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The Kings and Queens of England received the loyalty of their subject in
various degrees. To understand the politics of the day, and the reasons
the people in the Winthrop fleet of 1630 felt threatened, and the reasons the
people of 1772 felt the English king was "foreign", it helps to understand the line of succession of
the monarchs of those times. We will set out what is most helpful, and it
with some color coding and boldface that may it easier to follow.
Henry VII (TUDOR) ( d. 1509) left children which included
Margaret and Henry VIII.
Henry VIII, secured parliamentary authorization to will
the crown as he chose among the children of his various wives. With a disregard
of the niceties of law , he fixed the succession to be first this son Edward,
than his daughter Mary, then his daughter Elizabeth. When Henry VIII died
in 1547, this son Edward VI (d. 1553 at the age
of 16) carried forward the Church of England his father had started, by
authorizing the first Church of
England Prayer Book. After Edward's death the crown went to his sister
Mary I . Mary I, known as "bloody
Mary" attempted to restore Catholicism and married the very Catholic King
Phillip of Spain. Fortunately, when Mary died in 1558, her successor Elizabeth I restored calm and peace and order to England.
Elizabeth I was a successful monarch, and a "tough act to
follow:" When Elizabeth died in 1603 she had no direct descendents.
Hence the powers of the time looked backward in her line to where her father
Henry VIII and Margaret had been siblings. Margaret had married James
IV of Scotland (STUART). James IV of Scotland
and Mary had left children that included James V, King of Scotts who, in
turn, left a child
Mary, Queen of Scotts, who, in turn had a son James
VI of Scotland. With the death of Elizabeth I
the English crown was placed on James VI of Scotland
who
became the king of England, known as James I of England, (STUART)
d. 1625
James VI of Scotland and I of England died in
1625 and his son Charles I became king. After a troublesome session with
parliament, Charles I in 1629 resolved to rule without parliament and dissolved
it. In
the reign of Charles I the English Civil War with great violence and
turmoil turned the kingdom upside
down, ending with the execution of Charles I in 1649.
With the death of Charles I, the crown went into
"limbo", while Cromwell became Lord Protector of the
"commonwealth". The commonwealth was formally
established in 1653 and lasted from 1649 to 1660 The monarchy was restored at the
death of Cromwell and the crown went to Charles II
(d. 1685). His son James became James
II. One of his children was Mary,
who had married William II of Orange.
When James II died, the crown went to his daughter Mary,
who became Mary II (d. 1694) and thence to
her son William
III (ORANGE).
When William III of Orange died in 1702, the line of
succession reverted back to Stuart line of
James II, to wit: to James II's daughter Anne I 1714
When Anne I died in 1714 she had no direct descendents.
The powers of the politics of the time looked
backwards to the line of James VI of Scotland and I of
England, James VI of Scotland and I of England had left a line that
married into the Electors of Hanover who ruled an area in what is today Germany. The Hanover Elector at the
time was George, who became George I of England I (HANOVER) d. 1727
So with the death of George I in 1717, there succeeded
George
II (d. 1760), and George III, who had a long reign, through the
American Revolution. the American war of 1812, and the Napoleonic Wars,
dieing in 1820
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