Kings of England
As mentioned in the Paper headed Wales, and No. 115 in this Appendix, ancient Britain had its own kings down to the Roman invasion of that country. The names of those kings we are unable to give; but the kings of Britain from that invasion to the present time (A.D. 1888) were the following:
1—Kings of England from Julius Caesar to Constantine:
A.D. | ||
1. | Cassibelan. | |
2. | Theomantius. | |
3. | Cymbeline. | |
4. | Guiderius. | |
5. | Aviragus, called Praiusagus, by Hector Bœtius | 45 |
6. | Marius | 73 |
7. | Coel or Coelus I. | 125 |
8. | Lucius, the first Christian King of Britain and of the world; who, dying without issue, left the Roman Emperor his heir | 179 |
9. | Severus, Emperor of Rome | 207 |
10. | Bassianus, son of Severus | 211 |
11. | Carausius, a Noble Briton | 218 |
12. | Alectus | 225 |
13. | Aesclepiodotus | 232 |
14. | Coelus II. | 262 |
15. | Helena, dau. of Coelus; and Constantius Chlorus, Emperor of Rome | 289 |
16. | Constantine the Great, son of Helena and Constantius; who united his estate in Britain to the Monarchy of Rome. | |
2.—The Kings of England, after the departure therefrom of the Romans, down to the settling therein of the Saxons. The British Race, again:
A.D. | ||
1. | Constantine of Armorica or Bretagne | 431 |
2. | Constantius, son of Constantine | 443 |
3. | Vortiger, Earl of the Gevisses, who called in the Saxons | 446 |
4. | Vortimer, son of Vortiger | 464 |
5. | Vortiger II. | 471 |
6. | Aurelius Ambrosius, second son of Constantine | 481 |
7. | Uther Pendragon, third son of Constantine | 500 |
8. | Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon | 506 |
9. | Constantine II., next cousin of Arthur | 542 |
10. | Conan | 546 |
11. | Vortipor | 576 |
12. | Malgo | 580 |
13. | Careticus | 586 |
14. | Cadwan | 613 |
15. | Cadwallan | 635 |
16. | Cadwallader | 678 |
After the death of Cadwallader (the Saxons[1] having totally subdued all the country east of the Severn), the British Princes were no longer called Kings of Britain, but Kings of Wales: whose names and succession are given in the Paper headed Wales, above mentioned.
3—The following were the Monarchs of the English Saxons:
A.D. | ||
1. | Hengist, King of Kent | 445 |
2. | Ella, King of the South Saxons | 481 |
3. | Cerdick, King of the West Saxons | 495 |
4. | Kenrick, King of the West Saxons | 534 |
5. | Cheuline or Celingus, King of the West Saxons | 561 |
6. | Ethelbert, King of Kent | 562 |
7. | Redwald, King of the East Angles | 616 |
8. | Edwin, King of Northumberland | 617 |
9. | Oswald, King of Northumberland | 634 |
10. | Oswy, King of Northumberland | 643 |
11. | Wulfhere, King of Mercia | 659 |
12. | Ethelred, King of Mercia | 675 |
13. | Kenred, King of Mercia | 704 |
14. | Chelred, King of Mercia | 709 |
15. | Ethalbald, King of Mercia | 716 |
16. | Offa, King of Mercia | 758 |
17. | Egfride, King of Mercia | 794 |
18. | Kenwolf, King of Mercia | 796 |
19. | Egbert, the son of Alemond, King of the West Saxons; the first and absolute Monarch of the whole Heptarchy; who, having vanquished all, or most of, the Saxon Kings, and annexed their kingdoms to his own, commanded the whole country to be called by the name of England | 800 |
After the country was so named the following were—
4—The Kings of England, of the Saxon Race:
A.D. | ||
1. | Egbert, the 18th King of the West-Saxons; the 19th Monarch of the English-Saxons; and the first King of England | 800 |
2. | St. Ethelwolf or Ethelwolph | 837 |
3. | Ethelbald, eldest son of Ethelwolph | 857 |
4. | Ethelbert, second son of Ethelwolph | 858 |
5. | Ethelred, third son of Ethelwolph | 863 |
6. | St. Alfred, who totally reduced the Saxons under one Monarchy; and founded the University of Oxford | 873 |
7. | Edward the Elder | 900 |
8. | Athelstane | 924 |
9. | Edmund | 940 |
10. | Eldred, who styled himself King of Great Britain | 946 |
