Royal Families - England 802 to 1603

There have been kings in England for over 2000 years. Around the 5th century the leadership evolved into 7 kingdoms, known as the Heptracy. The Kingdom of Wessex was founded in A.D. 519 by a chieftain named Cedric. Prior to 800 A.D. they were mostly tribal, with spheres of influence across the Island and around 800 the Wessex Kings. Anglo-Saxon kingship was a blend of the mystical and the practical. The function of the king was to protect his people, by making war if necessary, and by giving them laws to obey. He was also sanctified by holy rites, which evolved into the coronation as we know it, the modern form of which dates from the crowning of King Edgar in 973.

I have chosen to start my story of English Royalty with the first ruler who properly may be accorded the title of monarch, Ecgberht of Wessex. Egbert was acknowledged in his time as an outstanding sovereign, who, by the end of his reign, was recognized by other, lesser, kings as overlord of most of England. So, let's begin with Ecgberht. Unfortunately, his supremacy did not long survive his death, and the authority of his immediate descendants, the great Alfred included, was more or less confined to Wessex. It was not until more than a century after Ecgberht's death that the monarchy was properly established in England under King Athelstan.

My family ties into English Royalty with Edmund Ironside, the 17th King of England, who was my 38th Great-Grandfather, and from there directly to Egbert, and via great uncles, aunts and cousins to Elizabeth II.