Union of the Crowns

Personal union of the kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland from 1603

This article is about England and Scotland coming under the rule of the same monarch. For the merger of the two sovereign countries into one sovereign country over a century later, see Treaty of Union. For the 2012 album by Bury Tomorrow, see The Union of Crowns.

Constitutional documents and events relevant to the status of the United Kingdom and its countries

List per year

| Treaty of Union| 1706

|

Acts of Union| 1707
Succession to the Crown Act 1707| 1707
Septennial Act| 1716
Wales and Berwick Act| 1746
Constitution of Ireland (1782)| 1782
Acts of Union 1800| 1800
HC (Disqualifications) Act 1801| 1801
Reform Act 1832| 1832
Scottish Reform Act 1832| 1832
Irish Reform Act 1832| 1832
Judicial Committee Act 1833| 1833
Judicial Committee Act 1843| 1843
Judicial Committee Act 1844| 1844
Representation of the People Act 1867| 1867
Reform Act (Scotland) 1868| 1868
Reform Act (Ireland) 1868| 1868
Irish Church Act| 1869
Royal Titles Act 1876| 1876
Appellate Jurisdiction Act| 1876
Reform Act 1884| 1884
Interpretation Act 1889| 1889
Parliament Act| 1911
Aliens Restriction Act| 1914
Status of Aliens Act 1914| 1914
Government of Ireland Act 1914| 1914
Welsh Church Act| 1914
Royal Proclamation of 1917| 1917
Representation of the People Act 1918| 1918
Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act| 1919
Government of Ireland Act| 1920
Anglo-Irish Treaty| 1921
Church of Scotland Act 1921| 1921
Irish Free State (Agreement) Act| 1922
Irish Free State Constitution Act| 1922
Ireland (Confirm. of Agreement) Act 1925| 1925
Balfour Declaration of 1926| 1926
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act| 1927
Representation of the People Act 1928| 1928
Eire (Confirmation of Agreement) Act 1929| 1929
Statute of Westminster| 1931
HM Declaration of Abdication Act 1936| 1936
Regency Act 1937| 1937
Regency Act 1943| 1943
British Nationality Act 1948| 1948
Representation of the People Act 1948| 1948
Ireland Act 1949| 1949
Statute of the Council of Europe| 1949
Parliament Act 1949| 1949
Regency Act 1953| 1953
Royal Titles Act 1953| 1953
European Convention on Human Rights| 1953
Interpretation Act (NI)| 1954
HC Disqualification Act 1957| 1957
Life Peerages Act| 1958
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962| 1962
Peerage Act| 1963
Royal Assent Act| 1967
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968| 1968
Immigration Act| 1971
EC Treaty of Accession| 1972
NI (Temporary Provisions) Act| 1972
European Communities Act| 1972
Local Government Act| 1972
UK joins the European Communities| 1973
Local Government (Scotland) Act| 1973
NI border poll| 1973
NI Constitution Act| 1973
House of Commons Disqualification Act| 1975
Referendum Act| 1975
EC membership referendum| 1975
HC (Administration) Act|  1978
Interpretation Act| 1978
Scotland Act 1978| 1978
Wales Act 1978| 1978
Scottish devolution referendum| 1979
Welsh devolution referendum| 1979
British Nationality Act| 1981
Representation of the People Act 1983| 1983
Representation of the People Act 1985| 1985
Single European Act| 1985
Maastricht Treaty| 1993
Local Government (Wales) Act| 1994
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act| 1994
Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act| 1997
Scottish devolution referendum| 1997
Welsh devolution referendum| 1997
1998 GLA referendum|  1998
Bank of England Act| 1998
Good Friday Agreement|  1998
Northern Ireland Act|  1998
Government of Wales Act|  1998
Human Rights Act| 1998
Scotland Act|  1998
GLA Act| 1999
House of Lords Act| 1999
Representation of the People Act 2000| 2000
Parties, Elections and Referendums Act| 2000
Justice (Northern Ireland) Act| 2002
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act|  2004
Constitutional Reform Act| 2005
Government of Wales Act 2006| 2006
GLA Act 2007| 2007
Northern Ireland Act 2009| 2009
LDEDC Act|  2009
Lisbon Treaty| 2009
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act| 2010
Parl. Voting System and Constituencies Act| 2011
Welsh devolution referendum| 2011
Alternative Vote referendum| 2011
European Union Act 2011| 2011
Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act|  2011
Sovereign Grant Act|  2011
Fixed-term Parliaments Act| 2011
Localism Act|  2011
Scotland Act 2012| 2012
Succession to the Crown Act 2013| 2013
Scottish independence referendum| 2014
House of Lords Reform Act| 2014
Wales Act 2014| 2014
HL (Expulsion and Suspension) Act| 2015
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act| 2015
Recall of MPs Act| 2015
European Union Referendum Act| 2015
Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act| 2015
EU membership referendum| 2016
Scotland Act 2016| 2016
Cities and Local Government Devolution Act|  2016
Wales Act 2017| 2017
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act| 2017
Invocation of Article 50| 2017
European Union (Withdrawal) Act| 2018
EU Withdrawal Act 2019| 2019
EU Withdrawal (No. 2) Act| 2019
Early Parliamentary General Election Act| 2019
EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act| 2020
UK leaves the European Union| 2020
UK Internal Market Act| 2020
EU (Future Relationship) Act| 2020
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act| 2022
Judicial Review and Courts Act| 2022
Elections Act| 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act|  2023

