List of English monarchs
Monarch
Portrait
Birth
Marriages
Death
Offa
(+OFFA•REX+)
774-796
son of
Thingfrith
Cynethryth
five children
26 or 29 July
796
The Royal Arms of England, as introduced by
King Richard the Lionheart in 1198, and be-
fore its later quarterings with other shields,
additions of supporters and other
embellishments.
The first person to assume the title Rex An-
glorum (King of the English) was Offa of Mer-
cia, though his power did not survive him. In
the 9th century the kings of Wessex, who
conquered Kent and Sussex from Mercia in
825, became increasingly dominant over the
other kingdoms of England. The continuous
list of English monarchs traditionally be-
gins with Egbert of Wessex in 829. Alfred the
Great and his son Edward the Elder used the
title "King of the Anglo-Saxons." After Athel-
stan conquered Northumbia in 927, he adop-
ted the title Rex Anglorum. Starting with
Henry II (1154), the title became Rex Angliae
(King of England).
The Principality of Wales was incorpor-
ated into the Kingdom of England under the
Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 and, in 1301,
Edward I invested his eldest son, Edward II,
as Prince of Wales. Since that time, with the
exception of Edward III, the eldest sons of all
English monarchs have borne this title. After
the death of Elizabeth I of England in 1603,
the crowns of England and Scotland were
united under James I and VI. By royal pro-
clamation James titled himself ’king of Great
Britain’. England underwent political union
with Scotland in 1707 to form the United
Kingdom of Great Britain. Since that date the
title King or Queen of England is incorrect,
though has remained in usage to the present
day. In 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland, which
had been under English rule since Henry II,
became part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland following the Act of
Union, which lasted until the secession of Ire-
land in 1922 and the subsequent renaming of
the state to the United Kingdom of Great Bri-
tain and Northern Ireland.
House of Mercia
According to some sour