Kings of England
1135 - 1160: William III (House of Normandy) [1]
1160 - 1182: Henry II (House of Normandy) [2]
1182 - 1188: Henry III (House of Normandy) [3]
Kings of England, Princes of Kiev
1188 - 1245: Sophia I (House of Kiev) [4]
1245 - 1259: Gleb I (House of Kiev) [5]
1259 - 1277: Stanislav I (House of Kiev) [6]
1277 - 1278: Paul I (House of Kiev) [7]
Kings of England
1278 - 1301: Paul I (House of Kiev) [7]
1301 - 1310: Paul II (House of Kiev) [8]
1310 - 1315: Tatiana I (House of Kiev) [9]
1315 - 1323: War of the English Succession [10]
1323 - 1365: Robert I (House of Bruce) [11]
1365 - 1377: William IV (House of Bruce) [12]
1377 - 1381: Philip I (House of Capet) [13]
Kings of England and France
1381 - 1402: Philip I & VII (House of Capet) [13]
1402 - 1444: Marie I (House of Capet) [14]
Kings of England and France, Dukes of Burgundy
1444 - 1477: Alexander (House of Burgundy) [15]
1477 - 1505: Victoria I (House of Burgundy) [16]
Monarchs of the Dual Kingdoms and Dukes of Burgundy
1505 - 1527: Victoria I (House of Burgundy) [16]
1527 - 1589: Henry IV (House of Lancaster) [17]
1589 - 1590: William IV (House of Lancaster) [18]
1590 - 1625: Victoria II (House of Lancaster) [19]
[1] The only legitimate son of Henry I of England, William almost died before even coming to the throne. On November 25, 1120 when he was only 17, a ship he was on called "the White Ship" sank in the English channel and William was one of only three survivors (this is the POD, IOTL, there were only two survivors and William died, this sparking the succession crisis called "the Anarchy"). Just fifteen years later, the prince succeeded his father to the throne of England as William III. The son of Matilda of Scotland and a grandson of Margaret of Wessex, he was the first king of England since the Norman conquest to be descended from the old Anglo-Saxon monarchs. William had a rather uneventful but effective reign marked with various peace agreements as well as a shaky relationship with leaders in the church. He died in 1160 and was succeeded by Henry, his only son by his wife Matilda of Anjou.
[2] Born in 1121 Prince Henry of Lincoln was the grandson of Henry I and named after him, at 5 years old, he was married in proxy to 11 year old, Gertrude of Süpplingenburg, the daughter of Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor.
The couple meet for the first time in 1136, when the 15 year old, Herny was able to consermate his marriage by having Gertrude pregent at 21, Gertrude gave birth to another three, until her death at the age of 28 in 1143.
After her death, still young, Prince Henry then married Welsh princess, Maegin ab Owain Gwynedd, who gave him another two children.
His twenty two years, saw him strengthen his control on the English country, his alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and Wales saw him able to also have a stronger hold on his French territory, which during his reign grew to the point that King Louis VII of France, fleeing Paris and living in Marseille, in fear of his life.
[3] Henry III was the eldest of Henry II's sons, having already been nearing middle age upon his ascension to the throne. His reign would be characterized by a frustrated pursuit of a male heir-none of his three wives gave him a son, and he thought to legitimize one of his bastards to solve the issue. However, the nobility was wary of crowning a bastard, so Henry was forced into instead naming his only legitimate surviving progeny, a granddaughter, Princess Sophia of Kiev as heir.
