ENGLAND 



2043 



ENGLAND 



thur, the Christian king, lives in legend to this 

 day. In 597 Pope Gregory, who had been 

 attracted to some Anglo-Saxon slaves exposed 

 in the market place in Rome and had vowed 

 to carry Christianity to the land from which 

 such beautiful youths came, sent Saint Augus- 

 tine to Britain, and the religion which had cen- 

 turies before gained a hold in the island but 

 had been entirely rooted out, spread rapidly. 



Beginnings of a Real Kingdom. The Angles 

 and Saxons gradually divided the territory 

 which they had conquered into seven small 

 kingdoms, commonly known as the Heptarchy 

 (which see). There came a time, near the 

 beginning of the ninth century, when Egbert, 

 king of Wessex, succeeded in making himself 

 lord over all the seven kingdoms, and from 

 827 dates the foundation of the kingdom of 

 England. There has been a kingdom of Eng- 

 land now for almost eleven hundred years, and 

 every king or queen, except six, in all that 

 time has been a direct or indirect descendant 

 of Egbert. 



The early kings had no easy task, for they 

 had not only to maintain the dominating power 

 which Egbert had gained for them over the 

 other little kingdoms, but to resist the con- 

 stant inroads of the Danes, who had gradually 

 gained a foothold on the island. When Alfred, 

 the greatest of these early kings, 

 came to the throne in 871, he 

 found that the Danes had over- 

 run a large portion of the coun- 

 try. Though he could not drive 

 them out he reduced their power, 

 confined them to the eastern part 

 of the island and compelled them 

 to acknowledge him as their over- 

 lord. His reign, in more than this 

 one direction, meant much for the 

 country, but his successors were 

 again forced to contend with the 

 Danes, who were constantly issu- 

 ing from their special territory, 

 the Danelagh. A real advance in 

 government was made during this 

 period, however, especially in the 

 establishment of the Witenage- 

 mot, a council of the chief men of 

 the kingdom. Theoretically the 

 king undertook nothing of impor- 

 tance without consulting this 

 body, but in reality a strong king 

 might reign almost absolutely. 



England Becomes Danish, then 

 Norman. By 1013 the Danes 



STATUE OP 

 ALFRED 



not those from the Danelagh, but fresh 

 hordes from the mainland had made them- 

 selves masters of the island, and four Dan- 

 ish kings, Sweyn, Canute, Harold and Harde- 

 canute, ruled in succession. When Hardecanute 

 died in 1042 English and Danes both besought 

 Edward, the descendant of the English royal 

 line, to accept the throne, and he reigned until 

 1066. This is one of the memorable dates in 

 English history, for in that year Harold, chosen 

 king to succeed Edward, was defeated at the 

 Battle of Hastings by William of Normandy, 

 and the Saxon period of rule in England came 

 to a close. By Christmas William had brought 

 a large part of the island into subjection, and 

 on that day was crowned in London as "king 

 of the English," but not until several years 

 later was the complete subjugation of England 

 accomplished. Gradually, through the cen- 

 turies that followed, the conquering Normans 

 and the conquered Saxons were assimilated into 

 one people, the English. 



Rulers of England. In a brief article it is 

 impossible to give in detail each reign in the 

 history of England. There will be emphasized 

 here only the great movements those which 

 have had a lasting influence on the country. 

 But every English ruler from the Norman Con- 

 quest is treated in these volumes, and a de- 

 tailed view of English history may 

 be gained from these articles: 



RULER. DATES OF REIGN. 



William I, the Conqueror.1066-1087 



William II 1087-1100 



Henry I 1100-1135 



Stephen 1135-1154 



Henry II 1154-1189 



Richard I 1189-1199 



John 1199-1216 



Henry III 1216-1272 



Edward I 1272-1307 



Edward II 1307-1327 



Edward III 1327-1377 



Richard II 1377-1399 



Henry IV 1399-1413 



Henry V 1413-1422 



Henry VI 1 422-1461 



Edward IV 1461-1483 



Edward V 1483-1483 



Richard III 1483-1 485 



Henry VII 1485-1509 



Henry VIII 1509-1547 



Edward VI 1547-1553 



Mary 1553-1558 



Elizabeth 1558-1603 



James I (Stuart) 1603-1625 



Charles I 1625-1649 



(Commonwealth) 1649-1660 



Charles II 1660-1685 



James II 1685-1688 



William III 1689-1702 



Anne 1702-1714 