* v
* t
* e

The Union of the Crowns (Scottish Gaelic: Aonadh nan Crùintean; Scots: Union o the Crouns)[1][2] was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single individual on 24 March 1603. It followed the death of James's cousin, Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.[3]

The union was personal or dynastic, with the Crown of England and the Crown of Scotland remaining both distinct and separate despite James's best efforts to create a new imperial throne. England and Scotland continued as two separate states sharing a monarch, who directed their domestic and foreign policies, along with Ireland, until the Acts of Union of 1707 during the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Anne. However, there was a republican interregnum in the 1650s, during which the Tender of Union of Oliver Cromwell created the Commonwealth of England and Scotland which ended with the Stuart Restoration.[4]

## Early unification

[edit]

See also: Treaty of Greenwich

Margaret Tudor

In August 1503, James IV of Scotland married Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, and the spirit of the new age was celebrated by the poet William Dunbar in The Thrissil and the Rois.[5] The marriage was the outcome of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, concluded the previous year, which, in theory, ended centuries of Anglo-Scottish war. The marriage brought Scotland's Stuarts into England's Tudor line of succession, despite the improbability of a Scottish prince acceding the English throne at the time. However, many on the English side were concerned by the dynastic implications of matrimony, including some Privy Councillors. In countering these fears Henry VII is reputed to have said:

> our realme wald receive na damage thair thorow, for in that caise Ingland wald not accress unto Scotland, bot Scotland wald acress unto Ingland, as to the most noble heid of the hole yle...evin as quhan Normandy came in the power of Inglis men our forbearis.[6]

The peace did not last in "perpetuity"; it was disturbed in 1513 when Henry VIII of England, who had succeeded his father four years before, declared war on France in the War of the League of Cambrai. In response France invoked the terms of the Auld Alliance, her ancient bond with Scotland. James duly invaded Northern England leading to the Battle of Flodden,[7] which England won decisively. James died at Flodden and the loss of a large proportion of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland.

In the decades that followed, England repeatedly invaded Scotland, including burning its capital. By the middle of Henry's reign, the problems of the royal succession, which seemed so unimportant in 1503, acquired ever larger dimensions, when the question of Tudor fertility or the lack thereof entered directly into the political arena. Margaret's line was excluded from the English succession though during the reign of Elizabeth I, concerns were once again raised. In the last decade of her reign it was clear to all that James VI of Scotland, great-grandson of James IV and Margaret, was the only generally acceptable heir.[8]

## Accession of James VI

[edit]

See also: Succession to Elizabeth I

James in the year of his coronation in England, 1603

From 1601, in the last years of Elizabeth I's life, certain English politicians, notably her chief minister, Sir Robert Cecil,[a] maintained a secret correspondence with James to prepare in advance for a smooth succession. Cecil advised James not to press the matter of the succession upon the queen but simply to treat her with kindness and respect.[b] The approach proved effective: "I trust that you will not doubt", Elizabeth wrote to James, "but that your last letters are so acceptably taken as my thanks cannot be lacking for the same, but yield them you in grateful sort".[11] In March 1603, with the queen clearly dying, Cecil sent James a draft proclamation of his accession to the English throne. Strategic fortresses were put on alert, with London placed under guard. English agents including Thomas Chaloner were advising James in Edinburgh on forms of government.[12] Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March. Within eight hours, James was proclaimed king in London, with the news received without protest or disturbance.[13][14]

