Wessex was located in the south-west of England, which had plenty of good farming land and was also home to many of the tin mines that had encouraged the Roman invasion so many centuries before. Successive Kings of Wessex had made it a priority to conquer the south-eastern region of England, which now includes Kent, Essex and Sussex, because that too had good land, populous towns and access to the sea for trading with continental Europe. The Kingdom of Mercia was located to the north of these areas and ranged generally from Wales in the west to Lincolnshire in the East. Many migrants from what is now called Scandinavia or Germany would have arrived on the north eastern coast and then moved inland to find their fortunes. Although England was then and remains now a nation composed of numerous peoples and ethnicities, Wessex had the reputation for authentic English culture and identity that Mercia lacked. The victory at Ellendun, then, has been portrayed by chroniclers ever since as more or less a victory for the English over the foreign invaders and this, too, helps cement Egbert in his role as first King.

In common with many of the great people of the past, several of those associated with Egbert were subsequently canonized as saints or otherwise renowned for outstanding deeds. Egbert himself suffered reverses in his later years when Wiglaf forced his way on to the throne of a newly independent Mercia and his troops reduced the influence of Egbert’s throne across much of southern England. Nevertheless, he was able to pass control of the south eastern region on to his son, Aethelwulf, after he died in 839 of unknown causes: but, as what would have been a very old man in that time, it is likely that he simply wore out his body and health.

In the eighth century England consisted of seven Anglo-Saxon sub-kingdoms. Wich means that England was not 1 big country, but that the land that we know as England now, was split in 7 parts, and in all of the 7 parts there was another King or queen, but the only thing they had in common was that they were all Saxons. It sometimes happened that a king of one of the larger kingdom’s that england was split into(Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria) was accepeted bye the others as an overlord. One of these was Egbert, of the House of Wessex. Now i’ll discuss the first king of England further with you.

Egbert, in Old English Ecgbehrt, was born around 770-780. He was the son of Ealhmund, King of Kent. His reigning period was from 827-839. Before reigning in England, he made a big journey wich included a visit to France and the Wales. Only after that, when he got to England, he was accepted as an overlord by the other of the 2 larger kingdom’s. That whas that about Egbert.

But there’s still one thing I would want to discuss with you about the period when the House of Wessex reigned. The oldest surviving epic poem in English literature. Most suprising, even to me, it is the story of Beowulf. I think most people have seen the movie or read the book. Beowulf wa s a Warrior in the fifth century coming from Sweden. The manuscripture dates from 1010, though they now that the first manuscript about Beowulf was written in 1000. I won’t tell you the whole story of Beowulf becouse it is a really long one, i’ll just keep it short.

Beowulf was a warrior that sailed down from his hometown for killing monsters in the southern lands. He mostly succeded. But one of the monsters he had to kill, Grendel, was not an easy one. When he managed to kill Grendel, he discovered something terrible, Grendel had a mother. His mother became so angry at Beowulf that after a furious battle between Beowulf and the mother of Grendel, Beowulf almost died. After Grendel, Beowulf returns to his homeland and reclaims his throne as a king. 50 years later, Beowulf suffered a deadly wound wich a dragon has made on him. That was the story of Beowulf, and i put it under this title, becouse the story i just told, was firstly told by the Saxons, the people who reigned from 827-1066. There were ofcourse many kings and queens, but i won’t discuss all of them, i’ll just put a timeline undere the Saxons so you can see how many Saxon Monarchs there were.

Normans

The reign of the Normans started directly after that one of the Saxons. A strong and brutal king named William I The Conqueror, who didn’t receive his name by accident, took over England and killed the last of the Saxon overlords. When William I wanted to kill the king, anybody who got in his way was slaughtered, men,women and children. William I was a very blooddrunk king, so as mostly in history, he had much much power becouse of his blooddrunkness. The Normans reigned from 1066-1141. The first of the 3 Norman kings where famiy from William I, and the last 2 wern’t. The reign of the Normans isn’t as intresting to discuss as the one of the Saxons becouse accept the first Norman king, there wasn’t much action. The only remarkable thing about this period is that the 2 kings after William I ( his sons) were also very bad monarchs to the people of England. While the last son of William I reigned, a cicil war of 19 years has been happening. The people who lived in that time described it as : the time when Christ and his Saints slept. As you can see, that doesn’t mean they were having a good time playing monoply or whatever, it was a very though time, with war,blood,death and more of these “happy” things.

The House of Plantagenet

 The house of Plantagenet has ruled England for more than 300 years! This house provided England 14 of it’s monarchs. Probably the greatest monarch in all of Engalnd’s history, Henry II reigned in this period. Also probably the most famous king Richard the Lionheart, who lead the 3rd Crusade to the Holy Land against Salahdin. These are the first 2 kings of the plantagenet and also the most important of them all. Just like with the Saxons, there ware many monarchs but i will only discuss Richard the Lionheart.

