Early medieval kings in Ireland

edit

For a list of kings of the early medieval period in the various Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland, as opposed to kings of all Ireland, see List of Irish kings.

High Kings of Ireland 846–1198

edit
 
Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair

Ruaidrí was inaugurated King of Ireland at Dublin in spring 1166. He was arguably the first undisputed full king of Ireland. He was also the only Gaelic one, as the events of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 undid Gaelic efforts at establishing an all-island united kingdom of Ireland. King Ruaidrí died at Cong in 1198, and was buried at Clonmacnoise. He was the last fully recognised Gaelic monarch of Ireland. Later claimants such as Brian Ua Neill (died 1260) and Edward Bruce (died 1318) were not recognised as such even among the native Irish.[citation needed]

From Lordship of Ireland to British monarchy

edit

House of Plantagenet

edit

Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford, where Stephen recognised Henry, son of Matilda, as the heir-apparent to the throne in lieu of his own son.

Rather than ruling among the Normans, the Plantagenets ruled from Aquitaine — lands which were acquired through Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, but did not regard England as their primary home until after most of their French possessions were lost by King John. This long-lived dynasty is usually divided into three houses: the Angevins, the House of Lancaster and the House of York.

The Plantagenets formulated England's royal coat of arms, which usually showed other kingdoms held or claimed by them or their successors, although without representation of Ireland for quite some time.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Henry II
Henry Curtmantle
(Henri Court-manteau)

19 December
1177–1189
  5 March 1133
Le Mans
son of Geoffrey V of Anjou and Matilda
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Bordeaux Cathedral
18 May 1152
eight children
6 July 1189
Chinon
aged 56. Buried at Fontevraud Abbey
Papal grant (Laudabiliter)
Henry the Young King
(Henri le Jeune Roy)
(co-ruler with his father)
14 June
1170–1183
  28 February 1155

son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Margaret of France
Winchester Cathedral
27 August 1172
one child
11 June 1183
Martel, Limoges
aged 28. Buried at Rouen Cathedral (Notre-Dame)
son of Henry II
(coronation as junior king)
Richard I
Richard the Lionheart
(Richard Cœur de Lion)

3 September
1189–1199
  8 September 1157
Beaumont Palace
son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Berengaria of Navarre
Limassol
12 May 1191
no children
6 April 1199
Chalus
aged 41 from an arrow wound in the shoulder that became infected. Buried: Heart at Rouen Cathedral. Body at Fontevraud Abbey
son of Henry II
(primogeniture)
John
Lackland
(Jean sans Terre)

27 May
1199–1216
  24 December 1166
Beaumont Palace
son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
(1) Isabel of Gloucester
Marlborough Castle
29 August 1189
no children

(2) Isabella of Angoulême
Bordeaux Cathedral
24 August 1200
five children

19 October 1216
Newark-on-Trent
aged 49, probably from dysentery brought on by eating peaches and drinking wine. Buried at Worcester Cathedral
brother of Richard I
(appointment)

Disputed claimant

Louis VIII of France briefly ruled about half of England from 1216 to 1217 at the conclusion of the First Barons' War against King John. On marching into London he was openly received by the rebel barons and citizens of London and proclaimed (though not crowned) king at St Paul's cathedral. Many nobles, including Alexander II of Scotland for his English possessions, gathered to give homage to him. However, in signing the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217, Louis conceded that he had never been the legitimate king of England.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Louis
The Lion
1216–
22 September 1217
Title disputed
  5 September 1187
Paris
son of Philip II of France, and Isabella of Hainault
Blanche of Castile
Portmont
23 May 1200
13 children
8 November 1226
Montpensier
aged 39
Right of conquest

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Henry III
Henry of Winchester
28 October
1216–1272
  1 October 1207
Winchester Castle
son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême
Eleanor of Provence
Canterbury Cathedral
14 January 1236
nine children
16 November 1272
Westminster Palace
aged 65
son of King John
(primogeniture)
Edward I
Longshanks
20 November
1272–1307
  17 June 1239
Westminster Palace
son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence
(1) Eleanor of Castile
Abbey of Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas
18 October 1254
17 children