[4] From her own birth which had killed her mother, Mathilda, Sophia was seen as a survivor and the fact that she was able to make the long journey from Kiev to London without mishap at the age of five to become the first Norman Queen of England, despite a good number of her attendants and even her guardian uncle Vassily, the younger brother of her father Sviatoslav III, Prince of Kiev] not surviving the long, treacherous journey due to drownings, skirmishes and even three attempted kidnappings impressed her initially hesitant subjects a great deal. Though, she initially was unable to speak even a word of Norman French much less Anglo-Saxon English and had never seen Latin script instead of her native Cyrillic, Sophia proved to be a very quick study and by the time she was fourteen spoke not only her new land's rulers' language but became the first monarch since Eadward the Confessor to speak Anglo-Saxon English of the land's subjects. By the time she 21 and came of age, she had survived no fewer than five Regents and defied the Norman barons to choose Prince Fernando of Navarre [son of Sancho VI] as her consort. Although King Consort Ferdinand attempted to rule in his own right, he did not possess his wife's proficiency for the French Norman or Anglo-Saxon English languages so it came that he relied on Queen Sophia to translate for him what he believed were his own commands but, in reality, were her actual ones. In any case, despite these conflicts [and his taking several mistresses who weren't as picky re his language skills as the Norman barons were], the royal couple did produce a large number of surviving sons before King Ferdinand's death from the Plague in 1220 [and Queen Sophia was able to openly rule on her own from that point onwards]. The eldest surviving son of the Kievan- Navarrese duo succeeded Queen Sophia as King Gleb upon her death at age 63.
[5] Gleb favored his Kievan roots. He attempted to synthesize a united kingdom between Navarre, Kiev, Normandy, and England. This did not come out right due to his name. The united realm fell into turmoil and Gleb pioneered the use of Russian cavalry as the Royal Household Guards. Religious tension also plagued his reign and Gleb adopted his great nephew, Stanislav, as his heir. It is said that the travel between all four realms aged him prematurely. He put a great emphasis on shipyards in England to help him travel. Gelb died in Kiev while trying to put down a rebellion.
[6] Stanislav spent the majority of his reign juggling between the various factions in his kingdom. In 1270, his cousin Vladimir revolted against him, seizing Kiev and forcing Stanislav to return from England. Gathering a force from his other territories, he recaptured Kiev in the summer of 1274, but continued resistance from the Russian nobility meant that he stayed the remainder of his reign ruling purely from Kiev, appointing the Duke of York as his regent in England. He died June 27, 1277, of the pox, leaving his son Paul to inherit.
[7] Paul gave up the rule ship of Kiev in favor of England to the dying Vladimir and his heir, Prince Vladimir the Younger. The reason he did this was officially due to the distances involved and a preference for the richer Kingdom of England. In truth Paul was a hedonist (later dubbed the 'English Caligula') who distained war as 'too expensive' and proceeded to spend his reign in a state of debauchery that came to be called 'the Babylonian Period' in English history. By the 1290's the coffers of England had been bled nearly dry, so the King looted the churches, killing any priests who objected, ignored his own excommunication from the church and instead witnessed the completion of his 'master work', the Palace of Goldhall, which was the most expensive and most luxurious building constructed in Europe in the entire Middle Ages. Paul was finally killed by the ninth plot against his life in 1301 and his heir, Paul II was placed on the throne.
[8] Paul II's 9 year reign was one of the most unstable periods in English history. His father had granted lands and estates to his many bastard sons, most of whom would attempt to claim the throne at some point in Paul's tenure as king. His eldest bastard brother, Henry of Norfolk, was the first and most dangerous of the claimants. He was an energetic figure, while Paul II was known for being submissive, his enemies calling him 'craven'. Alan FitzPaul was the only loyalist bastard, and as such was appointed to lead an army east to deal with Henry. They met on the field of Hastings, where their ancestor William the Conqueror claimed his throne. Fierce fighting lasted for nearly two days, before Alan FitzPaul was struck by an arrow and fell off his horse, dead. Henry continued his march to London, only to be met by another claimant-Owen of Cornwall, the half-Welsh son of Paul I. Henry fell in battle, as did Owen, leaving Paul as undisputed king of England by 1309. However, a year later he himself died when an outbreak of the bloody flux struck the capital, leaving his infant daughter, Tatiana, as the only heir of his body.
