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Who was the first king of England. List of duties and powers of the English queen

Great Britain, or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Eng. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is an island nation in northwestern Europe. It consists of four so-called. historical provinces: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of them has its own story. And when it comes to the first king, it is the king of England that is meant.

The Kingdom of England existed from 927 to 1707. When there was a union with the kingdom of Scotland, then England was transformed into the Kingdom of Great Britain. Formally, the title of King (Queen) of England lost its meaning in 1707. However, it is still used today. The current monarch of the United Kingdom is Elizabeth II.

Beginning of England

The history of England is inextricably linked with invasions. The first tribes that invaded its territory were the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians. These tribes created several states on the territory of Britain. However, hominids appeared on the island earlier. During the two centuries BC (IX-VIII), the Celts migrated to Britain. In I AD they came under Roman rule.

The end of Roman power came in 410 AD. The Anglo-Saxons sharply invaded, who formed 7 of their kingdoms and became the main rulers on this land, except for the territory of Wales and Scotland.

In the 9th century, periodic Viking raids began on the land of England. At the beginning of the XI century. England was ruled by Danish kings. In 1066, troops of the Normans invaded the lands of England and conquered the country. During the Middle Ages, England went through many civil wars and battles with other European nations (including the Hundred Years War).

First King of England

The first king of England is considered to be Egbert, who was the ruler in 802-839. Historians attribute Egbert to the first king of England, because. he united most of the lands of England under a single ruler. Egbert himself did not use the title of king officially, Alfred the Great used it in his title.

Egbert belongs to a side branch of the Wessex dynasty. This dynasty did not occupy the throne of Wessex for several generations. King Cynewulf of Wessex was assassinated in 786 and the throne was empty. Egbert did not receive the throne immediately. At first he fought for him, but lost and found refuge at the court of Charlemagne, where he spent three (III) years. According to other sources, the period of his stay under Charlemagne was 13 (XIII) years. Perhaps there was a scribal error. One way or another, Egbert left his country in 789.

Staying at the court of Charlemagne benefited Egbert. He studied the art of war and mastered the science of government. In 802, Egbert becomes King of Wessex with the support of Charlemagne and the Pope.

After 23 years of his reign, in 825, Egbert defeated Burnwulf, King of Mercia, at the Battle of Ellendun. The consequence of this battle was the recognition of Wessex dominance throughout England. In 829, Egbert moved his army north to subdue the Messiah. She could not resist and recognized the power of Wessex. Egbert gained control of the London Mint, which began issuing Egbert's coins bearing his title as King of Mercia.

Egbert during his reign waged constant wars with Wales, wanting to subjugate the lands of the Welsh. In 830, he devastated Wales and even burned down the episcopal residence. Shortly before his death, he was able to defeat the capital of the Welsh principality and ordered all residents to leave the state. Egbert submitted to the island of Mona, the center of the Celtic religion. Thus Egbert became sovereign of all England.

But despite all his achievements, Egbert was unable to maintain his position. At the end of his reign, he faced attacks from the Vikings. A year before Egbert's death (838), the Britons of Cornwall rebelled.

King Egbert died on February 4, 839. He was buried in Winchester Cathedral, and descendants began to call him the eighth Bretwald. Egbert's reign was 37 years and 7 months.

Today, the Queen of Great Britain is the most famous and authoritative monarch in the world. Although she does not have such huge wealth as the Arab monarchs, who have huge deposits of oil in their domains, the status of the Queen of Great Britain is much higher. During its existence, the post of king of Great Britain was occupied by representatives of various dynasties, and it was also the case that the monarchy in England was completely abolished.

Despite everything, the monarchy in the UK has always played a significant role, and even today, most native Englishmen are proud to have a queen and crown princes.

Features of the royal power in the UK

All laws relating to the transfer of royal power in England are based on the legal articles of the Act of Succession, which was passed by Parliament back in 1701. This piece of legislation remained unchanged until 2011. Only in 2011, some changes were made to the document, which was the result of the reforms of the English royal power.

The current Queen of Great Britain is Elizabeth II. After her death, the throne should pass to the heirs:

  • In order of first priority, the throne should be inherited by Prince Charles;
  • The heir of the second line is Prince William;
  • Prince George is the third line heir.