On 5 April 1603, James left Edinburgh for London and promised to return every three years, which he failed to keep by returning only once, in 1617.[13] He progressed slowly from town to town to arrive in the capital after Elizabeth's funeral[13] Local lords received James with lavish hospitality along the route, and James's new subjects flocked to see him and were relieved above all that the succession had triggered neither unrest nor invasion.[15] As James entered London, he was mobbed. The crowds of people, one observer reported, were so great that "they covered the beauty of the fields; and so greedy were they to behold the King that they injured and hurt one another".[16] In June, James gave Tobias Matthew, Bishop of Durham, orders to travel north from London to meet Anne of Denmark, who was bringing Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth to Windsor Castle.[17]

James and Anne's English coronation took place on 25 July though the festivities had to be restricted because of an outbreak of the plague. A Royal Entry featuring elaborate allegories provided by dramatic poets such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson was deferred until 15 March 1604, when all London turned out for the occasion: "The streets seemed paved with men", wrote Dekker, "Stalls instead of rich wares were set out with children, open casements filled up with women".[18]

"England and Scotland with Minerva and Love" Allegorical work of the Union of the Crowns by Peter Paul Rubens

Whatever residual fears that many in England may have felt, James's arrival aroused a mood of high expectation. The twilight years of Elizabeth had been a disappointment, and for a nation troubled for so many years by the question of succession, the new king was a family man who already had male heirs waiting in the wings. But James's honeymoon was of very short duration, and his initial political actions were to do much to create the rather negative tone, which was to turn a successful Scottish king into a disappointing English one. The greatest and most obvious was the question of his exact status and title.

In his first speech to his southern assembly on 19 March 1604 James gave a clear statement of the royal manifesto:

> What God hath conjoined let no man separate. I am the husband and the whole isle is my lawful wife; I am the head and it is my body; I am the shepherd and it is my flock. I hope therefore that no man will think that I, a Christian King under the Gospel, should be a polygamist and husband to two wives; that I being the head should have a divided or monstrous body or that being the shepherd to so fair a flock should have my flock parted in two.[19]

Parliament may very well have rejected polygamy; but James's ambitions were greeted with horror from the English parliament who feared the loss of the ancient and famous name of England.[20] Legal objections were raised, with legal opinion at the time being that a union would end all established laws of both countries.[21] For James, whose experience of parliaments was limited to the stage-managed and semi-feudal Scottish variety, the self-assurance – and obduracy – of the English version, which had long experience of upsetting monarchs, was an obvious shock. He decided to side-step the whole issue by unilaterally assuming the title of King of Great Britain by a Proclamation concerning the Kings Majesties Stile on 20 October 1604 announcing that he did "assume to Our selfe by the cleerenesse of our Right, The Name and Stile of KING OF GREAT BRITTAINE, FRANCE AND IRELAND, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, &c." .[22] This only deepened the offence. Even in Scotland there was little real enthusiasm for the project, though the two parliaments were eventually prodded into taking the whole matter 'under consideration'. Consider it they did for several years, never drawing the desired conclusion.[citation needed]

## Opposition

[edit]

Main article: Jacobean debate on the Union

In Scotland there were early signs that many saw the risk of the "lesser being drawn by the greater", as Henry VII once predicted. An example before Scottish eyes was the case of Ireland, a kingdom in name, but since 1601, a subject nation in practice. The asymmetric relationship between Scotland and England had been evident for at least a decade. In 1589, the Spanish Armada shipwreck survivor Francisco de Cuellar sought refuge in Scotland, as he had heard the Scottish king "protected all the Spaniards who reached his kingdom, clothed them, and gave them passages to Spain". However, following his six-month ordeal within the kingdom, he concluded "the King of Scotland is nobody: nor does he possess the authority or position of a king: and he does not move a step, nor eat a mouthful, that is not by order of the Queen (Elizabeth I)".[23]

John Russell, lawyer and writer, an initial enthusiast for "the happie and blissed Unioun betuixt the tua ancienne realmes of Scotland and Ingland" was later to warn James:[24]

> Lett it not begyne vith ane comedie, and end in ane tragedie; to be ane verball unioun in disparitie nor reall in conformity... hairby, to advance the ane kingdome, to great honor and beccome forȝetfull of the uther, sua to mak the samyn altogidder solitat and desoltat qhilk cannot stand vith your Majestie's honor. As god hes heichlie advanceit your Majestie lett Scotland qhilk is ȝour auldest impyir be partakeris of ȝour blissings.