[9] Tatiana's "rule" only lasted five years, and the entire time was spent with various regents ranging from her mother to the King of Scotland. Tatiana died in 1315, the last of her house, of a fall from her pony, though the circumstances have forever remained suspicious, many chroniclers pointedly remarking on how the only injury to her was a broken neck. Her death left the throne of England up for grabs for the first time since the death of Edward the Confessor. Her "tragic death" also led her to be beatified as Saint Tatiana in 1505 by the Church.
[10] Upon the death of Tatiana without an heir, the English nobility were confronted with the fact that there were literally dozens of people with claim to the throne. They attempted to elect John, the Duke of Norfolk as King, but 'King John' was discovered to have died while in route to the meeting and is generally not considered to have been an English monarch. Since he lacked any living children at the time the situation fell into chaos as several English nobles claimed to be King, while the Kings of Scotland, France, the Duke of Burgundy, and Tatiana's distant Kiev relations all claimed the English crown. The War was fought primarily in England, though a few battles were fought in France and the eight years of conflict left the nation devastated. But in the end it was Robert, the illegitamet son of King Robert of Scotalnd who prevailed and became King Robert I of England.
[11] Lord Robert Bruce was an illegitimate son of King Robert I of Scotland and an unknown mother, born in 1294. He was knighted and awarded the royal arms at Bannockburn.
At the age of 21, his father, gave him men to support his claim to the English throne, his military adviser was Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife, who would later sit in the English court.
He marched with his army south, within a year, he gained the seat of York and at the end of the eight years war of English Succession, had by force been elected by all the English noblemen as the true King of England.
His basturd state was pushed out of the window, after he compared himself to King William I, and to secure his reign married Lady Elizabeth of Eltham, in 1324 at the age of 29, who gave him three children, with one being his son and successor William IV to the English throne.
His fathers alliance with France saw a tighter rule between France and England, his daughter marrying Daphne Louis, who would be later, King Louis XI of France. He died at age 71, of hydration after contracting diarrihea and sickness.
[12] William IV is a controversial figure in English history, primarily due to the failed invasion of Scotland that would lead to much grief for the House of Bruce. He was already in middle age at his ascension to the throne, married to Princess Mary of Scotland, his first cousin. He had three sons by her, and a daughter who died in infancy-none of his children would survive his military failures. Despite this, he must also be remembered for centralizing the power of the English crown towards himself, reforming the justice system to be more partial to his wishes, and ruthlessly crushing any opposition to his own rule. In 1370, his uncle King James of Scotland died without a clear heir, and William chose to press his own (illegitimate) claim to the throne, arguing that he and his wife should become the new King and Queen of Scotland. However, this met with fierce opposition from the Scots, and started a long and brutal war that ended in 1375 with the death of King William's three sons in the disastrous battle of Galloway. In order to secure the succession, he named his sister's son, Philip of France as his heir, and died two years later during an outbreak of plague in London.
[13] Philip of France was the second son of Louis XI of France and Joan of England, not expected to become King of France since his brother Dauphin Louis already had a son, Prince Henri with his wife pregnant with another he accepted the English throne enthusiastically, however he didn't give up his claims to the French throne. While not greeted warmly by the nobility, Philip quickly got to work mending fences with Scotland and sealed the Treaty of Liverpool with a marriage to Mary of Scots. However events in France would overtake his work, his brother's wife died in childbirth, giving birth to a stillborn girl, then an outbreak of smallpox killed both the Dauphin and his son, leaving Philip as the heir to France. In 1381 his father died of a fever, thus making Philip the ruler of both kingdoms. He spent the rest of his reign alternating between England and France, and did much to improve the roads and navies of both nations to make this easier on himself and his court. He desired greater unity between his two realms, but opposition from factions in both nations made this impossible. Not to mention that his wife only bore him five daughters, meaning that his eldest daughter, Marie, was in line for the English throne, but the French were divided on her succession to the French throne, however Philip negotiated with the most powerful of them to agree to the 'Pragmatic Sanction' which would allow his daughter to rule both realms. However on his deathbed he warned her that she would have to fight for what was hers and that she would need to be strong.