An interesting fact is that the eldest man in the family should be the monarch, but in fact the country is ruled by a woman. Many do not understand how this could happen, with such a large number of crown princes as now. In fact, everything is quite simple. The law provides that in the absence of male heirs, a woman can receive royal power. Since King George VI had only two daughters, the eldest of them became queen after the death of her father. Other persons of the royal family could not claim the throne, since only a representative of the Windsor dynasty can be a monarch.

The election of a new monarch takes place in Westminster Abbey, and it must be conducted by the Bishop of Canterbury, who is the highest rank of the Anglican Church. During the coronation, the following persons are most often present:

  • Representatives of the noble families of England;
  • High-ranking officials;
  • Governors;
  • Heads of member states of the Commonwealth;
  • Diplomats from different countries.

Of course, the English monarch does not have real power in the country, but the queen's orders are always heeded, and the tasks and decrees that she brings to the government are never left without attention.

England before William the Conqueror

Before the Roman legions conquered Britain, Britons and Picts lived there. After the conquest of Britain, which was given to Rome so hard that they even forbade their chroniclers to mention real battles with wild Britons, Roman culture flourished on the islands for three centuries.

After 300 years, when the British became a real stronghold of Rome in the north, they had to face an unpleasant situation. Rome began to attack wild barbarians from all sides. In this regard, the legions began to return to Italy. In the 5th century AD, the last legions left Britain. Former barbarians, and now real Romans, the Britons could not resist the barbarians who began to plunder the borders of Britain.

The first king of the Britons, Vortigern, and in the annals he is called the king, decided to seek military help from the Germanic tribes. He chose the Saxons, who were famous in those days as the most fierce and skilled warriors. Vortigern knew about the customs of these warriors, since the first small settlements of the Saxons appeared in Britain as early as the 4th century. The Saxons were promised land for perpetual use in exchange for military service.

Since the Britons fought the Picts in those years, the Saxons were able to achieve in a few battles what the Britons could not do for several years. The Picts were defeated, and the Britons wondered if they needed such strong allies. They were in no hurry to give the promised lands, and delayed the supply of food to the Saxon army. The discontented Saxons quickly gained a foothold in Britain, and began to seize more and more new lands.

Although many believed that the Saxons completely exterminated the Britons, modern archaeologists have proven that this was not the case. Many British settlements have been found that existed after the capture of British lands by the Saxons. The Britons also managed to preserve their Christian religion, although the Angles and Saxons destroyed many churches in the first years of their conquests. Moreover, the pagan Saxons, who established kingdoms in the south of the country, soon became Christians themselves. But the Angles and Jutes remained pagans for a long time. Only by the beginning of the tenth century, all the inhabitants of Britain merged into one ethnic group called the Anglo-Saxons, who were all Christians.

English kings after the arrival of William the Conqueror

William the Conqueror was able to unite under his rule all the independent kingdoms in England. From that moment on, the duties of the king became more extensive. Now the goal of the monarch was not only conquest, but also the welfare of the entire English people.

The heirs of William the Conqueror in 1154 elevated Henry to the English throne, who became the first monarch from the Plantagenet dynasty. This dynasty was able to hold on to power for about 300 years. Monarchs from this dynasty turned the country into a strong centralized state. The following individuals played a special role among the English monarchs of the Plantagenet dynasty:

  • Richard the Lionheart. Years of reign 1189-1199. This monarch in just 10 years of reign managed to prove himself a legendary commander of all times and peoples. Richard himself participated in the battles, demonstrating courage and courage by personal example. He died rather absurdly - he was struck by the arrow of one of the knights of his vassal, who refused to give his king part of the treasure found on his territory;
  • The next ruler of England was John the Landless, also known as Prince John. He is considered such a bad monarch that after his death, none of the kings of England called their sons by this name. The most significant contribution of this king to the history of Great Britain is considered to be the signing of the Magna Carta, which granted many privileges to the English nobility. John was forced to sign the charter under the pressure of the barons, who rebelled against him because of the huge extortions. The king collected these requisitions from his English vassals who did not participate in his military campaign against France;
  • The third known monarch of that time was Edward III. It was he who unleashed the Hundred Years War.

After that, England plunged into the abyss of civil war for a long time between the York and Lancaster dynasties. The most famous king of the Lancaster family was Henry V. He became famous as the most prominent commander of the Hundred Years War.

The most famous York monarch was Edward IV. This king became famous as a lover of women. Although many representatives of the nobility sinned with this, Edward was especially suspicious, and most of his wives and children ended their days in prison or on the chopping block.