Those fears were echoed by the Scottish Parliament, whose members were telling the King that they were "confident" that his plans for an incorporating union would not prejudice the ancient laws and liberties of Scotland; for any such hurt would mean that "it culd no more be a frie monarchie".[25] James attempted to reassure his new English subjects that the new union would be much like that between England and Wales and that if Scotland should refuse, "he would compel their assents, having a stronger party there than the opposite party of the mutineers".[citation needed]

### Commissions

[edit]

In October 1604 English and Scottish MP's were appointed as commissioners to explore the creation of a perfect union.[26] James closed the final session of his first parliament with a rebuke to his opponents in the House of Commons: "Here all things suspected.... He merits to be buried in the bottom of the sea that shall but think of separation, where God had made such a Union".[citation needed]

The Union Commission made some limited progress, on discrete issues such as hostile border laws, trade and citizenship. The borders were to become the "middle shires".[27] Free trade proved contentious, as did the issue of equal rights before the law. Fears were openly expressed in the Westminster Parliament that English jobs would be threatened by all the poor people of the realm of Scotland, who will "draw near to the Sonn, and flocking hither in such Multitudes, that death and dearth is very probable to ensue".[citation needed] The exact status of the post nati, those born after the Union of March 1603, was not decided by Parliament but in the courts by Calvin's Case (1608), which extended property rights to all the King's subjects in English common law and allowed them to bring cases before the courts.[28]

### National animosity

[edit]

Scottish aristocrats and other placeseekers made their way to London to compete for high positions in government. In 1617, Sir Anthony Weldon wrote of the poverty of Scotland, as conceived by English courtiers:[29]

> the Countrey ... is too good for those that possesse yt, and too bad for others to be at the charge of conquering yt. The ayre might be wholesome, but for the stincking people that inhabit yt ... Their beasts be generallie small (women excepted) of which sort there are no greater in the world.[30]

A wounding observation came in the comedy Eastward Ho, a collaboration between Ben Jonson, George Chapman and John Marston. In enthusing over the good life to be had in the Colony of Virginia, it is observed:[citation needed]

> And then you shal live freely there, without Sergeants, or Courtiers, or Lawyers, or Intelligencers – onely a few industrious Scots perhaps, who indeed are disperst over the face of the whole earth. But as for them, there are no greater friends of Englishmen and England, when they are out an't, in the world, then they are. And for my part, I would a hundred thousand of them were there, for wee are all one Countrymen now, yee know; and wee shoulde finde ten times more comfort of them there, then wee do here.

Anti-English satires proliferated, and in 1609, the king had an act passed that promised the direst penalties against the writers of "pasquillis, libellis, rymis, cockalanis, comedies and sicklyk occasiones whereby they slander and maligne and revile the estait and countrey of England..."[citation needed]

In October 1605 Nicolò Molin, the Venetian ambassador in London, noted that "the question of the Union will, I am assured, be dropped; for His Majesty is now well aware that nothing can be effected, both sides displaying such obstinacy that an accommodation is impossible; and so his Majesty is resolved to abandon the question for the present, in hope that time may consume the ill-humours".[31]

## Symbols

[edit]

Arms of James VI and I in Edinburgh Castle, giving the Scottish elements precedence.

King James devised new coats of arms and a uniform coinage. The creation of a national flag proved contentious, designs acceptable to one side typically offending the other. James finally proclaimed the new Union Flag on 12 April 1606: Scots who saw in it a St George's Cross superimposed upon a St Andrew's Saltire sought to create their own 'Scotch' design, which saw the reverse superimposition take place.[citation needed] (that design was used in Scotland until 1707).[citation needed] For years afterwards, vessels of the two nations continued to fly their respective "flags", the royal proclamation notwithstanding.[citation needed] The Union Flag entered into common use only under Cromwell's Protectorate.[citation needed]

* Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland, 1565–1603.

* Arms of the Kingdom of England, 1558–1603.

* Arms of the Kingdom of Ireland, 1541–1603.

* Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland, 1603–1707.[citation needed]

* Arms of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland, 1603–1707.[citation needed]

* The flag of the Kingdom of Scotland.

* The flag of the Kingdom of England.

* Union Flag used in the Kingdom of Scotland from the early 17th century to 1707.

* Union Flag used in the Kingdom of England, 1606–1707.