[14] The first challenge to Queen Marie's rule came, surprisingly, from England rather than France. The Duke of York, James, had rallied an army of men to attempt to free the English from France, as Marie was seen as being a French monarch rather than an English one. In order to settle the matter, Marie obtained the support of her distant cousin, Henri de Anjou, by promising to marry him. He led his forces into Normandy and from there across the channel into England, where he defeated James in the decisive Battle of London. Unfortunately, he took a tumble from his horse shortly after the battle and died, leaving the Duchy of Anjou to his closest relative, Marie herself. With the men from her new lands, she successfully defeated another rebel, Duke Henry of Cornwall. By 1412, she was relatively unchallenged, as most of the Englishmen had accepted her as queen-but France was another matter. Her status as the most eligible maiden in France prompted Duke Louis of Aquitaine to kidnap her and force her to marry him. Her other suitors, particularly Duke Arnaud of Burgundy, contested the marriage and invaded Aquitaine. A fierce civil war broke out, eventually ending with the death of Duke Louis. The marriage between Marie and Louis was declared invalid on the grounds of consanguinity (a largely formal gesture, considering he was already dead) and was pressured heavily into marrying Duke Arnaud. Fortunately, she was able to avoid another unhappy marriage by earning the support of Count Denis of Mortain, her second cousin, and with his aid organizing a convenient accident for Duke Arnaud. The rest of her reign was spent in peace, save for a short border war in 1442 with Navarra that ended in the annexation of Navarra into France, though Marie did not claim the title Queen of Navarra. In August of 1444, Marie caught a pox that left her on her deathbed, and as her final act appointed an heir, not one of her own body (as she had never married) but instead her nephew, Alexander of Burgundy. She then passed away, leaving the fate of the Dual Monarchy into their hands.
[15] Alexander (Alexandre in French) was the son of Joan of France, the second eldest of Philip's daughters and Duke Charles (brother and successor of Arnaud) of Burgundy. His reign was noted for tense relations between the Dual Monarchy and Aragon due to the French annexation of Navarre, several border smirches were fought though a formal war was never declared. Alexander married Margaret of Scotland to reinforce the peace with the Scots, even while launching several programs in both of his Kingdoms in order to draw them closer to the Dual Kingdoms. During Alexander's reign a real desire to make the Dual Crown permanent truly began to emerge among the nobility in both Kingdoms. This was encouraged by Alexander, though he did not live to see it through, leaving it to his niece, Victoria to complete his work.
[16] Victoria I was the eldest niece of Alexander as the man had no sons nor any daughters. She was the daughter of his brother Louis, who passed away several years ago. Victoria continued her uncle's work but suffered many setbacks due to stubborn nobles. However, through diplomacy she was able to alleviate many concerns and in the 1505, the Dual Crown Act was signed by every significant noble in England and France. Finally in 1506, Victoria married Richard of York, a prominent noble of England. Their son _____, born in 1507 was designated as heir to the Dual Kingdom and the Duchy of Burgundy. He succeeded his mother after her death from illness in 1527
[17] Henry IV, son of Victoria I inherited his mother's throne at the age of 19 and ruled as King for 62 years. Henry IV was not as diplomatic as his mother and so struggled to keep the nobles of the Dual Monarchy happy but thanks in part to his uncle William of Lancaster was able to stave off a civil war in 1548. William of Lancaster's death in 1569 actually saw his son Richard become Henry IV's closest advisor, having been his friend for nearly twenty years. Together they oversaw a peaceful period of twenty years where no nobles threatened to revolt. Henry IV died in 1589 and was succeeded by his son William IV
[18] William IV inherited his father's throne in December 1589 and died in a shipwreck in March 1590. Having ruled for a grand total of 4 months, he was succeeded by his only surviving sibling, his sister Victoria II
