Which Royal House When? Trivia Quiz

The House of Wessex actually began before Alfred but the modern kings of England begin with his reign. He wasn't actually the first king of England as England itself did not exist at that time. He was King Alfred of Wessex, it was later monarchs who identified him as the first King.

He is widely known as 'Alfred the Great' as he played a crucial role in defending his kingdom against Viking attacks and is credited with laying the foundations for a unified England. His descendants, Edmund I, Eadred, Eadwig, Edgar the Peaceful and Edmund the Martyr all united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and continued to fight the Vikings with success until the reign of Aethelred the Unready whose reign was rife with war with the Vikings; he is remembered for his lack of decisive leadership.

Aethelred's son, Edmund Ironside, briefly resisted the Vikings but lost the battle against King Canute II of Denmark in 1016. They agreed to divide the kingdom in two but after Edmund's death later the same year, Canute took the throne of England and began the House of Denmark which lasted the duration of three kings over the next 26 years with Harold I Harefoot and then Harthacnut.

The houses of Wessex and Denmark were both connected at this time with the house of Normandy through marriage. As such, following Harthacnut his cousin, Edward the Confessor returned the kingdom to the House of Wessex. He let his father-in-law Earl Godwin of Essex and his son, Harold, hold the power in England. After Edward dies childless Harold seizes the throne as Harold II but only reigns for 9 months before his death in the Battle of Hastings.

The Norman kings began with William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 where he defeated King Harold II. Edward had promised him the throne and Harold had sworn allegiance to him three years earlier. His reign was marked by the Norman Conquest, the compilation of the Domesday Book and the establishment of feudalism in England. He was followed by his two sons - William II and Henry I.

William II spent a large portion of his reign trying to recapture Normandy from his brother Robert which led to the Barons' Revolt in England and two wars with the Scots. He also had problems along the Welsh borders.

With no heirs he was succeeded by his brother Henry I. Henry was popular with the Saxons but his brother Robert, the Duke of Normandy, invaded England and attempted to seize the English Crown - he was defeated and returned to France. Five years later Henry defeated Robert at the Battle of Tinchebra and became Duke of Normandy and King of England.

Henry died with just a daughter, Matilda, who was promised the throne but after she married into the House of Anjou, which was a rival of Normandy, her cousin Stephen of Blois secured the throne for himself.

Stephen was the son of William the Conqueror's daughter Adela who married the Count of Blois. Matilda arrived from France four years later, civil war broke out and Matilda was briefly on the throne in 1141. The war continued until Matilda retreated back to France in 1148. Stephen died six years later and the crown went to Matilda's son, Henry.

Henry II was the son of Matilda and Count Geoffrey of Anjou and thus the first king of the Plantagenets. Their rule lasted for eight kings and for over three centuries. Henry spent much of his reign consolidating his power and expanding the Angevin Empire in France. He was Lord of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales and Count of Anjou, Brittany, Poitou, Normandy, Maine, and Gascony. He claimed Aquitaine through marriage to the heiress Eleanor who had previously been married to Louis VII of France. He is also known for legal reforms including the development of common law, curbing the Barons and the murder of Thomas a Becket.

His third son, Richard I, - known widely as Richard the Lionheart - spent most of his reign in Aquitaine and nearly all of his time involved in the Third Crusade. He only spent six months in England and only spoke French which did not endear him to his subjects.

King John, also known as Lackland, was Richard's younger brother. He ruled as Richard's regent before his own reign. The majority of his regime was dominated by wars with the French. Within five years of his coronation he had lost Normandy and almost all the other English possessions in France. The cost of these wars led to the huge conflict with the barons in England and eventually ended up with John being forced to sign the Magna Carta.

His son, Henry III, was only nine when he was crowned and he had two French nobles for regents. He also had many conflicts during his reign including the second Barons' War and legislation that even further limited the monarch's powers. Edward I Longshanks, his son, conquered Wales and invaded Scotland. At first victorious, he begins the Scottish wars with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

The last three kings were not so lucky; Edward Longshank's son, Edward II, had problems with the nobles and the Scots of which he lost both. He was the first Prince of Wales and is generally remembered as incompetent and frivolous and influenced way too much by his 'favourite' male friends. He was murdered by his wife Isabella, daughter of Philip IV of France, and her lover.

Edward III, his son, laid claim to the French throne through his mother's line which commenced the Hundred Year War with France, which dominated his reign. His grandson Richard II was only ten when he succeeded and his reign endured much political unrest with Parliament and the Peasants' Revolt. He was eventually defeated and deposed which lead to the rise of the House of Lancaster and the beginning of the War of the Roses.