* The Tudor rose dimidiated with the Scottish thistle, James used the device as a royal heraldic badge.

## See also

[edit]

* England portal
* Royalty portal
* Scotland portal

* Commonwealth realm
* Catholic Monarchs of Spain
* Imperial Federation

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ James described Cecil as "king there in effect".[9]
2. ^ Cecil wrote that James should "secure the heart of the highest, to whose sex and quality nothing is so improper as either needless expostulations or over much curiosity in her own actions, the first showing unquietness in yourself, the second challenging some untimely interest in hers; both which are best forborne".[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Aonadh nan Crùintean". faclair.com.
2. ^ "English World-wide". Julius Groos Verlag. 26 September 1995.
3. ^ McVey, John Daniel. "The Union of The Crowns 1603 – 2003". Uotc.scran.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
4. ^ Smith, David Lawrence (1998). A History of the Modern British Isles, 1603–1707: The Double Crown., Chapter 2
5. ^ Conlee, John, ed. (2004). William Dunbar: The Complete Works. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
6. ^ Leslie, John (1570). The History of Scotland: From the Death of King James I, in the Year M. CCCC. XXXVI, to the Year M.D. LXI. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
7. ^ Johnson, Ben. "The Battle of Flodden". Historic UK. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
8. ^ "Elizabeth I". The Stuart Successions Project. University of Exeter. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
9. ^ Croft 2003, p. 48.
10. ^ Willson 1963, pp. 154–155.
11. ^ Willson 1963, p. 155.
12. ^ Collier 1840, p. 364.
13. ^ a b c Croft 2003, p. 49.
14. ^ Willson 1963, p. 158.
15. ^ Croft 2003, p. 50.
16. ^ Stewart 2003, p. 169.
17. ^ Collier 1840, pp. 378–379.
18. ^ Stewart 2003, pp. 172–173.
19. ^ James I (19 March 1603), Speech to the Westminster parliament in Sommerville, Johann, ed. (1995). "King James VI and I: Political Writings". Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 132–146, here 136.
20. ^ Wormald 2007.
21. ^ Thrush.
22. ^ Velde, Francois. "Royal Arms, Styles and Titles of Great Britain". Heraldica.org. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
23. ^ "Captain Cuellar's Narrative of the Spanish Armada and of his Wanderings and Adventures in Ireland". Project Gutenburg.
24. ^ Galloway & Levack 1985, pp. liv–lxi, 75–141.
25. ^ Mason, Roger A (2015). "Debating Britain in Seventeenth-Century Scotland: Multiple Monarchy and Scottish Sovereignty". Journal of Scottish Historical Studies. 35: 1–24\. doi:10.3366/jshs.2015.0138. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
26. ^ UK Parliament.
27. ^ Brown, Keith M. (2002). "Reformation to Union, 1560–1707". In Houston, R.A.; Knox, W. W. J. (eds.). The New Penguin History of Scotland. pp. 182–275, 236.
28. ^ Lynch 1992, p. 240.
29. ^ Alexander, Julia Marciari; MacLeod, Catharine (2007). Politics, Transgression, and Representation at the Court of Charles II. Yale. p. 50.
30. ^ Nichols, John (1828). Progresses of James the First. Vol. 3\. London. p. 338.
31. ^ Brown, Horatio (1900). Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603–1607. Vol. 10\. London. p. 280 no. 433.

### Sources

[edit]

* Croft, Pauline (2003). King James. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-61395-3.
* Collier, John Payne (1840). The Egerton Papers. London: Camden Society.
* Galloway, Bruce; Levack, Brian, eds. (1985). The Jacobean Union, Six tracts of 1604. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society. ISBN 0-906245-06-0.
* Lynch, Michael (1992). Scotland: a new history. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-712-69893-1.
* Thrush, Andrew. "On this Day: 21 November 1606: The proposed union between England and Scotland | History of Parliament Online". The History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
* UK Parliament. "Union of the Crowns". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
* Stewart, Alan (2003). The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-0-7011-6984-8.
* Willson, David Harris (1963) [1956]. King James VI & 1. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-60572-0. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Wormald, Jenny (1994). "The Union of 1603", in Scots and Britons, op cit.
* Wormald, Jenny (2007). "Union of the Crowns". In Lynch, Michael (ed.). The Oxford companion to Scottish history. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191727481.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Brown, Keith M. (1994). "The vanishing emperor: British kingship and its decline, 1603–1707". In Mason, Roger A. (ed.). Scots and Britons: Scottish Political Thought and the Union of 1603. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42034-1.
* Ferguson, William (1977). Scotland's Relations with England: A Survey to 1707. Edinburgh: J. Donald. ISBN 978-0-85976-022-5.
* Galloway, Bruce (1986). The Union of England and Scotland, 1603–1608. Edinburgh: J. Donald. ISBN 978-0-85976-143-7.
* Lee, Maurice Jr. (2003). The "Inevitable" Union and Other Essays on Early Modern Scotland. East Linton, East Lothian: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 978-1-86232-107-6.
* Marshall, T. (July 2005). "United We Stand?". BBC History Magazine.
* Mason, Roger A., ed. (1987). Scotland and England, 1286–1815. Edinburgh: J. Donald. ISBN 978-0-85976-177-2.

