Kings and queens for the Life in the UK test
Updated ยท Based on the official handbook (3rd edition)
You don't need to learn every monarch, but the test often asks about the ones below. For each, learn one or two things they are remembered for.
Before the Tudors
- Alfred the Great
- Anglo-Saxon king who defeated the Vikings in the 9th century.
- William the Conqueror
- Duke of Normandy who won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and became king of England.
- King John
- Forced by his noblemen to agree to Magna Carta in 1215.
- Edward I
- Built castles such as Caernarfon in Wales.
- Robert the Bruce
- King of Scots who defeated the English at Bannockburn in 1314.
- Henry V
- Won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
The Tudors
- Henry VII
- The first Tudor king, from 1485. He married Elizabeth of York, uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York.
- Henry VIII
- Broke with Rome and set up the Church of England. He had six wives; two of them, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were executed.
- Edward VI
- Henry VIII's only legitimate son to survive infancy.
- Mary I
- A committed Catholic, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, known as 'Bloody Mary' for persecuting Protestants.
- Elizabeth I
- Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. England defeated the Spanish Armada in her reign, in 1588.
The Stuarts
- James VI and I
- King of Scotland who also became king of England in 1603.
- Charles I
- Fought Parliament in the civil war and was executed in 1649.
- Oliver Cromwell
- Not a king: a Parliamentary general who ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.
- Charles II
- Became king when the monarchy was restored in 1660.
- James II
- A Catholic king who fled when William of Orange was invited to take the throne in 1688.
- William III and Mary II
- Took the throne in the Glorious Revolution. The Bill of Rights of 1689 limited the power of the monarch.
- Queen Anne
- Reigned from 1702 to 1714. The Act of Union of 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
From Hanover to today
- George I
- From Hanover, Queen Anne's nearest Protestant relative. He became king in 1714.
- Victoria
- Became queen in 1837 at 18 and reigned for almost 64 years, while Britain became a leading industrial power.
- Elizabeth II
- The monarch when the 3rd edition of the handbook was written, so the handbook refers to the Queen.
- Charles III
- King since September 2022. New citizens now make their oath or affirmation of allegiance to him.
Test what you've learned
Free practice questions with answers and explanations.