Tudor and Stuart dynasty

In 1485, the Tudor dynasty came to the English throne. The most famous monarch of the dynasty was Henry VIII, who became famous as the founder of the Anglican Church. This happened due to the fact that the appetites of the pope seemed exorbitant to the king. This not only freed England from the influence of the Catholic Church, but also allowed the king to have complete influence over his church.

In addition to Henry VIII, the Tudor dynasty became famous for the fact that for the first time in history there were women on the throne. The first queen was Jane Dudley, who retained her status for only nine days. Then she was accused of treason and executed.

Another queen who became famous for her cruelty was Mary I Tudor. During her reign, there were mass executions for religious reasons. No Protestant could feel safe during the Bloody Mary's reign.

But her sister Elizabeth was not so cruel. During her long reign, England reached the peak of its power, becoming the largest maritime power. During her reign, which lasted from 1558 to 1603, the queen proved herself to be an excellent politician and monarch. Unfortunately for the people of England, Elizabeth never chose a husband for herself until the end of her life, even on her deathbed claiming that she remained a virgin.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the Tudor dynasty ended. The next king was James I, who represented the Stuart dynasty. This dynasty ruled England for about a hundred years. The most famous and unfortunate monarch of the Stuart dynasty was Charles I. During his reign, he brought the country's economy to a complete collapse. As a result, popular unrest arose, which resulted in a full-fledged revolution. The king was executed, and royal power was abolished. The country was ruled by military dictator Oliver Cromwell.

The revival of the royal dynasty in England

After the death of Cromwell, the monarchy was restored in England. Charles II, the son of the executed monarch, became king. This happened in 1660, and in 1707 a new union state appeared in the British Isles. This was due to the conclusion of the union between England and Scotland. This is how the Kingdom of Great Britain was born.

Throughout the centuries of the development of the English monarchy, there was such an authority as the royal council. The king could not completely control it, but was only a part of it. Gradually, the royal council was transformed into a parliament, which appeared during the reign of King John the Landless. In 1707, the English Parliament was dissolved and replaced by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

No royal decree or law could pass without the approval of Parliament. The supreme power in the country was exercised according to the principle of "the power of the monarch through parliament." At the same time, the constitution began to take shape, which was originally a collection of laws and norms, which were based on ancient customs.

The weakening of the power of the English monarchs

From the beginning of the 18th century, the English Parliament increased its influence on the monarchy. The king was left with less and less power. A new era of the English monarchy began with the coming to power of the Hanoverian dynasty. For the first time in history, representatives of the German dynasty received power in the country. Prior to this, all English kings considered France and Scotland their homeland, as they had Scottish or French roots.

The new era no longer concerned only the interests of Great Britain, since the sphere of interests of the crown extended to the whole of Europe, because the kings of England were connected by kinship nodes with the royal lines of Prussia and Russia. This trend was approved by the English Parliament in 1701, by passing the Act of Succession to the Throne. It clearly stipulated that the monarch of Great Britain should not be a Catholic. Modern historians consider this decision an eye on future marriages with European royal houses, but most likely, the House of Lords simply wanted to make the great-grandson of Charles I king.

George I, great-grandson of Charles I, ascended the throne in 1714. Behind him, the British throne was received by George II, who became the last English monarch born outside the kingdom. It was during the reign of this monarch that Parliament received enormous powers. It must be said that although Parliament consisted of two chambers, the House of Commons was practically deprived of rights, since the Lords often outbid or intimidated deputies, dictating their demands.

The last representative of the Hanoverian dynasty was Victoria I. The era of her reign was called the "Victorian era". Under this queen, England became the most powerful power in the world, with huge colonies. The British Commonwealth included the following countries:

  1. Canada;
  2. South Africa;
  3. Australia;
  4. India.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, England had more land than any state. The huge fleet of the empire brought wealth from all over the world.

Saxe-Coburg Goth dynasty on the throne of Great Britain

Queen Victoria died in 1901, ending the Hanoverian dynasty. It was replaced by another German royal family called the Saxe-Coburg Goth dynasty. Its peculiarity was that the representatives of this family were the monarchs of the three largest European powers of that time. The new English monarch, George V, was a cousin of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. In addition, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II was also his cousin. Despite their blood relationship, the monarchs nevertheless dragged Europe into the bloody First World War.