## External links

[edit]

* Union of the Crowns 400th anniversary − educational website
* Ulster-Scots Agency.com: "1603 – The Union of the Crowns"

* v
* t
* e

English, Scottish and British monarchs

| Monarchs of England until 1603| Monarchs of Scotland until 1603

|

* Alfred the Great
* Edward the Elder
* Ælfweard
* Æthelstan
* Edmund I
* Eadred
* Eadwig
* Edgar the Peaceful
* Edward the Martyr
* Æthelred the Unready
* Sweyn
* Edmund Ironside
* Cnut
* Harold Harefoot
* Harthacnut
* Edward the Confessor
* Harold Godwinson
* Edgar Ætheling
* William I
* William II
* Henry I
* Stephen
* Matilda
* Henry II
* Henry the Young King
* Richard I
* John
* Louis
* Henry III
* Edward I
* Edward II
* Edward III
* Richard II
* Henry IV
* Henry V
* Henry VI
* Edward IV
* Edward V
* Richard III
* Henry VII
* Henry VIII
* Edward VI
* Jane
* Mary I and Philip
* Elizabeth I

* Kenneth I MacAlpin
* Donald I
* Constantine I
* Áed
* Giric
* Eochaid
* Donald II
* Constantine II
* Malcolm I
* Indulf
* Dub
* Cuilén
* Amlaíb
* Kenneth II
* Constantine III
* Kenneth III
* Malcolm II
* Duncan I
* Macbeth
* Lulach
* Malcolm III
* Donald III
* Duncan II
* Edgar
* Alexander I
* David I
* Malcolm IV
* William I
* Alexander II
* Alexander III
* Margaret
* John
* Robert I
* David II
* Edward Balliol
* Robert II
* Robert III
* James I
* James II
* James III
* James IV
* James V
* Mary I
* James VI

* Monarchs of England and Scotland after the Union of the Crowns from 1603

* James I & VI
* Charles I
* The Protectorate
* Oliver Cromwell
* Richard Cromwell
* Charles II
* James II & VII
* William III & II and Mary II
* Anne

* British monarchs after the Acts of Union 1707

* Anne
* George I
* George II
* George III
* George IV
* William IV
* Victoria
* Edward VII
* George V
* Edward VIII
* George VI
* Elizabeth II
* Charles III

* Debated or disputed rulers are in italics.

* v
* t
* e

Kingdom of England

History|

* Timeline
* Anglo-Saxon England
* Heptarchy
* Kingdom of England
* Norman Conquest
* Anglo-Normans
* The Anarchy
* Angevin Empire
* England in the Late Middle Ages
* Economy in the Middle Ages
* Wars of the Roses
* Tudor period
* English Reformation
* Elizabethan era
* English Renaissance
* Stuart period
* Union of the Crowns
* Gunpowder Plot
* Jacobean era
* Civil War
* Interregnum
* Commonwealth of England
* The Protectorate
* The Restoration
* Popish Plot
* Exclusion Crisis
* Glorious Revolution
* Union with Scotland
* Overseas possessions
* Crown
* Proprietary
* Protectorate
* Maritime history

Royal Houses|

* Wessex
* Knýtlinga
* Normandy
* Angevin
* Plantagenet
* Lancaster
* York
* Tudor
* Stuart
* Orange-Nassau

* Politics
* Law

* Witan
* Curia regis
* Magnum Concilium
* Parliament
* House of Lords
* House of Commons
* King's Secretary
* Monarchy
* Council of State
* Lord Protector
* Peerage
* Privy Council
* Ministries
* Secretary of State
* Governance
* Anglo-Saxon
* Medieval
* Elizabethan
* Star Chamber
* Whigs
* Tories

