1. Week 2-3 History of the British Monarchy Dr. Granville Pillar
British Civilisation
Week 2-3
History of the British Monarchy
Dr. Granville Pillar

2. The British Monarchy - Overview
Kings of Wessex and England ( ). 
The Scottish Royal Dynasties ( ). 
The Continental Dynasties ( ). 
The Plantagenet Dynasties ( ). 
The Tudors ( ).
The Stuarts ( ). 
The Hanoverians ( ). 
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ( ). 
The Windsors (1917- present day).

3. The British Monarchy Monarchy began in 8th century.
Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Kings.
Kings of Wessex and England ruled from , beginning with Alfred the Great.
Normans were descendents of Scandinavian Norsemen (Northmen)
4 Norman kings ruled from
14 Kings and Queens ruled from , beginning with Henry II.

4. The British Monarchy
The 4 Royal Houses: Angevin, Plantagenet, Lancaster and York.
Angevins ruled from : Henry II, Richard, John,
John lost a lot of the empire and took away the rights of the church.
Magna Carta signed in 1215 – reinstated the rights of the church, the barons and the people.

5. The British Monarchy The Plantagenets ruled from 1216-1485.
Three major conflicts:
Edward I conquered Wales and attacked Scotland.
Edward III began the Hundred Years War between England and France.
Richard II began the War of the Roses between Lancastrians and Yorkists.

6. The British Monarchy
From the Plantagenet period emerged, a distinctive English culture.
Completed judicial reforms.
literature (Geoffrey Chaucer).
Gothic architecture (Westminster Abbey).
Franciscan and Dominican orders.
Universities established (Oxford and Cambridge).

7. The British Monarchy
The Tudors ruled from : Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I.
Conquest of the New World.
Conquest of Ireland.
Cultural Renaissance (William Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer).
Changes in official religion.

8. The British Monarchy
In 1533 Henry VIII removed the Pope’s influence and made himself Head of the Church of England.
Bishops made no new laws without the consent of the King.
Act passed which stopped the English Church from sending money to Rome.
All monasteries in England were closed and their gold and riches were given to the King.

9. The British Monarchy The Elizabethan Age 1558-1603.
Elizabeth enforced her Protestant views, and Catholic priests, Puritans and non-conformists were expelled
Catholics supported Philip of Spain to attack England.
1588 the Spanish Armada was defeated by the British fleet under Sir Francis Drake.