The result of the First World War was the fall of the monarchy in Russia and Germany. If the revolution in Germany forced Wilhelm II to abdicate and flee to the Netherlands, the Russian emperor was soon shot by the Soviet government. The English dynasty of monarchs decided to change its name to Windsor, so that its name would not be associated among Europeans with the First World War.

Windsor dynasty on the throne of Great Britain

The Windsor dynasty received the royal crown in 1917. Since then and to this day, this dynasty has been in power:

  • The first king of this dynasty was George V;
  • He was followed by Edward VIII in 1936. This monarch was never crowned, as he preferred to choose love instead of the royal throne. Parliament did not want to recognize his marriage to Wallis Simpson;
  • In the same year, the second son of George V, George VI, received the crown. This monarch stayed in power for 16 years. During this time, England managed to go through the Second World War. After the end of World War II, Great Britain lost its status as an empire. King George VI did not take any part in the government of the country. The monarch only performed various representative functions. All power in the country belonged to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament and the Prime Minister;
  • Since 1952, and to this day, the royal throne of Great Britain has been occupied by Queen Elizabeth II. She is the daughter of King George VI. The residence of the Queen of England is located at Windsor Castle, where the Queen's reception is also located.

Like all English monarchs of the 20th century, the queen does not participate in the government of the country, and all her orders are more related to the life of the royal court. Nevertheless, the status of the queen is quite high, and her opinion is listened to.

List of duties and powers of the English queen

Since the modern constitutional monarchy severely limits the rights of the queen, her role is reduced to representative functions and is a tribute to tradition. The Queen of Great Britain is responsible to the House of Commons. All decisions of the Queen are discussed by the Cabinet and the Prime Minister.

In turn, all laws that are adopted by Parliament, the Government and the Prime Minister are passed on behalf of the Queen. All this is formal, but traditions and customs play a huge role in conservative Britain. The Queen of England has the right:

  • Appoint foreign ambassadors;
  • May issue or revoke British passports. All passports in the country are formally issued in the Queen's name;
  • Conclude various treaties, agreements and conventions;
  • The Queen can convene and dissolve Parliament, as well as prolong its powers;
  • The Queen can grant pardons to offenders.

As for the duties of the English queen, they are as follows:

  • Decide whether to declare or end the war;
  • Lead the armed forces of Great Britain, although this title is a pure formality;
  • All laws passed by Parliament must be approved by the Queen. In turn, Parliament approves the decisions of the Queen. In fact, the Queen approves all decisions of Parliament, while Parliament approves only those decisions of the Queen that are in its interests;
  • The Queen appoints the judges. Remarkably, all court decisions are made in the name of the queen.

The queen or king is not a person who can be judged in the UK. Civil claims can only be filed against the Crown, which is a symbol of power in the state. The Queen of England cannot change the country's tax laws and cannot change internal laws.

The residence of the English monarchs is Buckingham Palace. In addition, Windsor Castle is considered the second most important residence. Each of the residences has a queen's reception room and living quarters.

Who was the first king of England?

Grandson of Alfred the Great.

King Æthelstan (924-939) was the first true "King of All England". His grandfather, Alfred the Great, was only the King of Wessex, even though he called himself - somewhat optimistically - "King of all the English". When Alfred took the throne, England was still five separate kingdoms. During the life of Alfred, Cornwall was annexed to his possessions, but Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia surrendered to the Viking conquerors.

After one of the battles with the Danes, Alfred was forced to hide in the deep forests of Somerset (where he did not burn any flatbread). Alfred subsequently resumed hostilities against the Danes and eventually reclaimed his old kingdom, making peace after a brilliant victory over the Viking commander Guthrum at Ellington in 878. However, at the same time, it is not clear why, Alfred gave the enemy half of the country (its entire part east of the border between London and Chester). From that moment on, it was called "Dainlo", or "territory of Danish law". In response to this concession, Guthrum agreed to convert to Christianity.

Alfred sought to ensure that none of the Scandinavian invaders could no longer easily raid his kingdom, and immediately set about creating a whole network of fortress cities to protect his territory.

The plan worked. By the time of his grandson's accession to the throne, Wessex's control over all of England was fully secured. At the Battle of Brunanbur in 937, Æthelstan utterly defeated the armies of the kings of Scotland, Strathclyde, and Dublin and established an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in England.