(2) Margaret of France
10 September 1299
three children

7 July 1307
Burgh by Sands
aged 68
son of Henry III
(primogeniture)
Edward II
Edward of Caernarfon
7 July 1307 –
25 January 1327
  25 April 1284
Caernarfon Castle
son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile
Isabella of France
Boulogne Cathedral
25 January 1308
five children
21 September 1327
Berkeley Castle
aged 43 (murdered)[1]
son of Edward I
(primogeniture)
Edward III
25 January
1327–1377
  13 November 1312
Windsor Castle
son of Edward II and Isabella of France
Philippa of Hainault
York Minster
24 January 1328
14 children
21 June 1377
Sheen Palace
aged 64
son of Edward II
(primogeniture)
Richard II
21 June 1377 –
29 September 1399
  6 January 1367
Bordeaux
son of Edward, the Black Prince and Joan of Kent
(1) Anne of Bohemia
14 January 1382
no children

(2) Isabella of Valois
Calais
4 November 1396
no children

14 February 1400
Pontefract Castle
aged 33 probably from starvation
grandson of Edward III
(primogeniture)

House of Lancaster

edit

This house descended from Edward III's third surviving son, John of Gaunt. Henry IV seized power from Richard II (and also displaced the next in line to the throne, Edmund Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp).

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Henry IV
Bolingbroke
30 September
1399–1413
  3 April 1366/7
Bolingbroke Castle
son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster
(1) Mary de Bohun
Arundel Castle
27 July 1380
seven children

(2) Joanna of Navarre
Winchester Cathedral
7 February 1403
no children

20 March 1413
Westminster Abbey
aged 45 or 46[2]
grandson and heir male of Edward III
(usurpation/ agnatic primogeniture)
Henry V
20 March
1413–1422
  16 September 1386 or
9 August 1387[3]
Monmouth Castle
son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun
Catherine of Valois
Troyes Cathedral
2 June 1420
one son
31 August 1422
Château de Vincennes
aged 35
son of Henry IV
(agnatic primogeniture)
Henry VI
(first reign)
31 August 1422 – 4 March 1461
  6 December 1421
Windsor Castle
son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois
Margaret of Anjou
Titchfield Abbey
22 April 1445
1 son
21 May 1471
Tower of London
aged 49
son of Henry V
(agnatic primogeniture)

House of York

edit

The House of York inherited its name from the fourth surviving son of Edward III, Edmund, 1st Duke of York, but claimed the right to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp.

The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses of Lancaster and York.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Edward IV
(first reign)
4 March 1461 – 2 October 1470
  28 April 1442
Rouen
son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville
Elizabeth Woodville
Grafton Regis
1 May 1464
ten children
9 April 1483
Westminster Palace
aged 40 (probably died of a stroke after catching a chill during a fishing trip)
great-great-grandson and heir general of Edward III
(seizure of the crown/cognatic primogeniture)

House of Lancaster (restored)

edit
Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Henry VI
(second reign)
30 October 1470 – 11 April 1471
  6 December 1421
Windsor Castle
son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois
Margaret of Anjou
Titchfield Abbey
22 April 1445
1 son
21 May 1471
Tower of London
aged 49 (murdered by the York brothers).
son of Henry V
(seizure of the crown)

House of York (restored)

edit
Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Edward IV
(second reign)
11 April 1471 – 9 April 1483
  28 April 1442
Rouen
son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville
Elizabeth Woodville
Grafton Regis
1 May 1464
ten children
9 April 1483
Westminster Palace
aged 40 (probably died of a stroke after catching a chill during a fishing trip)
great-great-grandson and heir general of Edward III
(seizure of the crown/cognatic primogeniture)
Edward V
9 April – 25 June 1483[4]
  2 November 1470
Westminster
son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville[4]
unmarried c. 1483
London
aged about 12 (reportedly smothered)
son of Edward IV
(cognatic primogeniture)
Richard III
26 June
1483–1485[5]
  2 October 1452
Fotheringhay Castle
son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville
Anne Neville
Westminster Abbey
12 July 1472
1 son
22 August 1485
Bosworth Field
aged 32 (killed in battle)
great-great-grandson of Edward III
(Titulus Regius)

House of Tudor

edit

The Tudors descended matrilineally from John Beaufort, one of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III), by Gaunt's long-term mistress Katherine Swynford. Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort's birth). In view of the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year (also enshrined in an Act of Parliament in 1397). A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son, King Henry IV, also recognised the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to inherit the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other descendants, the Royal House of Lancaster.

