Lauren Spielvogel

EDT 180 A
Word Exercise #2

Five Longest Reigning Plantagenet Monarchs

Monarch Name Years of Reign Age at Age at Number of
Coronation Deposition/Death Years Reigned
Henry III 1216-1272 9 years 65 years 56
Edward III 1327-1377 14 years 64 years 50
Henry VI* 1422-1461 9 months 38 years- 38
1470-1471 48 years deposition
49 years- death
Henry II 1154-1189 21 years 56 years 34
Edward I 1272-1307 33 years 68 years 34

Many Plantagenet kings rose to the crown at very young ages, often with tumultuous
minorities. Three of which, Henry III, Edward III, and Henry VI, are on the list as the longest
reigning English monarchs of the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry VI was made king of England
at nine months old following his father, Henry V’s, death in France due to dysentery. Henry
V was known as an impeccable monarch, reigniting the Hundred Years War with France and
winning their crown from the French Valois king, Charles VI. Henry VI was the only English
king to have also been King of France, an inheritance his father won for him. Though, he was
a hapless monarch, and through a fractured bloodline and feuding nobility, Henry VI lost his
throne to the eighteen-year-old Edward IV in 1461 after the Battle of Towton. Though after
Edward married the unpopular Elizabeth Woodville in 1470, Henry VI was reinstated as king
through what is known as “The Readeption”, though he did not remain king for long. He was
murdered in the Tower of London on May 21st, 1471 by Edward’s men.

Five Longest Reigning Tudor Monarchs

Monarch Years Age at Age at Number
Name of Coronation Deposition/Death of Years
Reign Reigned
Elizabeth 1558- 25 years 69 years 44
I 1603
Henry 1509- 17 years 55 years 38
VIII 1547
Henry VII 1485- 28 years 52 years 24
1509
Edward 1547- 9 years 15 years 6
VI 1553
Mary I 1553- 37 years 42 years 5
1558

All non-disputed Tudor monarchs are included on this list. The only exception is the
disputed Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days following the death of
Henry VIII. It was a rather short-lived dynasty, with only five monarchs, but yet has
historically been seen as one of the most infamous dynasties in England. The Tudor line was
tenuous to begin with, as they descended from the Welshman Owen ap Tudor and the French
dowager queen Catherine of Valois, who was also the mother of Henry VI. Henry VII took
the throne after defeating the infamous Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, putting
an end to the English Wars of the Roses, and to the long-lived Plantagenet dynasty. After
Elizabeth I died in 1603 without children, the crown went to her Scottish cousin, James Stuart
of Scotland, who became James I of England and James VI of Scotland, beginning the
equally short-lived Stuart dynasty.

Five Longest Reigning Windsor

Monarchs
This table includes both Monarch Years Age at Age at Number
the House of Windsor and Name of Coronation Deposition/Death of
the House of Saxe- Reign Years
Coburg and Gotha, of Reigned
which Victoria I was Elizabeth 1952- 25 years N/A 67
perhaps the most famous II Present
monarch. Edward VII Victoria 1837- 18 years 81 years 63
changed the name of I 1901
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha George 1910- 45 years 70 years 25
to Windsor in 1917
V 1936
following anti-German
George 1936- 41 years 56 years 15
sentiment that came from
VI 1952
the Great War. The only
Edward 1901- 59 years 68 years 9
monarch to be excluded
VII 1910
from the list of this house
is Edward VIII, who had an impressively short reign of just 326 days following the death of
his father, George V, in 1936. He was forced to abdicate the throne due to his choice of
marriage to Wallis Simpson, leaving his younger brother, Albert, to take up the throne. Albert
changed his name to George upon becoming king, which was also done by Queen Victoria
upon her ascendency to the English throne. The U.K.’s current monarch, Elizabeth II, is a
part of this house, and is currently the longest reigning monarch in British history, currently
at 67 years and 20 days.