No one can still say exactly where the Brunanbur was located. The most plausible version seems to be Tinsley Wood, near Sheffield.

The last king of "England" - that is, the last who ruled only England and nothing else - was Harold Godwinson, or Harold II. His successor William was no longer just the King of England, but also the Duke of Normandy, so that until 1558, when Calais was finally surrendered to the French, the English crown controlled a very large part of France.

King of England who reigned from 1066 to 1087 The ancestor of the Norman dynasty Zh.: d 1056 Matilda, daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders (d. 1083). Genus. 1027, d. 10 Sept. 1087 William's father, Duke Robert of Normandy, was nicknamed for ... ... All the monarchs of the world

HENRY VIII, King of England- King of England from the Tudor family, who ruled in 1509 1547. Son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Zh.: 1) from 1509 Catherine, daughter of Ferdinand V, King of Spain (b. 1485, d. 1536); 2) from 1533 Anna Boleyn (b. 1501, d. 1536); 3) with ... ... All the monarchs of the world

JOHN LANDLESS, King of England- King of England from the Plantagenet family, who ruled in 1199 1216. Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Zh .: 1) from 1189 Isabella, daughter of Count William of Gloucester (d. 1217); 2) from 1200 Isabella Taillefer, daughter of Count Eymar of Angouleme (d. All the monarchs of the world

HENRY II, King of England- King of England from the Plaitagenet family, who ruled in 1174 1189. Woman: from 1152 Eleanor, daughter of William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1122, d. 1204). Genus. 1133, d. July 6, 1189 Henry was born in Mance; he was the son of an English ... ... All the monarchs of the world

HENRY III, King of England- King of England from the Plantagenet family. who ruled and 1216 1272. Son of John the Landless and Isabella of Angouleme. Woman: from 1236 Eleanor, daughter of Raymond Berengaria V, Duke of Provence (born 1222 (?), died 1291). Genus. 1207, d. 20 November … All the monarchs of the world

WILHELM III, King of England- King of England and Scotland in 1689 1702. Woman: from 1677 Mary, daughter of King James II of England (b. 1662, d. 1694). Genus. 1650, d. On March 8, 1702, William belonged to the glorious and famous House of Orange in Holland. Holland was... All the monarchs of the world

Edward II Plantagenet, King of England- King of England from the Plantagenet family, who ruled in 1307-1327. Son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. Woman: from 1308 Isabella, daughter of King Philip IV of France (b. 1292, d. 1358). Genus. 1284, d. 27 sept. 1327 Edward ascended the throne ... ... All the monarchs of the world

James II, King of England and Scotland- King of England and Scotland from the Stuart dynasty, who ruled in 1685 1688. Son of Charles I and Henrietta of France. J.: 1) since 1659 Anna Gade (b. 1638, d. 1705); 2) since 1673 Maria d Egta, daughter of the Duke of Modena Alphonse IV (born 1658, ... ... All the monarchs of the world

Edward I Plantagenet, King of England- King of England from the Plantagenet family, who ruled in 1272-1307. Son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Zh.: 1) since 1254 Eleanor, daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile (b. 1244, d. 1290); 2) since 1299 Margarita, daughter of King Philip of France ... ... All the monarchs of the world

Edward IV Plantagenet, King of England- King of England from the Plantagenet family, who ruled in 1461-1470, 1471-1483. Woman: from 1464 Elizabeth Woodville (b. 1437, d. 1492). Genus. 1442, d. 9 Apr. 1483 Edward, Earl of March, of the Plantagenet line of York. He was still... ... All the monarchs of the world

Books

  • John, King of England. The most insidious monarch of Europe, Appleby John T.
  • John King of England The most insidious monarch of medieval Europe, Appleby J.. John T. Appleby, author of a number of biographies of English kings of the 11th-13th centuries, on the pages of his book recreates the era of the reign of John the Landless - the son of the great Henry II and brother Richard ...

What I remember from my college course is that whenever a delegation of barons came to discuss their complaints in English, the king listened to them politely, without understanding a word, ended the meeting with "J" accept "and left This, This continued for quite some time after the conquest.

John Lackland must have spoken English quite well: he skillfully negotiated with the provincial barons. However, his own brother's nickname was French: Cœur de Lion. Their father, Henry II, sometimes considered himself king of England and France.

Who was the first king of England to speak English as his first language, and what led to this change in the philosophy of the ruling house?

