Richard II succeeded to the English throne at the age of ten and by the age of fourteen was playing a major role in English politics, particularly the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. But his reign was blighted by the ambitions of his powerful uncles, most notably John of Gaunt who constantly threatened Richard with rebellion. More interested in art and culture than war and … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Richard II – The Tragic Boy King
The Monarchs
THE MONARCHS: EDWARD VII – The Short Reign That Defined An Era
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #13 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2019. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine. Every subscription helps keep Anglotopia running and provides us to the opportunity to produce articles like this. You can subscribe here. Known as both the … [Read more...] about THE MONARCHS: EDWARD VII – The Short Reign That Defined An Era
The Monarchs: Edward II – The King Betrayed By His Wife
Ultimately a failure as a king, Edward II spent the majority of his reign battling with the baronial lords of the time who constantly rebelled and sought to gain power over the king and control of the country. Edward II incurred large debts during his years as King and oversaw the Scots’ famous victory at Bannockburn by Robert the Bruce. Criticized for his habit of taking close … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Edward II – The King Betrayed By His Wife
The Monarchs: Mary I – Bloody Mary and Her Short Reign
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #11 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2018. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine. Every subscription helps keep Anglotopia running and provides us to the opportunity to produce articles like this. You can subscribe here. Mary I began her … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Mary I – Bloody Mary and Her Short Reign
The Monarchs: Edward III – The Fifty-Year King
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #10 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2018. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine. Every subscription helps keep Anglotopia running and provides us to the opportunity to produce articles like this. You can subscribe here. Edward III was the … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Edward III – The Fifty-Year King
George IV: The Last Georgian – The Lavish Regent Turned Failed King
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #9 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2018. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine. Every subscription helps keep Anglotopia running and provides us to the opportunity to produce articles like this. You can subscribe here. The fourth and last … [Read more...] about George IV: The Last Georgian – The Lavish Regent Turned Failed King
The Monarchs: Lady Jane Grey – The Tragic Nine Day Queen
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #8 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2018. Support great long-form writing about British Travel, History and Culture by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine today. The ‘nine-day Queen’, Lady Jane Grey is one of the most tragic figures in the history of the monarchy. At just 16 years old the pious and learned young … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Lady Jane Grey – The Tragic Nine Day Queen
The Monarchs: William and Mary and the Glorious Revolution
William and Mary’s marriage and joint reign over England, Scotland and Ireland were the product of lengthy political machinations. Parliament was in agreement that King James II, Mary’s father, had to go and what better solution than to join the protestant cousins, William and Mary, in holy matrimony, have William invade England and place the crown on Mary’s head? Mary insisted … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: William and Mary and the Glorious Revolution
The Monarchs: Queen Anne – The First Queen of a United Great Britain
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #7 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture, and Travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Print Magazine, a quarterly love letter to Britain. Subscribe here. Queen Anne is remembered more for the events that took place during her reign, such as the Acts of Union that … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Queen Anne – The First Queen of a United Great Britain
The Monarchs: Alfred the Great – King of Wessex
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #5 of the Anglotopia Magazine in Spring 2017. Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture and Travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Print Magazine. On the year of his death in 899 Alfred the Great was known only as Alfred, King of Wessex. During the first year of his reign alone, King Alfred fought … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Alfred the Great – King of Wessex
The Monarchs: King Richard III – Dangerous Tyrant or Misunderstood Monarch?
King Richard III is a figure of some controversy and arguably one of the foremost symbols of the adage that “history is written by the victors.” A lot of what we know of Ricard comes from popular culture, which is largely defined by William Shakespeare’s play named after the Plantagenet king. The Tragedy of King Richard III presents Richard as a bloodthirsty opportunist, a … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: King Richard III – Dangerous Tyrant or Misunderstood Monarch?