Edward the III had three sons. The first was Edward, the Black Prince; he pre-deceased his father and Richard the II was his son. The second son was John of Gaunt - his descendants were the House of Lancaster. The third son was Edmund of York whose descendants were the House of York. These heirs fought for control of the kingdom throughout the 15th century. It went from Lancaster to York back to Lancaster and back to York again. The war was so named because of the red rose of Lancaster and white rose of York.

Henry IV was the son of John of Gaunt and became the first Lancaster King. His son was Henry V who is renowned for his military successes, particularly at the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War with France. He signed the Treaty of Troyes with Charles VI of France (and married his daughter Catherine of Valois) which declared him to be heir to the French throne.

Henry VI, the son of Henry V, ascended the throne as an infant and his time was one of political instability. He lost territories in France and the House of York took advantage and claimed the crown for the first time. He was briefly reinstated for a year in 1471 where he took the crown back from Edward IV of York.

Richard, Duke of York, grandson of Edmund of York, was the one who laid a claim to the throne from Henry VI and began the War of the Roses but it was his son Edward IV who was victorious in the Battle of Towton and became the first King in the House of York. His reign showed some periods of stability but internal rivalries continued - he briefly lost the crown back to the House of Lancaster but regained it a year later and kept it until his death.

His heirs were his 12 year old son Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. Their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, assumed the role of Lord Protector on their behalf. Both boys were sent to the Tower of London to keep them safe until the coronation and they both disappeared without a trace, believed murdered, presumed by their uncle.

Either way it left the position open for their uncle to declare himself King Richard III. His reign was controversial because of the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower and his executions of political rivals which left the field clear for a Lancastrian revolt.

There was only one Lancaster left in line - Henry Tudor. Henry V's widow, Catherine of Valois, married Owen Tudor and they had a son Edmund Tudor who married Margaret Beaufort. Margaret was the great granddaughter of John of Gaunt through his mistress/third wife. Henry Tudor raised a rebellion and defeated Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. Richard was the last English king to die in battle. Henry was crowned as Henry VII and then married Elizabeth of York (the young murdered Edward V's older sister) thus uniting the houses of Lancaster and York and beginning the Tudor Dynasty.

Henry VII spent the majority of his reign focused on stabilizing the kingdom, strengthening the economy, and establishing the Tudor monarchy. His eldest son Arthur died leaving Prince Henry as heir; his daughter, Margaret, married James IV of Scotland giving his descendants a claim to the English throne.

Prince Henry becomes the infamous Henry VIII whose reign was marked by significant political and religious reform that changed England's laws forever. He broke with the Roman Catholic Church over their refusal to allow him to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, thus leading to the establishment of the Church of England and the dissolution of the monasteries. His six marriages, with two divorces and two executions while waiting for a male heir, are historical lore. He ended up with three children; Mary, Elizabeth and Edward - one each from his first three wives.

Edward VI, son of Jane Seymour, was the youngest and only nine when he ascended the throne. His reign only lasted for six years before he died of TB. He passed the First Act of Uniformity making the Roman Catholic Mass illegal.
He had two Protectors during his reign - the second of these, The Duke of Northumberland, persuaded him to nominate his daughter Lady Jane Grey as his heir in a bid to secure a Protestant succession. Jane was descended from Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister.

Lady Jane Grey was just 16 when Edward died and although she was proclaimed queen and installed at the Tower awaiting coronation she was never crowned as Mary's (Edward VI's sister) supporters marched on London and secured the crown for her. Lady Jane Grey was later executed.

Mary I, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, married Philip the heir to the Spanish throne but they had no heirs. Mary was staunchly Catholic and immediately set about re-establishing the religion. Known as Bloody Mary she persecuted the Protestants, reinstated the heresy laws and then burned Protestant bishops at the stake.

Elizabeth I, daughter of Ann Boleyn, took the throne on Mary's death. She restored the Protestant Church and enforced it by law. She was also responsible for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots - as Margaret Tudor's granddaughter she had a claim to the English throne. In general the Elizabethan era saw the defeat of the Spanish Armada and peace with the French. There was a huge economic, exploratory and cultural upturn - Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake were on the seas and Shakespeare arrived in London. She never married and there were no Tudor heirs so her death ended the Tudor dynasty.