Ricky

@TylerDurden: Mine is better worded.

TheHonRose

Well, after the Norman Conquest, most of the barons were French, so why did they speak English? A relic of this is found in English today - pork, which eaten by nobles, comes from Old French, pigs, which bred(English) peasants are Old English.

The Mathemagician

I really doubt that the situation you describe actually happened. England is a pragmatic country and translators are not difficult to find.

wogsland

He will never be known as John the first, he will surely be known as John the worst....

Answers

Tyler Durden

Obviously, since my previous answer to this same question type had no votes, it cannot be used to mark this question as a duplicate. So here's an excerpt from the relevant part:

The first kings who were more English than French were the Tudors, beginning with Henry VII. The Tudors married real Englishmen, not French women brought from the Continent. They also started passing laws requiring people to speak English. One of the strangest side effects of being a French-speaking courtier was that non-English languages ​​such as Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish flourished. After all, one can hardly demand that people speak English when the whole court speaks French! The Tudors changed all that. They made English the court language and they also began to require everyone in the kingdom to speak English. Courts and universities also switched to English under the Tudors. There was still a lot of French among the nobles, but the tide changed and English became the standard.

Here is what one scholar wrote:

Although early Tudor policy had established English as the land's primary language, when Henry VII unexpectedly replaced laws published in parallel in French and English in the early 1490s with laws published in English only, it signaled to the nation that the enigmatic English -French legal terminology will henceforth be translated in bulk into English.

"Studies in the History of the English Language" by Christoper Cain.

So you can see that 1490 was really a watershed year when Henry VII made it clear: okay, everyone, we all speak English.

Peter Geerkens

@ Ricky: Henry VII was Welsh! He indulged English middle class .

Peter Geerkens

@Ricky: Because taxes on the middle class were a source of money for the Navy. The fleet of Henry VII laid the foundation for 450 years of British dominance at sea.

Peter Geerkens

@Ricky: Henry VII was the last successful hostile sea invader England - guess why he built a fleet.

The Mathemagician

@PieterGeerkens You post a lot here... most of it is wrong. Henry VII did not build a navy like Henry VIII did. He inherited a fleet of 5 (!) Ships. Although even then they were more perceived as transport for troops rather than warships. Only after the defeat of the Spanish Armada did England turn to war at sea. And the Dutch outnumbered the navy for at least another century.

old cat

I would call William of Orange a successful hostile naval invader.

JLK

Although Henry V made English the official language of government, there is some debate as to whether he or his father Henry IV was the first king to use English as a first language. In general, it was probably Henry IV (for the reasons indicated below), therefore from his predecessor Richard II was the last king whose native the language was French.

AT article "History of the English Language"(from thehistoryofenglish.com) states that "Henry IV, who came to the English throne in 1399, was the first monarch before the conquest, when English became his mother tongue." In the book "French in London" written: "Henry IV (1399-1413), the first king of England since the conquest, whose mother tongue was English" (quoted by Jacqui Hayes).

Henry IV would most likely have been influenced by his father, John of Gaunt, who was a patron of the English language. In addition, by the time of the birth of Henry IV, French was already supplanting English as the first language of the nobility. Douglas Kibby says that "French as a mother tongue is certainly in decline, even among the nobility of Norman origin" by the early 13th century (quoted by Jacqui Hayes).

Considering the question though last English king whose first language was French), we must also consider whether any king after Henry IV had French as his first language. If we accept that Henry IV used English as his first language, it is highly likely that Henry V did the same (given the general trend towards English).

Henry VI can be seen as a possibility because his father died when he was six months old (and therefore had no influence) and his mother was French (Catherine of Valois) but she had little involvement in his upbringing as she was not trusted by the English nobles. In addition, Henry VI's father Henry V made English the official language of government, and English continued to be promoted during the reign of Henry VI (according to Douglas Kibby). Then we must also bear in mind that in the Hundred Years' War, France was the enemy. French in London say: "Under Henry V, the endless quarrel with France led to a general rejection of everything French." None of this is conclusive evidence, but it is pretty strong. In these circumstances, it is also unlikely that the later kings Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III would have been raised with French as their first language.

English was probably spoken by kings, since at least Edward I learned it from his tutors (and his father Henry III also spoke it well). By the time of Edward III, it seems to have been widely used among the nobility, some of whom actually had to learn French from tutors.