The Monarchs: George II – The Last of the Warrior Kings
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Anglotopia Print magazine in 2016. Support thoughtful writing about British History and Culture by subscribing to the Anglotopia Magazine (and read these articles when they're published rather than a year later on Anglotopia.net). Subscribe here. The final British sovereign to physically lead troops into battle, King … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: George II – The Last of the Warrior Kings
The Monarchs: Henry VII – The First Tudor King
This article originally appeared in the Anglotopia Magazine in 2016. Support great writing about Britain by subscribing to the magazine today! Henry VII secured his right to the throne of England at the famous Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) where his army defeated that of King Richard III and killed him. Henry ended the Wars of the Roses and began the great dynasty of the … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Henry VII – The First Tudor King
The Monarchs: George VI (1936-1952) – The Unexpected King Who Led a Nation Through War
Editor's Note: This is the final new article in our first series of 12 articles on British Monarchs. This series has been very popular and had a good response. Shall we commission another series of 12 articles? George VI’s reign is remembered as a time of hardship, suffering and uncertainty. After serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during World War One, George … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: George VI (1936-1952) – The Unexpected King Who Led a Nation Through War
The Monarchs: King John (1199 – 1216) – One of England’s Most Terrible Kings – Famous for Sealing the Magna Carta
King John is thought to be the antithesis of King Richard, the Lionheart who preceded him. If Richard was tall, strong, brave and an accomplished military leader, John was short, weak, cowardly and completely unskilled in the art of war. After attempting to steal the English crown from his brother Richard, who had entrusted John to look after his Kingdom while he led the Third … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: King John (1199 – 1216) – One of England’s Most Terrible Kings – Famous for Sealing the Magna Carta
The Monarchs: Queen Victoria (1837-1901) – The Grandmother of Europe
Queen Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years, overseeing six decades of huge change in the industry, economy and society of Great Britain. Born and raised to take over the British throne, Victoria was known as a strong and principled monarch and a dedicated mother and wife. In 1876, Victoria became the Empress of India; her empire … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Queen Victoria (1837-1901) – The Grandmother of Europe
The Monarchs: Richard I (1189-1199) – Richard the Lionheart – The Crusader Who Tried to Seize Jerusalem
The reign of Richard the Lionheart was dominated by the Third Crusade, his ill-fated and costly siege of Jerusalem. Richard supported his father, King Henry II, in battle from a young age and became Duke of various French territories in his twenties. Despite spending as little as six months of his reign resident in England, Richard I is said to have been adored by his English … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Richard I (1189-1199) – Richard the Lionheart – The Crusader Who Tried to Seize Jerusalem
The Monarchs: Charles II (1660-1685) – The Restoration Monarch
Known as the ‘Merry Monarch’, the reign of Charles II differed dramatically from what had come before. Following the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I and years of Cromwellian dictatorship, the populace of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland welcomed Charles II’s return from exile and hoped for a return to normality. What they got was a lively, hedonistic … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Charles II (1660-1685) – The Restoration Monarch
The Monarchs: Elizabeth I (1558-1603) – The Golden Age Queen of England
The fifth and final monarch of the highly influential, although relatively short-lived, rule of the Tudor dynasty, Elizabeth I, was the second daughter of Henry VIII. Elizabeth’s relationship with her family was tense to say the least. Her mother was executed by her father before she was three years old, she was proclaimed a bastard, rejected by her half-brother, imprisoned by … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Elizabeth I (1558-1603) – The Golden Age Queen of England
The Monarchs: Richard III (1483-1485) – The King in the Car Park
Richard III is now as talked about in the 21st century as he was in the 15th. In 2012, a skeleton was found buried under a council car park in the town of Greyfriars in Leicester, England. Following a series of state of the art tests involving advanced carbon dating and DNA-matching, experts were able to confirm the skeleton was that of Richard III. The last King of England … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Richard III (1483-1485) – The King in the Car Park
The Monarchs: Edward the Confessor – The King Who Built Westminster Abbey
The suffix ‘the Confessor’, added to King Edward’s name following his death, refers to a rank in the progression towards sainthood, meaning a person who was persecuted for their faith but not martyred. Edward the Confessor’s legacy may be one of sainthood and piety but his life was one of courtly pleasures, tainted only by a constant anxiety over who would be heir to his … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Edward the Confessor – The King Who Built Westminster Abbey
The Monarchs: William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087) – The King Who Invaded England and Forged a New Nation
The Battle of Hastings in 1066 was the swiftest, most effective and most brutal military occupation ever seen and is believed by many to have been the most important battle in English history. Leading the victorious Norman invaders was William, a Norman duke known after 1066 as William the Conqueror, King of England. William completely transformed England, transferring all land … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087) – The King Who Invaded England and Forged a New Nation
The Monarchs: Henry VIII (1509-1547) – The Tyrant Who Married 6 Women and Broke With Rome
Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived. This grim little rhyme was once used by English History teachers to help their students memorize of the sad fates of the six wives of Henry VIII. One of the most infamous monarchs in British history, Henry VIII believed deeply in the idea of the divine right of the sovereign to rule precisely as he pleased. During his … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: Henry VIII (1509-1547) – The Tyrant Who Married 6 Women and Broke With Rome
The Monarchs: King Charles I (1625-1649) – The King Who Lost His Head
Charles I was not the most successful King in the history of the British monarchy but he was certainly the most stubborn. Ruler of the Kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland during the mid-seventeenth century, Charles’ unwavering belief in the king’s divine right to rule his country unencumbered by the demands of democracy and the rights of parliament led to a devastating … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: King Charles I (1625-1649) – The King Who Lost His Head
The Monarchs: King George III – America’s Last King
George III’s life and reign were long, 81 years and 59 years respectively, but difficult, marked by a series of military conflicts all over the world and personal mental health crises that left him unable to rule in his later years. Not only King of Great Britain and Ireland, George III was Elector, and later King, of Hanover. His first public utterance is said to have been … [Read more...] about The Monarchs: King George III – America’s Last King
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