England has been a monarchy for a very long time - over 1000 years, in fact.
At one time, what is now England was instead a collection of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, each with their own royal family.
These kingdoms often went to war with each other and invaded each other, and a kingdom's ruler often became king or queen of another kingdom, too.
Overtime, the separate kingdoms merged to together as one, under one ruler, and the new nation became England.
It is generally viewed that the first English monarch was King Athelstan, who reigned from 924 to 939 (although there were other rulers before him who wrongly viewed themselves as king of all England).
And now, archaeologists believe they have discovered the oldest remains of English royalty - the coffin and skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and granddaughter of Alfred the Great, who died in 946.
The remains were found in Magdeburg Cathedral, in Germany,
Queen Eadgyth (aka Edith) was the sister of King Athelstan.
Athelstan is generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937.
Oldest remains of English royalty unearthed
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
20 Jan 2010
The Telegraph
The statue in Magdeburg Cathedral that is often assumed to represent Queen Eadgyth and Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor Photo: Wikipedia
Archeologists believe they have discovered the coffin and skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and granddaughter of Alfred the Great, who died in 946.
It was thought that her actual remains were lost when they were last moved in 1510 and that a monument built in Magdeburg Cathedral in eastern Germany, was a cenotaph in her honour.
But when the tomb was investigated as part of a wider research project, a lead coffin was found inside bearing her name and inside that the nearly complete skeleton of a woman aged between 30 and 40.
Queen Eadgyth, the old spelling of Edith, died aged 36.
Now the University of Bristol are going to carry out tests on the bones to see if they can prove beyond doubt they are those of England's oldest regal ancestor.
King Athelstan - who reigned from 924 to 939 - is generally considered to be England's first monarch
In particular they will try to match radioactive isotopes embedded in the bones to those found in her birthplace in England.
Professor Mark Horton, of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who is co-ordinating the research, said: “We know that Saxon royalty moved around quite a lot, and we hope to match the isotope results with known locations around Wessex and Mercia, where she could have spent her childhood.
"If we can prove this truly is Eadgyth, this will be one of the most exciting historical discoveries in recent years. It is quite a surprise to find them so much in tact. It really is an important discovery."
Queen Eadgyth was the sister of King Athelstan, generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937.
His tomb survives in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, but is most likely empty. Eadgyth’s sister, Adiva, was married to an unknown European ruler, but her tomb is not located.
Historical chronicles tell that Adiva was also offered to Otto, but that he chose Eadgyth instead.
Eadgyth was given in marriage to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor in 929.
She lived in Saxony and bore Otto at least two children, before her death in 946 at the age of 36. She was originally buried in Monastery of Mauritius in Magdeburg, and her tomb was marked in the Cathedral by an elaborate sixteenth century monument.
However, when the lid was removed in the latter, a lead coffin was discovered, bearing Queen Eadgyth’s name and accurately recording the transfer of her remains in 1510.
Professor Harald Meller, of the Landesmuseum fur Vorgeschichte in Saxony Anhalt, who led the project said: “We still are not completely certain that this is Eadgyth although all the scientific evidence points to this interpretation. In the Middle Ages bones were often moved around, and this makes definitive identification difficult.”
As part of the research project some small samples are being brought to the University of Bristol for further analysis.
Different geographical areas have different radioactive signatures, particularly when it comes to concentrations of the metal strontium.
Queen Elizabeth II is the 66th monarch of England and Britain.
If they can prove that the concentrations of strontium in the skeleton's teeth, formed up to the age of 15, match those found in England then it proves she was brought up there and so is most likely Queen Eadgyth.
The discovery of Eadgyth’s remains illustrates the close links between European states in the early medieval period and how in the formation of both England and Germany intermarriage between the emerging royal houses of Europe was commonplace and has left a lasting legacy in the present royal families of Europe.
A list of all England's monarchs
House of Mercia
Normans
In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded England. He defeated King Harold II and became King.
Angevins
Yorkists
The Tudors were from Wales and in 1536 Wales became part of England. England had controlled Wales since 1284.
The Stuarts were also Kings of Scotland, with which kingdom England was in personal, but not legislative, union until 1707.
There was a civil war in England from 1642 until 1652. In 1649, King Charles I was executed and England became a Commonwealth. In 1653 Oliver Cromwell made himself Lord Protector and so England became a Protectorate. Cromwell died in 1658 and his son, Richard, became Lord Protector. In 1660 power was given back to the Monarchy.
Stuarts (restored)
telegraph.co.uk
At one time, what is now England was instead a collection of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, each with their own royal family.
These kingdoms often went to war with each other and invaded each other, and a kingdom's ruler often became king or queen of another kingdom, too.
Overtime, the separate kingdoms merged to together as one, under one ruler, and the new nation became England.
It is generally viewed that the first English monarch was King Athelstan, who reigned from 924 to 939 (although there were other rulers before him who wrongly viewed themselves as king of all England).
And now, archaeologists believe they have discovered the oldest remains of English royalty - the coffin and skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and granddaughter of Alfred the Great, who died in 946.
The remains were found in Magdeburg Cathedral, in Germany,
Queen Eadgyth (aka Edith) was the sister of King Athelstan.
Athelstan is generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937.
Oldest remains of English royalty unearthed
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
20 Jan 2010
The Telegraph
The statue in Magdeburg Cathedral that is often assumed to represent Queen Eadgyth and Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor Photo: Wikipedia
Archeologists believe they have discovered the coffin and skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and granddaughter of Alfred the Great, who died in 946.
It was thought that her actual remains were lost when they were last moved in 1510 and that a monument built in Magdeburg Cathedral in eastern Germany, was a cenotaph in her honour.