[19] Victoria II inherited her brother's throne in the Dual Kingdoms and was immediately beset by the First French Civil War (1590-1598) which was started by Charles VI, Duke of Berry, who was incensed that a woman was ruling France again. Charles however died in the fifth year of the war and his successor Robert III of Berry immediately continued the war. Robert III was defeated in 1598. However the Second French Civil War (1599-1610) was started by Duke Henri of Bourbon after Victoria II raised taxes in France as a punishment for the previous Civil War. The Duke was able to hold out for eleven years before his final defeat outside of Paris in 1610. Victoria was furious with the French nobility after this as they whilst none of them aided Duke Henri, they did not aid her either so she stripped all the current nobles of thier titles and gave them to her close relatives and closest friends. This led to the Third French Civil War (1612-1623) which was led by the former Duke of Normandy, Robert of Normandy who commanded an army of 35,000 against the Queen. Finally, after defeating the third Civil War of her reign, Victoria II decided to try and alleviate tensions. She lowered taxes in France and restored all but the former Duke of Normandy to thier former titles. Robert would suffer in prison until his death in 1624. Victoria II then ruled for two more years before dying from illness. She was succeeded by her son ____, who was a member of the House of Lancaster due to Victoria's marriage to her cousin John of Lancaster
1135 - 1160: William III (House of Normandy) [1]
1160 - 1182: Henry II (House of Normandy) [2]
1182 - 1188: Henry III (House of Normandy) [3]
Kings of England, Princes of Kiev
1188 - 1245: Sophia I (House of Kiev) [4]
1245 - 1259: Gleb I (House of Kiev) [5]
1259 - 1277: Stanislav I (House of Kiev) [6]
1277 - 1278: Paul I (House of Kiev) [7]
Kings of England
1278 - 1301: Paul I (House of Kiev) [7]
1301 - 1310: Paul II (House of Kiev) [8]
1310 - 1315: Tatiana I (House of Kiev) [9]
1315 - 1323: War of the English Succession [10]
1323 - 1365: Robert I (House of Bruce) [11]
1365 - 1377: William IV (House of Bruce) [12]
1377 - 1381: Philip I (House of Capet) [13]
Kings of England and France
1381 - 1402: Philip I & VII (House of Capet) [13]
1402 - 1444: Marie I (House of Capet) [14]
Kings of England and France, Dukes of Burgundy
1444 - 1477: Alexander (House of Burgundy) [15]
1477 - 1505: Victoria I (House of Burgundy) [16]
Monarchs of the Dual Kingdoms and Dukes of Burgundy
1505 - 1527: Victoria I (House of Burgundy) [16]
1527 - 1589: Henry IV (House of Lancaster) [17]
1589 - 1590: William IV (House of Lancaster) [18]
1590 - 1625: Victoria II (House of Lancaster) [19]
[1] The only legitimate son of Henry I of England, William almost died before even coming to the throne. On November 25, 1120 when he was only 17, a ship he was on called "the White Ship" sank in the English channel and William was one of only three survivors (this is the POD, IOTL, there were only two survivors and William died, this sparking the succession crisis called "the Anarchy"). Just fifteen years later, the prince succeeded his father to the throne of England as William III. The son of Matilda of Scotland and a grandson of Margaret of Wessex, he was the first king of England since the Norman conquest to be descended from the old Anglo-Saxon monarchs. William had a rather uneventful but effective reign marked with various peace agreements as well as a shaky relationship with leaders in the church. He died in 1160 and was succeeded by Henry, his only son by his wife Matilda of Anjou.
[2] Born in 1121 Prince Henry of Lincoln was the grandson of Henry I and named after him, at 5 years old, he was married in proxy to 11 year old, Gertrude of Süpplingenburg, the daughter of Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor.
The couple meet for the first time in 1136, when the 15 year old, Herny was able to consermate his marriage by having Gertrude pregent at 21, Gertrude gave birth to another three, until her death at the age of 28 in 1143.
After her death, still young, Prince Henry then married Welsh princess, Maegin ab Owain Gwynedd, who gave him another two children.
