Anglo-Saxons		Normans	Plantagenets	Tudors
Stuarts Hanoverians Windsors

This is a list of the kings and queens of England from Alfred the Great onwards. These monarchs also ruled Wales following its conquest by Edward I and Scotland after the two crowns were united from 1603 onwards. There are links to Channel 4's Monarchy website for further information about most of the monarchs, and to past Time Team programmes relevant to particular kings and queens and their palaces.

The Anglo-Saxons

Alfred the Great (849-899)
Ruled Wessex 871-899
The first monarch who could legitimately claim to be king of all (or at any rate most) of the English, Alfred united the kingdom under his rule. He defeated the invading Danes, or Vikings, and eventually threw them out of the whole of southern England.
Find out more about Alfred >>
Back to our roots, Athelney, Somerset >>
Time Team's 100th programme saw the team revisit Athelney, in Somerset, the fortified site from which Alfred launched his campaign against the Danes, or Vikings, who then controlled most of England.

Edward the Elder (c870-924)
Ruled 899-924
Son of Alfred the Great, he succeeded him as 'king of the English'. The succession was contested by Edward's cousin, Ethelwold, son of Ethelred I of Wessex, until his death in battle in 902.
Find out more about Edward >>

Athelstan (c895-939)
Ruled 924-939
The son of Edward and the first king to exercise control over all the English. He was also acknowledged as overlord by the Scottish kings and Welsh princes.
Find out more about Athelstan >>

Edmund (c921-946)
Ruled 939-946
Athelstan's brother, killed when only 25.
Find out more about Edmund >>

Eadred (died 955)
Ruled 946-955
Like Edmund, who was killed aged only 25, Eadred was one of Athelstan's brothers.
Find out more about Eadred >>

Eadwig 'All-Fair' (c940-959)
Ruled 955-959
Eadred's nephew, Edmund's eldest son. Named 'All-Fair' because of his appearance.
Find out more about Eadwig >>

Edgar the Peacemaker (944-975)
Ruled 959-975
Eadwig's younger brother, Edmund's son. Revered as St Edgar the Peacemaker soon after his death at Glastonbury on 8 July 975.
Find out more about Edgar >>

Edward the Martyr (962-978)
Ruled 975-978
Edgar's eldest son by his first wife Ethelfleda, murdered at Corfe on 18 March 979.
Find out more about Edward >>

Ethelred the Unready (966-1016)
Ruled 978-1013 and 1014-1016
The son of King Edgar by his third wife Elfrida. Fled to Normandy on Christmas Day 1013, when the Danish king Swein 'Forkbeard' was accepted as ruler of England by the Saxon nobility. Returned on Swein's death the following year.
Find out more about Ethelred >>
Birthplace of the Confessor >>
Time Team goes to Islip, Oxfordshire, where Ethelred's son, Edward 'the Confessor' is said to have been born and Ethelred reputedly had a palace.

Edmund Ironside (993-1016)
Ruled 1016
The son of Ethelred by his first wife. Forced to share the kingdom with Swein Forkbeard's son Cnut, who seized it all on Edmund's death.

Cnut (994-1035)
Ruled 1016-1035
The son of the Danish king, Swein Forkbeard, who ruled England briefly from 1013-1014, Cnut was also king of Denmark from 1018 and Norway from 1030.
Find out more about Cnut >>
King Cnut's manor, Nassington, Northamptonshire >>
Time Team goes in search of a manor belonging to King Cnut.

Harold Harefoot (1015-1040)
Ruled 1037-40
When Cnut died, his son Harthacnut couldn't travel to England because he was defending his Danish throne from Norway. His half-brother Harold Harefoot (so named because of his fleetness of foot) ran the country in his place for two years, then crowned himself king. He died before the arrival of a fleet Harthacnut sent to depose him.
Find out more about Harold Harefoot >>

Harthacnut (c1019-1042)
Ruled 1040-42
Son of Cnut and his second wife Emma, Harthacnut died suddenly at a wedding feast.
Find out more about Harthacnut >>

Edward the Confessor (c1005-1066)
Ruled 1042-1066
Son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma, Cnut's second wife, Edward was named by Harthacnut as his successor as he lay dying. Canonised in 1161, he was known as Confessor for his apparent faith and piety.
Find out more about Edward the Confessor >>
Birthplace of the Confessor >>
Time Team goes to Islip, Oxfordshire

Harold Godwinson (1020-1066)
Ruled 6 January-14 October 1066
Harold, the son of the powerful Saxon aristocrat, Godwin, claimed to have been named as Edward's successor as he lay dying. He became the last Anglo-Saxon king of England when he was killed at the Battle of Hastings.
Find out more about Harold >>