John Beaufort's granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort was married to Edmund Tudor. Tudor was the son of Welsh courtier Owain Tewdwr or Tudur (anglicised to Owen Tudor) and Catherine of Valois, the widowed queen consort of the Lancastrian King Henry V. Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI. When the House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed. By the late 15th century, the Tudors were the last hope for the Lancaster supporters. Edmund Tudor's son became king as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, ending the Wars of the Roses.

With Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic Church, the monarch became the Supreme Head of the Church of England and of the Church of Ireland. Elizabeth I's title became the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Henry VII
22 August
1485–1509
  28 January 1457
Pembroke Castle
son of Edmund Tudor and Lady Margaret Beaufort
Elizabeth of York
Westminster Abbey
18 January 1486
eight children
21 April 1509
Richmond Palace
aged 52
great-great-great-grandson of Edward III
(right of conquest)
Henry VIII
21 April
1509–1547
  28 June 1491
Greenwich Palace
son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
Catherine of Aragon
Greenwich
11 June 1509
one daughter
28 January 1547
Whitehall Palace
aged 55
son of Henry VII
(primogeniture)
Anne Boleyn
Westminster Palace
25 January 1533
one daughter
Jane Seymour
Whitehall Palace
30 May 1536
one son
Anne of Cleves
Greenwich Palace
6 January 1540
Catherine Howard
Hampton Court Palace
28 July 1540
Catherine Parr
Hampton Court Palace
12 July 1543
Edward VI
28 January
1547–1553
  12 October 1537
Hampton Court Palace
son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
unmarried 6 July 1553
Greenwich Palace
aged 15
son of Henry VIII
(primogeniture)

Disputed claimant

Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir presumptive, overruling the order of succession laid down by Parliament in the Third Succession Act. Four days after his death on 6 July 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen—the first of three Tudor women to be proclaimed queen regnant. Nine days after the proclamation, on 19 July, the Privy Council switched allegiance and proclaimed Edward VI's Catholic half-sister Mary. Jane was executed in 1554, aged 16. Many historians do not consider her to have been a legitimate monarch.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Jane
10–19 July 1553
Title disputed
  October 1537
Bradgate Park
daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Lady Frances Brandon
Lord Guildford Dudley
The Strand
21 May 1553
no children[6]
12 February 1554
Tower of London
aged 16 (beheaded)
great-granddaughter of Henry VII
(Devise for the succession)

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Mary I
19 July
1553–1558
  18 February 1516
Greenwich Palace
daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
Philip II of Spain
Winchester Cathedral
25 July 1554
no children
17 November 1558
St. James's Palace
aged 42
daughter of Henry VIII
(Third Succession Act)
Philip[7]
25 July 1554 –
17 November 1558
(jure uxoris)
  21 May 1527
Valladolid, Spain
son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella of Portugal
(2) Mary I of England
Winchester Cathedral
25 July 1554
no children
three other marriages
and seven children
13 September 1598
El Escorial, Spain
aged 71
husband of Mary I
(Act for the Marriage of Queen Mary to Philip of Spain)
 
Coat of arms of Mary I

Under the terms of the marriage treaty between Philip I of Naples (Philip II of Spain from 15 January 1556) and Queen Mary I, Philip was to enjoy Mary's titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including Acts of Parliament, were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. An Act of Parliament gave him the title of king and stated that he "shall aid her Highness... in the happy administration of her Grace’s realms and dominions"[8] (although elsewhere the Act stated that Mary was to be "sole queen"). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife.[9] As the new King of England could not read English, it was ordered that a note of all matters of state should be made in Latin or Spanish.[9][10][11] Coins were minted showing the heads of both Mary and Philip, and the coat of arms of England (right) was impaled with Philip's to denote their joint reign.[12][13] Acts which made it high treason to deny Philip's royal authority were passed in England[14] and Ireland.[15] In 1555, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip and Mary as rightful King and Queen of Ireland.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Elizabeth I
17 November
1558–1603
  7 September 1533
Greenwich Palace
daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
unmarried 24 March 1603
Richmond Palace
aged 69
daughter of Henry VIII
(Third Succession Act)