Richard the Lionheart was born in 1157 and is the son of the previous king, Henry II. His reigning period is from 1189-1199. He has many statues and other monuments in the world, becouse of his deeds.  Mostly they tell the heroic deeds of him in the 3rd Crusade. He was married to Berrengaria of Navarre. He was one of the few monarchs who the people acctually liked, he wasn’t a selfish and egoistic king as almost every king, but he also thought about his people. And by having the support of his people, he had more power than any other king England has ever ruled.

The other kings in this time period wern’t as intresting as the first 2, but anyway, just like with all king and queens and dynasties, everything has to end. The end of the house of Plantagenet was becouse of the intern struggeling of the family. The members of the house of Plantagenet got angry on eachother and they started a war against themselfs, called the War of Roses. In this war practicly every member of the royal house has been killed, and those who survived where killed a few years after, by the people or another surviving member. Just as with the saxons, i’ll give you a timeline so you can see all the Monarchs from the house of Plantagenet.

The House of Tudor

The House of Tudor took England’s throne through victory over Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. They secured there place on the throne by marrieng the right persons. The symbol of this family was  the Red and White Tudor Rose: 

This symbolised the colours of the 2 families. (the one of the Tudors and the one they have married with) The house of Tudor has ruled England for the length of 118 years. Henry VII’s son, that best known of English monarchs, the blooddrunk Henry VIII (1509-47), is famous for having six wives and executing 2 of them. Also noticeable is that all the 3 children of Henry the VIII has been a monarch of England. The most noticeable of all 3 is Queen Elizabeth. I think most people already heard this name. She has lead her people to victory against the Spanish army, the strongest force of that moment. Also ‘Bloody’ Mary has been reigning England but just for a short time, just like the other son, Edward VII. When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 the dynasty of the Tudors was extincted becouse she was the last living member of the family that moment. Becouse there was nobody left of the Tudor family, the Crown passes to Henry VII’s great-grandson, James the 6th of Scotland, who became James the 6th of Engalnd after the crowning.

The House of Stuart

This house started it’s reigning period after the death of Queen Elizabeth I , with King James VI. This house hasn’t reigned England for a very long time, only for 100 years. The kings have been switching quite short on each other becouse there were 7 kings of this house who ruled England in just the short time of 100 years. After the death of the 2nd king of this house, England was declared a Republic, so from 1649-1660 there was no monarch in England until the son of the 2nd king, Charles II, became king again and the reignperiod of this house continued for a short time. The next thing that happend has not happened ever until now. A king, a queen, and the brother of the king were reigning “at once”! First the brother( James VII) ruled from 1685-1701. But the next thing, his brother( William III) reigned from 1688-1702. And in 1 line with that the wife of the king ruled from 1688-1694… Now try to make any sense in that J

I think first the brother started reigning England but than the king claimed his throne but the brother diden’t want to give it. I’m not sure of that, it’s just a theory of me.

As last queen of this familiy Queen Anne 1702-1714. She was married to George of Denmark. Also she was the daughter of  James II, the brother of the rightful king in the story i just told. As you can see, this famaily may only have reigned for 100 years, but many things were ot right around them. But as with everthing in history, and every house before this one, it ends somehow.

When Queen Anne died in 1714, the crown passed to the cousins of the Queen.

The House of Hanover

The first ruler of this dynasty was George I. He was the cousin of Queen Anne. But the little problem with his family was that they werent’t Catholic. They were protestant. Normaly, there family was only on the 52nd place to the throne, so normaly, they wouldnt have any chance of being a king, but luckily fo them, they were the cosuins of Queen Anne, so now, they ruled England, and the dynasty of he Stuarts was over becouse the protestants didn’t want a catholic to reign together with them. George the first only reigned 14 years. But his son, who followed him, was a diffrent story. He was king from 1727-1760. As you can see that really is a long time.

But if u thought that that’s a long time, then check the reigning time of his son, George III, he was a king from 1760-1820. That’s freakin 60 years. In that time, being a king for 60 years, was a real big deal. But it just keeps getting better, the last Queen of this dynasty, Queen Victoria, has reigned for 64 years… Can u imagine how long that is? Being a queen in that time of that age is incredible. She was 83 years old when she died. 83?!?! I have done some reaserch on the internet after the averge age in that time, and guess what, it was 50 years. When someone was 50 years old, he died. The queen has reigned longer than an averga man lived… I understand if this doesn’t intrest you becouse it is quite hard to understand the meaning of what i’m saying, but just remember, it is a big deal if you reign for 64 years. Ofcourse, her dynasty ended not by a murder on her or whatever, she just died naturaly, becouse of her age. 

