British Rulers

Question 1

Boudicca

Answer 1

British queen who in 60 CE led a revolt against Roman rule. Lost the battle and died.

Question 2

King Alfred (r. 871–899)

Answer 2

Alfred the Great. King of Wessex (871–899), a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. He prevented England from falling to the Danes and promoted learning and literacy.

Question 3

Mary I (r. 1553-1558)

Answer 3

(r.1553-1558) daughter of Henry VIII who was raised Catholic and married Philip II of Spain. She became the first English queen in her own right and persecuted English Protestants during her reign.

Question 4

William I (r. 1066-1087)

Answer 4

Also known as William the Conqueror (r.1066-1087) was the Duke of Normandy. He invaded England (Battle of Hastings), defeated Harold Godwinson, and was crowned King of England in December 1066. He distanced himself from the Pope and the Catholic Church.

Question 5

Matilda (r. 1141 (209 days))

Answer 5

She was the only daughter of Henry I of England by Queen Matilda, consort of the Holy Roman emperor Henry V and afterward claimant to the English throne in the reign of King Stephen.

Question 6

Henry II (r. 1154 - 1189)

Answer 6

Matilda’s son Henry Plantagenet, the first and greatest of three Angevin kings of England, succeeded Stephen in 1154. His quarrels with Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and with members of his family (his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and such sons as Richard the Lion-Heart and John Lackland) ultimately brought about his defeat.

Question 7

Richard I (r. 1189 - 1199)

Answer 7

Richard the Lionheart. Mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine. Defeated his father and took the English crown. His bravery in battle earned him the nickname ‘Lionheart.’ He participated in the Third Crusade to return the Holy Land to Christians.

Question 8

Henry VI (r. 1422 - 1461) (r. 1470 - 1471)

Answer 8

“Henry the Sick” Lancastrian. a pious and studious recluse whose incapacity for government was one of the causes of the Wars of the Roses.

Question 9

Edward IV (r. 1461 - 1470) (r. 1471 - 1483)

Answer 9

He was a leading participant in the Yorkist-Lancastrian conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. York Side.

Question 10

John I (r.1199-1216)

Answer 10

(r.1199-1216) succeeded his brother Richard I. He lost lands, money, and power during his reign. John’s unfair tax practices in England caused his lords to rebel and forced him to sign the Magna Carta. Excommunicated by the Pope for four years for refusing to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Question 11

Henry VIII (r.1509-1547)

Answer 11

Henry VIII (r.1509-1547), the second son of Henry VII. Wrote Defense of the Seven Sacraments. Married six times. The names of his wives were Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. Parents were Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. and Henry Tudor (Henry VII). He had three children. His first Child was Mary Tudor who became Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary). His second Child was Elizabeth I (the Virgin Queen) and King Edward VI. Broke from the Catholic Church to divorce his wife. Named himself head of the Anglican Church and wed Anne Boleyn, hoping for male heir.

Question 12

Anne Boleyn

Answer 12

Henry VIII’s mistress and later his second wife. She was the mother of Elizabeth I. When she failed to produce a male heir, Henry had her beheaded for treason.

Question 13

Elizabeth I (r.1558-1603)

Answer 13

“Virgin Queen” (r.1558-1603), younger daughter of Henry VIII who brought peace to England. Elizabeth I tried to restore religious order by declaring England a Protestant state but naming herself only “Governor” of the Church. Her reign saw great expansion of the English navy, defeated the Spanish Armada, and the emergence of William Shakespeare. She never married and had no heir. When she died, the Crown went to Scottish king James VI, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Question 14

Charles I (r. 1625–49)

Answer 14

The last absolute English monarch, Charles ran into trouble almost immediately. His minister, the Duke of Buckingham, asked Parliament for money to fight costly foreign wars, and when Parliament balked, Charles had to sign the Petition of Right. From 1630 to 1641 he tried to rule solo, but financial troubles forced him to call the Short and Long Parliaments. His attempt to reform the Scottish Church was the last straw, as Parliament entered into the English Civil War. They defeated Charles, convicting him of treason and executing him. England became a Commonwealth with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.

Question 15

George III (r. 1760 - 1820)

Answer 15

king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820) and elector (1760–1814) and then king (1814–20) of Hanover, during a period when Britain won an empire in the Seven Years’ War but lost its American colonies. His ministers included William Pitt, Lord Bute, and Lord North. Known as the “Mad King” because of his porphyria.

