Ep. 120: Houses of the British Monarchy
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on the Houses or Dynasties of the British Monarchy.
Dating back over a thousand years The British Monarchy is rich in history and as I have found, exceedingly complicated to get your head around. Everyone it seems has different terminology for the same thing. For instance, houses, dynasties, Kings or Queens are all used interchangeably. Also, many lists are slightly different in structure and may omit a certain house. A good example of this is the first one on the list, which is the Saxon Kings which is left off many lists. Hence, I have tried to mirror Wikipedia’s opinion as best as possible. So, I encourage everyone to do their own research, to discover and understand the varying reasons behind all of these nuances.
Now getting back to the history; it all started (depending on your opinion) with the Saxon Kings which included the House of Wessex where King Alfred the Great was a key figure. The Norman Kings, which most notably included William the Conqueror and that famous battle in 1066. The Plantagenet Kings which included the two key figures of Richard the Lionheart and King John, who signed the Magna Carta in 1215. The House of Tudor that included Henry VIII, his dad Henry VII and of course Queen Elizabeth I. The Stuarts which included James I, who united the crowns of England and Scotland. The Hanoverian period with the very well-known, Queen Victoria. Finally, the Windsors who were once known as Saxe-Coburg-Gotha which included Queen Elizabeth II, the longest serving British monarch in history.
So as I said today’s mnemonic is on the houses of the British Monarchy.
So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886, and while he was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English, his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex.[1]
Arguments are made for a few different kings thought to have controlled enough Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to be deemed the first king of England. For example, Offa of Mercia and Egbert of Wessex are sometimes described as kings of England by popular writers, but it is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England. Historian Simon Keynes states, for example, that "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy."[2] This refers to a period in the late 8th century when Offa achieved a dominance over many of the kingdoms of southern England, but this did not survive his death in 796.[3][4] Likewise, in 829 Egbert of Wessex conquered Mercia, but he soon lost control of it.
It was not until the late 9th century that one kingdom, Wessex, had become the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Its king, Alfred the Great, was overlord of western Mercia and used the title King of the Angles and Saxons, but he never ruled eastern and northern England, which was then known as the Danelaw, having earlier been conquered by the Danes from southern Scandinavia. His son Edward the Elder conquered the eastern Danelaw, but Edward's son Æthelstan became the first king to rule the whole of England when he conquered Northumbria in 927, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king of England.[3][4] The title "King of the English" or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928. The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was "King of the English". In 1016 Cnut the Great, a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". In the Norman period "King of the English" remained standard, with occasional use of "King of England" or Rex Anglie. From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of "King" or "Queen of England".
The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301 King Edward I invested his eldest son, the future King Edward II, as Prince of Wales. Since that time, the eldest sons of all English monarchs, except for King Edward III,[a] have borne this title.
After the death of Queen Elizabeth I without issue in 1603, her cousin King James VI of Scotland inherited the English crown as James I of England, joining the crowns of England and Scotland in personal union. By royal proclamation, James styled himself "King of Great Britain", but no such kingdom was actually created until 1707, when England and Scotland united during the reign of Queen Anne to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with a single British parliament sitting at Westminster. This marked the end of the Kingdom of England as a sovereign state.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_monarchs]
Mnemonic
Houses of the British Monarchy Mnemonic – SNiPeT SHoW
(Picture a movie that was made about all the Kings and Queens of England from snippets collected from the archives of history. Hence the movie was called the Snippet Show)
1. Saxon Kings
2. Norman Kings
3. Plantagenet Kings
4. The Tudors
5. The Stuarts
6. The Hanoverians
7. The Windsors
Five Fun Facts
1. There was a brief time in Britain when there was no King or Queen. This occurred when King Charles I was executed in 1649. Britain became a republic for 11 years before the Monarchy was restored in 1660.
2. In 1917 during the First World War George V made a radical change and changed both the name of the dynasty and the surname of the family to Windsor. This name Windsor was adopted from a castle and came as a result of the anti-German feelings during the war.
3. Sticking with name changes. After the Queen acceded to the throne in 1952 the Royal Family name of Windsor was confirmed. However, in an attempt to distinguish their own direct descendants from the rest of the Royal Family both the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh decided that their descendants would take the name of “Mountbatten-Windsor”.
Another thing the Queen decided to do on her death was to give Prince Andrew the role of looking after her corgis. Many have questioned this decision, but I think it makes sense. He does have expertise in grooming!
4. The House of York and the House of Lancaster descended from the same family. This is why they appear under the House of Plantagenet where Edward III ruled as king from 1327 until 1377. This resulted in a civil war between these two powerful families which was called the War of the Roses where they would fight for the crown.
5. When Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth Henry VII took the reins, he married Elizabeth of York and thus united the two warring houses, York and Lancaster. He was a great politician and greatly increased the wealth of the country but unfortunately or fortunately for history buffs he left us Henry VIII!
.JPG){kind=link}
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. Queen Victoria was under which house?
Q.2. King Henry VIII was part of which house?
Q.3. Which Norman King ruled from 1066 to 1087, and also name the famous battle he took part in?
Bonus Q. Approximately, how many monarchs of England and Britian have there been over the period of approximately 1200 years? Options are 43, 53, or 63
Mnemonic Recap
Houses of the British Monarchy Mnemonic – SNiPeT SHoW
(Picture a movie that was made about all the Kings and Queens of England from snippets collected from the archives of history. Hence the movie was called the Snippet Show)
1. Saxon Kings
2. Norman Kings
3. Plantagenet Kings
4. The Tudors
5. The Stuarts
6. The Hanoverians
7. The Windsors
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. Queen Victoria was under which house?
A. The House of Hanoverians
Q.2. King Henry VIII was part of which house?
A. The House of Tudor
Q.3. Which Norman King ruled from 1066 to 1087, and also name the famous battle he took part in?
A. King William I, the Conqueror who is famous for the Battle of Hastings
Bonus Q. Approximately, how many monarchs of England and Britain have there been over the period of approximately 1200 years? Options are 43, 53, or 63
A. Approximately 63
Word of the Week
felicific
[ fee-luh-sif-ik ]
adjective
causing or tending to cause happiness.
Example
Henry VIII's felicific feelings for most of his wives were generally short-lived.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mnemonic-tree-podcast/id1591795132
https://open.spotify.com/show/3T0LdIJ9PBQMXM3cdKd42Q?si=fqmaN2TNS8qqc7jOEVa-Cw
References
https://projectbritain.com/kings.htm
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/KingsQueensofBritain/