The House of Windsor

The reig of this house started in 1901 and didn’t end, becouse it is stil reigning. The first king of this house was Edward VII, followed by George V and Edward VIII. The last king until now of this family was George VI. The only Monarch who I didn’t speak of is Queen Elizabeth II. She is the monarch of England for the moment. Not for long if you ask me, becouse she is getting quite old. She was born in 1926, so she really doesn’t have much time left J The house of windsor rules England for more then 100 years. The only question is, how long will they be able to keep the throne for themselfs?

Imprisoned in 1101 for 6 months.

Bearing the dubious honour of becoming the first prisoner in the Tower, Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, had made himself filthy rich as a tax collector under the reign of King William Rufus.  When William’s brother Henry I came to the throne, he had Flambard sent to the tower in chains for extortion.

Flambard actually managed to escape by getting his guards drunk and climbing out of the window using a rope he’d had smuggled in concealed in a barrel of wine.  So, the Tower didn’t exactly get off to a great start as a maximum security stronghold!

Sir William Wallace

Imprisoned in 1305 prior to public execution.

(Image Source)

Leader of the Scottish rebellion against English King Edward I, William Wallace defeated the English army at Stirling and became the Guardian of Scotland until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk after which he went into hiding.  Upon his capture, he was taken to the Tower just before Edward had him executed in 1305.  He was hung, drawn and quartered and his head was tastefully arranged on a spike outside the Tower next to that of the Welsh Prince Llewellyn.  Obviously, the idea of a ‘United Kingdom’ was still some way off!

Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester

Imprisoned for life in 1441.

Immortalised by Shakespeare, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, was the second wife of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester who acted as Lord Protector of England for his nephew the child King Henry VI.  She was found guilty of trying to assassinate King Henry using witchcraft, along with several others, with the aim of securing the throne for her husband.  Her sentence was life imprisonment after a penance which involved walking around the streets of London dressed only in a sheet.  She was incarcerated in several prisons, including the Tower, but she was better off than her co-conspirators, one of whom was burned to death.  Another was hung, drawn and quartered.

King Henry VI

Imprisoned in 1465, 1470 and 1471.

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Unlike his father Henry V the hero of Agincourt (Once more unto the breach etc. etc.), Henry VI was a weak, ineffective King who presided over the loss of England’s lands in France, famously losing Orleans to an army led by a teenage girl named Joan of Arc!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Lancastrian King was also prone to periods of madness.  At these times, Richard of York was regularly employed as a sort of ‘supply King’.  Once he became used to the power, Richard wasn’t keen to give it up.  He successfully defeated Henry VI in battle and had him incarcerated in the Tower – admittedly a rather posh part of it, rather than some dark dungeon.  Unfortunately, Richard was killed in battle before he could be crowned King, but he did at least leave us a handy mnemonic for remembering the colours of the rainbow!

Richard’s son became King Edward IV, and succeeded in locking Henry VI up in the tower again, but Henry was released and restored to the throne after a series of rebellions in 1470.  This didn’t last long.  By April of the next year, Edward was back on the throne, and Henry was missing his head.  Just another episode in the soap opera that was the Wars of the Roses.

The Two Princes – Edward V and his brother, Richard

Imprisoned by their uncle in 1483.

(Image Source)

The sons of Edward IV and grandsons of Richard of York were born into turbulent times.  The young Edward was only 13 when his father died, and heard the news while staying at Ludlow Castle. Together with his brother, he travelled to the Tower to prepare for his coronation procession which traditionally started from the Tower, and went through the City of London to Westminster Abbey.

On the way, their entourage was intercepted by their uncle, Richard of Gloucester, who was supposed to be Lord Protector.  Many of the young king’s supporters were killed and he was escorted to the tower, where he was later joined by his brother.  Uncle Richard, with the help of Parliament, then had the boys declared illegitimate – after all, their father had been a famous womaniser – and took the crown for himself.

The two boys simply disappeared, and in 1674, two skeletons were discovered under a staircase in the White Tower.  It seems most likely that Richard had them killed, although this his been debated by historians and conspiracy theorists ever since! 

So there you are, five (well six, really) notable occupants of the Tower of London.  See this sequel for another five.

For more articles on the British monarchy, try this one about England’s three kings named Richard, and this one about three kings who managed to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

1. Dulo Dynasty (2137 BC – 753 AD)

The dynasty that ruled the longest in history is the Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo of Bulgaria. It ruled for 2,890 years. The Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo was the name of the ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars. It was the clan of Kubrat, founder of the Onogur state of Bulgars and Avars, also known as the Old Great Bulgaria. His sons later founded Danube Bulgaria.