House of Stuart

edit

Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns. James was descended from the Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. In 1604 he adopted the title King of Great Britain. However the two parliaments remained separate.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
James I
24 March
1603–1625
  19 June 1566
Edinburgh Castle
son of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and Mary I, Queen of Scots
Anne of Denmark
Oslo
23 November 1589
seven children
27 March 1625
Theobalds House
Aged 58
great-great-grandson and heir general of Henry VII
Charles I
27 March
1625–1649
  19 November 1600
Dunfermline Palace
son of James I and Anne of Denmark
Henrietta Maria of France
St Augustine's Abbey
13 June 1625
nine children
30 January 1649
Whitehall Palace
aged 48 (beheaded)
son of James I (cognatic primogeniture)

Commonwealth

edit

There was no reigning monarch between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Instead, from 1653 the following individuals held power as Lords Protector, during the period known as the Protectorate, when the monarchy was overthrown.

Name Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death
Oliver Cromwell
Old Ironsides
16 December
1653–1658[16]
  25 April 1599
Huntingdon[16]
son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward[17]
Elizabeth Bourchier
in St Giles[18]
22 August 1620
nine children[16]
3 September 1658
Whitehall
aged 59[16]
Richard Cromwell
Tumbledown Dick
3 September 1658
– 7 May 1659[19]
  4 October 1626
Huntingdon
son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier[19]
Dorothy Maijor
May 1649
nine children[19]
12 July 1712
Cheshunt
aged 85[20]

House of Stuart (restored)

edit

Although the monarchy was restored in 1660, no stable settlement proved possible until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when Parliament finally asserted the right to choose whomsoever it pleased as monarch.

Name Portrait Birth Marriages Death Claim
Charles II
1660–1685[21]
Recognised by Royalists in 1649
  29 May 1630
St. James' Palace
son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France
Catherine of Braganza
Portsmouth
21 May 1662
no children
6 February 1685
Whitehall Palace
aged 54
son of Charles I (cognatic primogeniture; English Restoration)
James II
6 February 1685 –
23 December 1688 (deposed)
  14 October 1633
St. James' Palace
son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France
(1) Anne Hyde
The Strand
3 September 1660
eight children

(2) Mary of Modena
Dover
21 November 1673
seven children

16 September 1701
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
aged 67
son of Charles I (cognatic primogeniture)
Mary II
13 February
1689–1694
  30 April 1662
St. James' Palace
daughter of James II and Anne Hyde
St. James' Palace
4 November 1677
no children
28 December 1694
Kensington Palace
aged 32
grandchildren of Charles I (offered the crown by Parliament)
William III
William of Orange
13 February
1689–1702
  4 November 1650
The Hague
son of William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal[22]
8 March 1702
Kensington Palace
aged 51 after breaking his collarbone from falling off his horse
Anne
8 March
1702–1 May 1707[23]
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland
1 May 1707–1 August 1714
  6 February 1665
St. James' Palace
daughter of James II and Anne Hyde
George of Denmark
St. James' Palace
28 July 1683
5 children
1 August 1714
Kensington Palace
aged 49
daughter of James II (cognatic primogeniture; Bill of Rights 1689)
Monarchs after 1707 See List of British monarchs

In 1177, as the leader of the Norman invasion of Ireland, King Henry II of England created the title of Lord of Ireland for his youngest son John, who was not then expected to succeed to any other title. John became king in 1199, and the title was held thereafter by the monarchs of England. Under the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 The Lordship of Ireland was raised into the Kingdom of Ireland. The Kingdom of Ireland continued after the Acts of Union 1707 which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland.