But when the tomb was investigated as part of a wider research project, a lead coffin was found inside bearing her name and inside that the nearly complete skeleton of a woman aged between 30 and 40.
Queen Eadgyth, the old spelling of Edith, died aged 36.
Now the University of Bristol are going to carry out tests on the bones to see if they can prove beyond doubt they are those of England's oldest regal ancestor.
King Athelstan - who reigned from 924 to 939 - is generally considered to be England's first monarch
In particular they will try to match radioactive isotopes embedded in the bones to those found in her birthplace in England.
Professor Mark Horton, of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who is co-ordinating the research, said: “We know that Saxon royalty moved around quite a lot, and we hope to match the isotope results with known locations around Wessex and Mercia, where she could have spent her childhood.
"If we can prove this truly is Eadgyth, this will be one of the most exciting historical discoveries in recent years. It is quite a surprise to find them so much in tact. It really is an important discovery."
Queen Eadgyth was the sister of King Athelstan, generally considered to have been the first King of England after he unified the various Saxon and Celtic kingdoms following the battle of Brunanburgh in 937.
His tomb survives in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, but is most likely empty. Eadgyth’s sister, Adiva, was married to an unknown European ruler, but her tomb is not located.
Historical chronicles tell that Adiva was also offered to Otto, but that he chose Eadgyth instead.
Eadgyth was given in marriage to Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor in 929.
She lived in Saxony and bore Otto at least two children, before her death in 946 at the age of 36. She was originally buried in Monastery of Mauritius in Magdeburg, and her tomb was marked in the Cathedral by an elaborate sixteenth century monument.
However, when the lid was removed in the latter, a lead coffin was discovered, bearing Queen Eadgyth’s name and accurately recording the transfer of her remains in 1510.
Professor Harald Meller, of the Landesmuseum fur Vorgeschichte in Saxony Anhalt, who led the project said: “We still are not completely certain that this is Eadgyth although all the scientific evidence points to this interpretation. In the Middle Ages bones were often moved around, and this makes definitive identification difficult.”
As part of the research project some small samples are being brought to the University of Bristol for further analysis.
Different geographical areas have different radioactive signatures, particularly when it comes to concentrations of the metal strontium.
Queen Elizabeth II is the 66th monarch of England and Britain.
If they can prove that the concentrations of strontium in the skeleton's teeth, formed up to the age of 15, match those found in England then it proves she was brought up there and so is most likely Queen Eadgyth.
The discovery of Eadgyth’s remains illustrates the close links between European states in the early medieval period and how in the formation of both England and Germany intermarriage between the emerging royal houses of Europe was commonplace and has left a lasting legacy in the present royal families of Europe.
A list of all England's monarchs
House of Mercia
- Offa of Mercia (757 - 796) (According to some sources the first ruler to assume the title King of the English is said to have been Offa in 774, who had been King of Mercia since 757, but this claim is based on charters apparently forged in the 10th century.)
- Egbert (829 - 839)
- Æthelwulf (839 - 856)
- Æthelbald (856 - 860)
- Æthelberht (860 - 865)
- Æthelred (865 - 871)
- Alfred the Great (871 - 899)
- Edward the Elder (899 - 924)
- Ælfweard (924), King of Wessex only.
- Athelstan (924 - 939) (considered by many nowadays to be the first monarch of all England)
- Edmund I (939 - 946)
- Edred (946 - 955)
- Edwy the Fair (955 - 959)
- Edgar the Peaceable (959 - 975)
- St Edward the Martyr (975 - 978)
- Ethelred the Unready (978 - 1013, 1014 - 1016)
- Edmund Ironside (1016)
- Sweyn Forkbeard (1013 - 1014)
- Canute the Great (1016 - 1035)
- Harold Harefoot (1035 - 1040)
- Harthacanute (1040 - 1042)
Normans
In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded England. He defeated King Harold II and became King.
- William the Conqueror (1066 - 1087)
- William II (1087 - 1100)
- Henry I (1100 - 1135)
- Stephen (1135 - 1154)
Angevins
- Empress Matilda (1141)
- Henry II (1154-1189)
- Richard I, the Lionheart (1189-1199)
- John (1199-1216)
- Henry III (1216-1272)
- Edward I (1272-1307)
- Edward II (1307-1327) (deposed, died 1327)
- Edward III (1327-1377)
- Richard II (1377-1399) (deposed, died 1400)
Yorkists
- Edward IV (1461-1470 and 1471-1483)
- Edward V (uncrowned) (1483) (deposed 1483, most likely assassinated)
- Richard III (1483-1485)
The Tudors were from Wales and in 1536 Wales became part of England. England had controlled Wales since 1284.
- Henry VII (1485-1509)
- Henry VIII (1509-1547)
- Edward VI (1547-1553)
- Jane (uncrowned) (1553) (deposed, executed 1554)
- Mary I (1553-1558) and Philip (1554-1558 ), as co-monarchs
- Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
The Stuarts were also Kings of Scotland, with which kingdom England was in personal, but not legislative, union until 1707.
- James I (1603-1625), also from 1567 King James VI of Scotland
- Charles I (1625-1649), also King of Scotland
There was a civil war in England from 1642 until 1652. In 1649, King Charles I was executed and England became a Commonwealth. In 1653 Oliver Cromwell made himself Lord Protector and so England became a Protectorate. Cromwell died in 1658 and his son, Richard, became Lord Protector. In 1660 power was given back to the Monarchy.
Stuarts (restored)
- Charles II (1660-1685), also King of Scotland (backdated the start of his reign to 1649)
- James II (1685-1688) (deposed, died 1701), also King James VII of Scotland
- William III (1689-1702) and Mary II (1689-1694), as co-monarchs, also King and Queen of Scotland
- Anne (1702-1714), though the English throne was replaced with that of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707
telegraph.co.uk
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