2. Imperial House of Japan (660 BCE to the present)

The Imperial House of Japan is the longest-surviving dynasty that ruled in the world. It is also referred to as the Imperial Family and has been continuously reigning for 2,669 years already. It is also known as the Yamato Dynasty or the Chrysanthemum Throne. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the emperor is the symbol of the state and unity of the people. Although he is not technically head of state, he is frequently treated as one. Other members of the imperial family perform ceremonial and social duties, but have no role in the affairs of government. This monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world still in existence. The imperial house recognizes 125 legitimate monarchs since the accession of Emperor Jimmu (traditionally dated to February 11, 660 BC). It’s present or reigning emperor is Akihito.

3. Hong Bang Dynasty (2897 BCE – 258 BCE)

 The Hong Bang Dynasty of Vietnam (supposedly) reigned for 2,639 years from 2897 up to 258 BC. This dynasty is also called the Lạc Dynasty. The founder of this dynasty is said to have been Hung Vuong. There are many legends surrounding it, but little verifiable historical information is known about this dynasty.

4. Gojoseon Dynasty (2333 BCE – 108 BCE)

According to legend, Gojoseon dynasty ruled for 2,225 years. It was an ancient kingdom in Korea and is regarded as the first proper of nation of the people of Korea. According to some records of Korean medieval-era, Gojoseon is said to have been founded in 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun. Archaeological evidence of Gojoseon is found in the transition from the Jeilmun pottery to the Mumun pottery around 1500 BCE, when groups of semi-sedentary small-scale agriculturalists occupied most of the Korean peninsula. Local bronze production began around the 8th century BC. Modern historians generally believe it developed into a powerful federation or kingdom between 7th and 4th centuries BCE.

5. Champa Dynasty (192-1832)

Another dynasty from Vietnam that reign one of the longest in history is Champa Dynasty. It has a total of 1,740 year as a ruling clan. The name of the kingdom which is Champa was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo_Polynesian origin and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832. It has the oldest known written Malay language from the 4th century AD, predating Sumatran texts by 300 years. [Coedes, 1939] Champa was preceded in the region by a kingdom called Lin-yi or Lam Ap (in existence since 192 A.D.), but the historical relationship between Lin-yi and Champa is not clear. Champa reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D. Thereafter began a gradual decline under pressure from the Dai Vet which was then Northern Vietnam. In 1471, Viet troops sacked the northern Cham capital of Vijaya, and in 1697 the southern principality of Panduranga became a vassal of the Vietnamese emperor. In 1832, the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mang annexed the remaining Cham territories.

6. Belle Dynasty or Balliol Dynasty (960-to the present)

The second longest dynasty in existence and continuously reigning for 1,049 years already is the Belle Dynasty of Flanders, Belgium. It is also known as Balliol Dynasty. It can be traced back to the Treaty of Verdun signed in Thionville in 843 CE.

7. Bagratid Dynasty (813-1810)

This dynasty had ruled Georgia for 997 years. It is also called the Bagrationi Dynasty. Their ascendancy lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.

The origin of the Bagrationi dynasty is disputed, as well as the time when they first appeared on Georgian soil. Traditional Georgian history writing begins the Bagrationi chronology in the 6th century and relates the family to earlier dynasties.

8. Shilla Dynasty (57 BCE-935)

The Shilla Dynasty reigned for 992 years. Shilla was one of the Three Kingdoms on the now-Korean peninsula, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. It was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose and is regarded to be the originator of the Korean family name Park; the dynasty was to see the Kyungju Kim clan hold rule for most of its 992-year history. What began as chiefdom in the Samhan confederacies, once allied with China, Shilla eventually conquered the other two kingdoms, Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668. Thereafter, Unified Shilla or Later Shilla, as it is often referred to, occupied most of the Korean peninsula, while the northern part re-emerged as Balhae, a successor-state of Goguryeo. After nearly 1000 years of rule, Shilla fragmented into the brief Later Three Kingdoms, handing over power to its successor dynasty Goryeo in 935.

9. Tu’i Tonga Dynasty (900-1865)

This dynasty in Tonga reigned for more than 900 years. It is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the 10th century with the mythical Aho ‘eitu; withdrew from political power in the 15th century by yielding to the Tu’i Ha atakalaua; and died out with Laufilitonga in 1865. Today its descendants still live forth in the chiefly line of Kalaniuvalu. Tradition names 39 holders of the title, but there is an alternative list with 48 names. It ruled for 965 years all in all.

10. Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE -256 BCE)

The Zhou Dynasty of China had ruled for 790 years from 1046 BCE up to 256 BCE. The Zhou Dynasty was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese History. During the Zhou, the use of iron was introduced to China, while this period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronze-ware making. Three of the greatest Chinese philosophers, Confucius, Laozi and Mencius, who made the greatest impact on later generations of Chinese, lived during this period.

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