Question 16

Victoria (r. 1837 - 1901)

Answer 16

Queen Victoria (r.1837-1901) reigned Britain during the Industrial Revolution. She ruled over Britain’s empire of colonies including Canada, Australia, India, and parts of Africa and Asia. Her prime ministers were Lord Melbourne, Robert Peel, and Benjamin Disraeli. After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria largely went into seclusion, though she influenced the passage of the Reform Act of 1867

Question 17

George VI (r. 1936-1952)

Answer 17

(r. 1936-1952) The second son of George V, he inherited the throne of England when his brother Edward VIII abdicated in 1936. George VI guided England through World War II and died at age 56.

Question 18

Charles II (r. 1660 - 1685)

Answer 18

Member of the House of Stuart who was restored to the English throne (Declaration of Breda) after the Commonwealth was dissolved in 1660. His wife Catherine of Braganza produced no legitimate heirs, but this “Merry Monarch” has as many as 14 illegitimate children. Tolerant of Catholics, he dissolved Parliament over the issue in 1681 and refused to prevent his brother James II from succeeding him.

Question 19

Catherine of Aragon

Answer 19

Daughter of Spanish monarchs and married her late husband’s brother, Henry VIII. With Henry VIII, she had one child, Mary I. Henry divorced Catherine when she failed to produce a male heir.

Question 20

Edward VIII (r. 1936)

Answer 20

The eldest son of George V who ruled England for part of 1936. He chose to abdicate to marry a twice-divorced American. After abdicating, he was titled the Duke of Windsor and lived in France.

Question 21

Oliver Cromwell (r.1649-1658)

Answer 21

(r.1649-1658) was head of the Protestant Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War. He ruled as Lord Protector of England and was succeeded by his son Richard. Richard ruled until 1660.

Question 22

James I (r. 1603 - 1625)

Answer 22

At age one James succeeded his mother Mary (Queen of Scots) as King James VI of Scotland. As the great-great-grandson of Henry VII, he claimed the English throne upon the death of Elizabeth I. James was the intended target of Catholic fanatic Guy Fawkes’ failed Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Dissolved Parliament from 1611 to 1621, favoring ministers Robert Cecil and the Duke of Buckingham instead. His rule saw English expansion into North America, through royal charter in Virginia and Puritan protest in Massachusetts. Has his own Bible called the King James Bible which was completed in 1611 and lacks the Deutero-Canonical books.

Question 23

Henry VII (r. 1485 - 1509)

Answer 23

Defeated the Yorkist King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22nd 1485. Married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.

Question 24

Richard III (r. 1483 - 1485)

Answer 24

He was made Duke of Gloucester in 1461 when his brother Edward IV deposed the Lancastrian king Henry VI, as part of the Wars of the Roses. Upon Edward’s death in 1483, Richard served as regent to his nephew Edward V, but likely had the boy murdered in the Tower of London that year. Two years later, Richard died at the hands of Henry Tudor’s Lancastrian forces at Bosworth Field, ending the Wars of the Roses and beginning the reign of Henry VII.

Question 25

James II (r. 1685 - 1688)

Answer 25

The 1678 Popish Plot against Charles II would have elevated the Roman Catholic James to the throne, had it been real and not fabricated by Titus Oates. James’s three years, however, did feature heavy favoritism toward Catholics, so much so that Protestants invited James’s son-in-law William of Orange to rule England, deposing James in the bloodless Glorious Revolution. Exiled to Louis XIV’s court, he made an attempt to regain his crown in 1690 but was routed at the Battle of the Boyne.

Question 26

Canute (Cnut the Great) the Dane (r. 1016-1035)

Answer 26

Divided England into four earldoms: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, & Wessex. Inspired by his pilgrimage to Rome, he wanted to demonstrate that as a king he was not a god, he ordered the tide not to come in, knowing this would fail.

Question 27

Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066)

Answer 27

Deeply pious he rebuilt Westminster Abbey, leaving the running of the country to Earl Godwin and son Harold. Restored England’s rule of the House of Wessex. Died childless.

Question 28

Harold II (r. 1066-1066)

Answer 28

Selected by the Witan, he defeated an invading Norwegian army at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, then marched south to confront William. Battle Of Hastings meant the end of the English Anglo-Saxon kings and the beginning of the Normans

Question 29

Mary II and William (III) of Orange (r. 1689 - 1694 (Mary)) (r. 1689 - 1702 (William)

Answer 29

Daughter of King James II. Mary was a Protestant and took over after her father was deposed. Mary’s cousin William of Orange (Dutch) invaded in 1688 and defeated James II during the bloodless Glorious Revolution. Restored Protestant rule in England and jointly ruled.

Question 30

Anne (r. 1702 - 1714)

Answer 30

Last Stuart Monarch. Replaced her sister and sister’s husband after their deaths. Acts of Union 1707 united England and Scotland into Great Britain.