The house of Stuart begins with James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots. He was already James VI of Scotland at this time so his coronation created the Kingdom of Scotland and England. His mother had been forced to renounce the throne when James was only 13 months of age. He ascended to the English throne at 36; he was married and had eight children but was known to have many male 'favourites', George Villiers being probably the most famous. More religious troubles, this time between the Puritans and Church of England, Guy Fawkes and the Catholic dissidents attempt to blow up parliament and heretics are burnt at the stake but the King James Bible is also published.

His son Charles I believed in his divine right as king and tried to control the parliament. At two separate times he dissolved it and ruled himself which eventually led to the English Civil War. Charles was eventually captured, tried and executed.

This led to a period of 11 years without a monarch during which time Oliver Cromwell established the Commonwealth of England. He led as Lord Protector; his son followed him briefly but the commonwealth basically collapsed and calls were made for the restoration of the monarchy.

Charles II, son of executed Charles I, returned to England after nine years in exile. His reign saw the plague and The Great Fire of London and more Catholic persecution by the Government. He had no heirs so his brother James II came to power. The government was worried because James was a known Catholic but as his two daughters were Protestant he was left to reign in peace until he married a young Catholic wife who provided him with a male Catholic heir. The parliament moved to oust him and thus began the "Glorious Revolution" when William and Mary of Orange were invited to rule - both of whom were royal descendants.

William III was a grandson of Charles I who was married to Mary II, James II's oldest daughter. They ruled jointly under what is called The House of Stuart and Orange. Many constitutional changes, including the Bill of Rights, were made during their reign. This limited the powers of the monarchy and made it illegal for a Catholic to succeed to the throne. After their deaths the crown passed to James II's second daughter Anne. Her reign was plagued by wars with the French and the Spanish succession. England and Scotland were united into the Kingdom of Great Britain. She died with no living heirs so ended the House of Stuart.

The House of Hanover is descended from James I's daughter Elizabeth Stuart who married Frederick V, the King of Bohemia. Her grandson became George I.

George I was 54 when he ascended the throne and barely spoke any English; his reign was marked by Jacobite uprisings and a stock market crash. He was not popular in England and spent a lot of his time in Hanover. His son, George II's, reign saw many more conflicts - the War of Jenkins Ear against the Spanish, The War of Austrian Succession against the Prussians and the French, another Jacobite uprising as they tried to put Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Stuart heir) on the throne and then the Seven Year War with France.

George III was his grandson. His reign saw the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, the colonisation of Australia, the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars with the final defeat at Waterloo. He was also known as 'Mad King George' as he faced many periods of mental instability believed now to have been caused by porphyria. His son, George IV, reigned as Prince Regent for his father and then succeeded him. England was at peace during his time and it was a period of cultural and architectural developments. With no living heirs he was succeeded by his brother, William IV, who began huge changes in political reform and the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. William had ten illegitimate children but no legal heirs. The last of George III's sons, Edward, had died so his daughter, Victoria, was next in line.

Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years having been crowned at just 18. The British Empire was at its height and as such it was a time of huge industrial, political, trade, scientific and military progress. Victoria and her husband Prince Albert had four sons, five daughters and 42 grandchildren who were married to royalty right throughout Europe and she became known as 'The Grandmother of Europe'. Unfortunately she also passed on haemophilia which affected the male heirs.

Victoria's son, Edward VII, reined under the name of his father, Price Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was a German dynasty. Edward only reigned for nine years but a lot of social changes occurred during this time - socialism and women's suffrage were rife, the trade unions were on the rise and the foundations laid for Britain's welfare state.

His son George V followed in his footsteps with WWI dominating his early reign. In 1917 with anti-German sentiment running high, he changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor and he relinquished all German titles and family connections thus making him the first King in the House of Windsor.

George V's reign also saw the Spanish flu, the first Labour Prime Minister and the Great Depression which continued for the rest of his time.

His son Edward VIII was next in line to the throne but only served for ten months as he abdicated to marry the twice divorced American, Wallis Simpson. They were created the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; ostracised by the Royal family they spent most of their time in Paris.

His younger brother George VI then became the third king of the year. George had never expected or wanted to become King but he rose to the challenge and restored the country's faith in the monarchy. His reign saw WWII, economic austerity, the end of the British Empire and the establishment of the Commonwealth.

His daughter became Queen Elizabeth II when she was only 25, a young wife and mother. Her reign of 70 years, 7 months and 1 day became the country's longest. It witnessed many social, cultural and technological changes and many personal difficulties within her own family life. She had four children, eight grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren at the time of her death on the 8th September 2022. She was 96 and was succeeded by her son Charles III.