11. | Edwin, eldest son of King Edmund | 955 |
12. | St. Edgar | 959 |
13. | Edward, the younger | 975 |
14. | Ethelred | 978 |
15. | Edmund Ironside | 1016 |
5.—The Kings of England, of Danish Race:
A.D. | ||
1. | Canute, King of Denmark | 1017 |
2. | Harold, surnamed “Harefoote” | 1037 |
3. | Hardicanute | 1041 |
4. | St. Edward, who founded and endowed the Church of Westminster; “and was the first that cured the disease called the King’s-evil, leaving the same hereditary to his successors” | 1045 |
5. | Harold, the son of Godwin, usurped the Crown, and shortly lost both it and his life to William, Duke of Normandy, who was surnamed the “Conqueror” | 1066 |
6.—The Monarchy of England, of the Norman Line:
A.D. | ||
1. | William, Duke of Normandy, surnamed the “Conqueror” | 1066 |
2. | William Rufus | 1087 |
3. | Henry I. (Beauclerk) | 1100 |
4. | Stephen, Earl of Blois | 1136 |
5. | Henry[2] II., was, through Maud his mother, of Irish lineal descent | 1155 |
6. | Richard Cœur de Leon | 1189 |
7. | John, who granted Magna Charta | 1199 |
8. | Henry III. | 1216 |
9. | Edward I. | 1272 |
10. | Edward II. | 1307 |
11. | Edward III. | 1326 |
12. | Richard II. | 1377 |
13. | Henry IV. | 1395 |
14. | Henry V. | 1412 |
15. | Henry VI. | 1421 |
16. | Edward IV. | 1450 |
17. | Edward V. | 1483 |
18. | Richard III. | 1483 |
19. | Henry VII. | 1485 |
20. | Henry VIII. | 1509 |
21. | Edward VI. | 1546 |
22. | Queen Mary | 1553 |
23. | Queen Elizabeth | 1558 |
7.—The Monarchy of England, of the Stuart Line:
1. | James VI., of Scotland, and First of England; by whom the title of King of Great Britain was re-assumed | 1603 |
2. | Charles I. Beheaded 30th January. 1648 | 1625 |
3. | Charles II. Exiled 14 years; Crowned 23rd April, 1661 | 1648 |
4. | James II. | 1685 |
5. | William III.; and Mary | 1689 |
6. | Anne | 1702 |
8.—The present Dynasty—The House of Brunswick:
A.D. | |
1. George I. Elector of Hanover. | 1714 |
2. George II. | 1727 |
3. George III. | 1760 |
4. George IV. | 1820 |
5. William IV. | 1830 |
6. Queen Victoria. Living in 1888. | 1837 |
Notes
[1] Saxons: The Saxons divided Britain into seven Kingdoms called the Heptarchy, but, for the most part, were subject to one Monarch, who was called Rex Gentis Anglorum (or “King of the English Nation”): the King of the strongest of those seven Kingdoms giving the law to the others, till in the end they all became incorporated in the Empire of the West Saxons. The following were the seven Kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy in England:
1. Kent. 2. The South Saxons, containing the counties of Sussex and Surrey. 3. The West Saxons, containing the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Southampton, and Berks. 4. The East Saxons, containing the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire. 5. The East Angles, containing the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, with the Island of Ely. 6. The North Humbers or Northumberland, containing the counties of York, Durham, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Northumberland, and that part of Scotland which lies between the river Tweed and the Frith of Edinburgh. 7. Mercia: so called from being in the middle of the whole country. It comprised the counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Lincoln, Bedford, Nottingham, Buckingham, Oxford, Darby, Stafford, Shropshire, Cheshire, and the part of Hertfordshire which was not under the East Saxons.
[2] Henry: Of the Kings of England of the Norman Race, it was Henry II., who, in the Royal Banner, first assumed Three Lions: “Gu. Three Lions passant gardant Or.” As Henry, through his mother Maude, claimed to be of Irish lineal descent, and that (see p. 55) Milesius of Spain, the ancestor of the Milesian Irish Nation, bore three lions in his shield, the fact of three lions on the escutcheon of King Henry II., of England, is very significant!