* Acts of Parliament:
* 1225–1267
* 1275–1307
* 1308–1325
* Temp. incert.
* 1327–1376
* 1377–1397
* 1399–1411
* 1413–1421
* 1422–1460
* 1461
* 1463
* 1464
* 1467
* 1468
* 1472
* 1474
* 1477
* 1482
* 1483
* 1485
* 1487
* 1488
* 1491
* 1495
* 1496
* 1503
* 1509
* 1511
* 1512
* 1513
* 1514
* 1515
* 1523
* 1529
* 1530
* 1531
* 1532
* 1533
* 1534
* 1535
* 1536
* 1539
* 1540
* 1541
* 1542
* 1543
* 1545
* 1546
* 1547
* 1548
* 1549
* 1551
* 1553
* 1554
* 1555
* 1557
* 1558
* 1562
* 1566
* 1571
* 1572
* 1575
* 1580
* 1584
* 1586
* 1588
* 1592
* 1597
* 1601
* 1603
* 1605
* 1606
* 1609
* 1620
* 1623
* 1625
* 1627
* 1640
* 1642–1660
* 1660
* 1661
* 1662
* 1663
* 1664
* 1665
* 1666
* 1667
* 1670
* 1672
* 1675
* 1677
* 1678
* 1679
* 1680
* 1685
* 1688
* 1689
* 1690
* 1691
* 1692
* 1693
* 1694
* 1695
* 1696
* 1697
* 1698
* 1700
* 1701
* 1702
* 1703
* 1704
* 1705
* 1706

Military|

* Anglo-Saxon military
* Warfare
* English Army
* New Model Army
* Royal Navy
* Ships
* History

Geography|

* Counties
* Islands
* Places
* Towns
* Castles
* Palaces

Demographics|

* English language
* English people
* list

Culture|

* Religion
* Church of England
* Cuisine
* Folklore
* Morris dance
* Country dance

Architecture|

* Anglo-Saxon
* English Gothic
* Tudor
* Elizabethan
* Jacobean
* Queen Anne
* Georgian

Symbols|

* National flag (list)
* Heraldry
* Coat of arms
* College of Arms
* Royal badges
* Royal supporters
* Royal standards
* Crown Jewels
* Tudor rose
* Oak tree
* St George
* St George's Day

* v
* t
* e

Kingdom of Scotland

History|

* Timeline
* Prehistoric
* Roman times
* Early Middle Ages
* High Middle Ages
* Late Middle Ages
* Davidian Revolution
* Wars of Independence
* Late Middle Ages
* Renaissance
* Reformation
* Union of the Crowns
* Jacobean era
* Wars of the Three Kingdoms
* Interregnum
* Commonwealth
* Restoration
* Popish Plot
* Glorious Revolution
* Maritime history
* Economy in the Middle Ages
* Colonization of the Americas
* Darien scheme
* Union with England

Royal Houses|

* Alpin
* Dunkeld
* Sverre
* Balliol
* Bruce
* Stuart
* Orange-Nassau

Politics
and law|

* Court
* Estates of Parliament
* General Council
* Convention of the Estates
* Monarchy
* Guardian
* Peerage
* Privy Council
* Government
* Medieval
* Early Modern
* Acts of Parliament
* Lord Chancellor
* Secretary of State
* Regiam Majestatem
* Whigs
* Covenanters

Military|

* Gaelic warfare
* Medieval warfare
* Early modern warfare
* Royal Scots Army
* Royal Scots Navy
* History
* Lord High Admiral
* Ships

Geography|

* Burghs
* Castles
* Islands
* Palaces
* Places
* Shires

Demographics|

* Scots language
* Scottish Gaelic
* Scottish people
* list

Culture|

* Art
* Church of Scotland
* Country dance
* Cuisine
* Highland dance
* Mythology
* Religion

Architecture|

* Vernacular
* Medieval
* Early Modern
* Castles
* Churches
* Palladian
* Jacobean
* Georgian
* Scottish baronial
* Neoclassic

Symbols|

* National flag
* Union Flag
* list
* Heraldry
* Court of the Lord Lyon
* Royal coat of arms
* Royal Banner
* Crown Jewels
* Scots pine
* Thistle
* St Andrew
* Saint Andrew's Day
* Unicorn

Authority control databases: National |

* United States
* Israel

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template