  • From King John (of the House of Plantagenet) to King Henry VIII (of the House of Tudor), English monarchs were also Lords of Ireland.
  • From King Henry VIII to Queen Anne (of the House of Stuart), English monarchs were also King or Queen of Ireland.
  • From Queen Anne to King George III (of the House of Hanover), British monarchs were also King or Queen of Ireland.
  • Note: In 1506 Lambert Simnel, an English pretender to the throne, was crowned Edward VI of Ireland

During the reign of George III of the United Kingdom the Kingdoms of Great Britain and of Ireland merged to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by the terms of the Act of Union 1800.

British monarchy to Irish monarchy

edit

With the passage in 1931 of the Statute of Westminster, the British monarch (that is, King George V in his British council, parliament, and courts) ceased to have dominion over Ireland; only the monarch in right of Ireland had sovereignty over that realm, advised by Irish ministers and acting in his Irish parliament and courts only,[24][25] though the monarch of Ireland and the monarch of the United Kingdom (and the monarch of all the Dominions and later Commonwealth realms) were the same person. This arrangement lasted through the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, and George VI.

The Republic of Ireland Act proclaimed Ireland a republic in 1949 by removing the remaining duties of the monarch. Ireland consequently withdrew from the British Commonwealth.[26]

Northern Ireland continues as a constituent part of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

References

edit
  1. ^ The date of Edward II's death is disputed by Ian Mortimer in his book "The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation," which argues that he may not have been murdered, but held imprisoned in Europe for several more years: ISBN 0-09-952709-X
  2. ^ "HENRY IV - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  3. ^ Biography of HENRY V – Archontology.org. Retrieved 28 November 2009
  4. ^ a b Edward V was deposed by Richard III, who usurped the throne on the grounds that Edward was illegitimate. "EDWARD V - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  5. ^ "RICHARD III - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  6. ^ "Lady Jane Grey: Marriage". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  7. ^ Philip was not meant to be a mere consort; rather, the status of Mary I's husband was envisioned as that of a co-monarch during her reign. See Act for the Marriage of Queen Mary to Philip of Spain. However the extent of his authority and his status are ambiguous. The Act says that Philip shall have the title of king and "shall aid her Highness ... in the happy administration of her Grace’s realms and dominions," but elsewhere says that Mary shall be the sole Queen.
  8. ^ 1 March stat. 2 c. 2
  9. ^ a b Louis Adrian Montrose, The subject of Elizabeth: authority, gender, and representation, University of Chicago Press, 2006
  10. ^ A. F. Pollard, The History of England – From the Accession of Edward VI. to the Death of Elizabeth (1547–1603), READ BOOKS, 2007
  11. ^ Wim de Groot, The Seventh Window: The King's Window Donated by Philip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk in Gouda (1557), Uitgeverij Verloren, 2005
  12. ^ Richard Marks, Ann Payne, British Museum, British Library; British heraldry from its origins to c. 1800; British Museum Publications Ltd., 1978
  13. ^ American Numismatic Association, The Numismatist, American Numismatic Association, 1971
  14. ^ Treason Act 1554
  15. ^ Robert Dudley Edwards, Ireland in the age of the Tudors: the destruction of Hiberno-Norman civilisation, Taylor & Francis, 1977
  16. ^ a b c d "Oliver Cromwell 1599–1658". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  17. ^ "Oliver Cromwell – Faq 1". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  18. ^ "New Page 1". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  19. ^ a b c "Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector, 1626–1712". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  20. ^ "CROMWELL, Richard - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  21. ^ Britannia: Monarchs of Britain
  22. ^ "WILLIAM III - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  23. ^ "Anne (England) - Archontology.org". Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  24. ^ "History of Ireland > The Irish Free State (1922-1937)". Collins 22 Society. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  25. ^ Cottrell, Peter (2008). The Irish Civil War 1922-23. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-84603-270-7.
  26. ^ Kondō, Atsushi (2001). Citizenship in a Global World: Comparing Citizenship Rights for Aliens. Hampshire: Palgrave. p. 120. ISBN 0-333-80265-9. Ireland reluctantly remained a member of the Commonwealth s Irish citizens remained British Subjects. However, Irish representatives stopped attending Commonwealth meetings in 1937 and Ireland adopted a position of neutrality in World War II. Ireland became a Republic in 1949 and formally left the Commonwealth.


Irish

  NODES
admin 2
Association 2
Note 4