourned and attended by 500 heads of state in her wake the British throne was left to her son Charles crowned on the 6th of May 2023 King Charles III is the latest in a long line to sit on the British throne he has been an active member of the royal family since his youth speaking out in support of climate change Royal reforms and sustainable farming since the 1960s his high-profile and bitter divorce from Diana Spencer made the prince a polarizing and at times unpopular figure in the Kingdom his subsequent marriage to Camila Parker BS a year after the death of Diana Drew widespread public scrutiny but his reputation held on and he has since become an outspoken advocate for environmentalism historical conservation and a reduction in size of the British Monarchy while with Diana he had two sons Prince William heir to the British throne and Prince Harry he has maintained a close relationship to both boys however after the marriage of Harry and Megan in 2018 and the subsequent Fallout between Harry and the Royal Institution the pair have been increasingly arranged ascending to the throne at 73 years of age King Charles III became the oldest person to be crowned king of Britain and his coronation took place at Westminster Abbey as Customs still dictates only time will tell how the reign of Charles III will pan out despite his age the kingdom is undergoing immense change both politically and socially and if his predecessor's long lives are anything to go by Charles should sit for a good while still Britain has now officially separated from the European Union migration to the island remains higher than ever before and the country is suffering through some of the worst recessions in its history putting Untold strain on the National Health Service and Welfare systems the conservative party have enjoyed over a decade of uninterrupted Rule and social tension calling for government reform grows louder every year this is the kingdom Charles has inherited by comparison he is a very modern King he understands that the role of the monarchy must continue to change or else risk being left behind it remains to be seen will he rise to the challenge or could King Charles III be the last king of Great Britain

Channel: Beginning To Now

Views: 718,823

Keywords: History, Education, Ancient, Historic, Documentary, Movie, The Entire History of, Life, Explained, Humans, World, Royal Family, Royal, Family, Monarchy, British, British Monarchy

Id: IWHP7Jtyqzk

Length: 212min 45sec (12765 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 17 2024