Great Britain

King George III was born on 4th June in 1738. He was the son of  Frederick, Prince of Wales and his wife Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He ascended the throne after the death of his grandfather George II in 1760, as his father had died earlier in 1751. Under the ruling of King George III, in 1800 the British and Irish Parliaments passed an Act of Union that took effect on 1st January 1801, and united Great Britain and Ireland into a single state known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This was the most significant event during his reign...

After the death of Britain's last monarch, Queen Anne, in 1714, the crown of England passed to the Stuart dynasty's German Protestant cousins, the House of Hanover or  Brunswick-Lüneburg, because of the 1701 Act of Settlement that prevented any Catholic from taking the crown. The direct heir to the British throne was James II 's son James, who lived in exile, but for the reason that he professed Catholicism, Queen Anne declared Sophia of Hanover, who was the Electress of Hanover, as her successor to the crown...

Charles I of England was born on 19th November 1600. He was the son of Anne of Denmark and James I of England. He became the King of Scotland  and England on 27th March 1625. Several months after his father's death, Charles married Henrietta Maria of France. They had seven children: Charles II, King of England; Mary, Princess of Orange; James II and VII; Elizabeth; Anne; Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans. Despite her husband's love, Henrietta didn't feel at home among English...

James I Stuart inherited the English throne after the death of the childless Tudor Queen Elizabeth I, at the beginning of the 17th century, in 1603. He was King James I of England and also King James VI of Scotland. The monarch was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. James I became the first joint ruler of the kingdoms of both England and Scotland.  The King was born on 19th June 1566. He was the only son of his parents. Eight months after James's birth his father died when his house was destroyed by an explosion...

The 45 - year reign of Elizabeth I Tudor is considered to be the "Golden Age" in English history. The Queen was born on 7th September in 1533. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second spouse Anne Boleyn. She ascended the throne after the death of her half - sister Mary I, in 1558. The first twenty - five years of Elizabeth's life were spent in constant anxiety (because she was the daughter of the woman, who had been executed). But despite this, the future queen didn't spend those years in vain, she was diligently engaged in self - education...

Mary I Tudor was born on 18th February 1516. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. She was Henry's favourite child and heir to the throne as the Princess of Wales. Mary was engaged first to the dauphin of France and then the powerful Charles V, but after she was declared illegitimate, she became a servant of her stepmother hardhearted Anne Boleyn, and she was removed from the court for her commitment to her mother's faith, Catholicism.  The queen had a controversial nature, possessing sensibility and aspiration, as well as vanity and a logical mind combined...

King Henry VIII was born on 28 June 1491. He was brought up by his devout Catholic grandmother Margaret Beaufort. The monarch himself was a devout and well - informed Catholic and his publication Defense of the Seven Sacraments in 1521 earned him the title of the Defender of the Faith from Pope Leo X. Since childhood, Henry spoke five languages fluently, played the lute and enjoyed royal parties.  Shortly after his coronation, the king married Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his elder brother Arthur, for political reasons...

The emblem of the House of Tudor became both their family emblem and the symbol for all of England. It is a red rose with another rose, a white one, in the middle of the red rose. The double rose emblem is the combination of the symbols of the House of Lancaster(a red rose) and the House of York (a white rose)...

Henry VII Tudor is less well known than either Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, but he was far more important in establishing the new monarchy than either of them. Henry was born on 28th January 1457. As his mother was only 14 and soon married again, he was brought up by Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, who was his uncle. For the reason that the boy's youth had been spent in conditions of adversity, often in danger of betrayal and death, he learned to be secretive and wary as well as patient and vigilant...

Richard was born on 8th September 1157, in Oxford. Historians describe King Richard I as a very attractive and educated young man. He knew Latin and was fond of music. Furthermore Richard composed poems in French and Occitan. He is known as Richard the Lionheart. This nickname was given for his reputation as a great military leader and warrior and for his knightly courage. His contemporaries depicted him a man of excellent manners, kind to his friends, cruel and merciless to his enemies. Also Richard showed outstanding political ability...

William was born in the Norman city of Falaise in the 11th century. The boy was the elder of the two children of Robert I of Normandy and his concubine Herleva. The Christian marriage between Robert I and Herleva didn't take place and for this reason their son was considered illegitimate. The child was nicknamed William the Bastard. However his father acknowledged him as his own. The Duke Robert of Normandy was King Edward the Confessor's cousin. After Robert's death William the Bastard was accepted as duke by the Norman magnates and by his overlord, King Henry I of France...

King Arthur is first mentioned in two Welsh poems. One of them called '' Gododdin" was written by Aneirin in 600 AD. There King Arthur is compared with one of the Celtic leaders. The author of another poem named "The spoils of Annwfn" was Taliesin. It  depicts Arthur's journey to the British otherworld, Annwfn. Experts consider that the poem was written in the 15th century. In medieval times Arthur's legend was retold by many authors. The most widespread interpretation of the legend is Thomas Malory's...