His twenty two years, saw him strengthen his control on the English country, his alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and Wales saw him able to also have a stronger hold on his French territory, which during his reign grew to the point that King Louis VII of France, fleeing Paris and living in Marseille, in fear of his life.
[3] Henry III was the eldest of Henry II's sons, having already been nearing middle age upon his ascension to the throne. His reign would be characterized by a frustrated pursuit of a male heir-none of his three wives gave him a son, and he thought to legitimize one of his bastards to solve the issue. However, the nobility was wary of crowning a bastard, so Henry was forced into instead naming his only legitimate surviving progeny, a granddaughter, Princess Sophia of Kiev as heir.
[4] From her own birth which had killed her mother, Mathilda, Sophia was seen as a survivor and the fact that she was able to make the long journey from Kiev to London without mishap at the age of five to become the first Norman Queen of England, despite a good number of her attendants and even her guardian uncle Vassily, the younger brother of her father Sviatoslav III, Prince of Kiev] not surviving the long, treacherous journey due to drownings, skirmishes and even three attempted kidnappings impressed her initially hesitant subjects a great deal. Though, she initially was unable to speak even a word of Norman French much less Anglo-Saxon English and had never seen Latin script instead of her native Cyrillic, Sophia proved to be a very quick study and by the time she was fourteen spoke not only her new land's rulers' language but became the first monarch since Eadward the Confessor to speak Anglo-Saxon English of the land's subjects. By the time she 21 and came of age, she had survived no fewer than five Regents and defied the Norman barons to choose Prince Fernando of Navarre [son of Sancho VI] as her consort. Although King Consort Ferdinand attempted to rule in his own right, he did not possess his wife's proficiency for the French Norman or Anglo-Saxon English languages so it came that he relied on Queen Sophia to translate for him what he believed were his own commands but, in reality, were her actual ones. In any case, despite these conflicts [and his taking several mistresses who weren't as picky re his language skills as the Norman barons were], the royal couple did produce a large number of surviving sons before King Ferdinand's death from the Plague in 1220 [and Queen Sophia was able to openly rule on her own from that point onwards]. The eldest surviving son of the Kievan- Navarrese duo succeeded Queen Sophia as King Gleb upon her death at age 63.
[5] Gleb favored his Kievan roots. He attempted to synthesize a united kingdom between Navarre, Kiev, Normandy, and England. This did not come out right due to his name. The united realm fell into turmoil and Gleb pioneered the use of Russian cavalry as the Royal Household Guards. Religious tension also plagued his reign and Gleb adopted his great nephew, Stanislav, as his heir. It is said that the travel between all four realms aged him prematurely. He put a great emphasis on shipyards in England to help him travel. Gelb died in Kiev while trying to put down a rebellion.
[6] Stanislav spent the majority of his reign juggling between the various factions in his kingdom. In 1270, his cousin Vladimir revolted against him, seizing Kiev and forcing Stanislav to return from England. Gathering a force from his other territories, he recaptured Kiev in the summer of 1274, but continued resistance from the Russian nobility meant that he stayed the remainder of his reign ruling purely from Kiev, appointing the Duke of York as his regent in England. He died June 27, 1277, of the pox, leaving his son Paul to inherit.
[7] Paul gave up the rule ship of Kiev in favor of England to the dying Vladimir and his heir, Prince Vladimir the Younger. The reason he did this was officially due to the distances involved and a preference for the richer Kingdom of England. In truth Paul was a hedonist (later dubbed the 'English Caligula') who distained war as 'too expensive' and proceeded to spend his reign in a state of debauchery that came to be called 'the Babylonian Period' in English history. By the 1290's the coffers of England had been bled nearly dry, so the King looted the churches, killing any priests who objected, ignored his own excommunication from the church and instead witnessed the completion of his 'master work', the Palace of Goldhall, which was the most expensive and most luxurious building constructed in Europe in the entire Middle Ages. Paul was finally killed by the ninth plot against his life in 1301 and his heir, Paul II was placed on the throne.
[8] Paul II's 9 year reign was one of the most unstable periods in English history. His father had granted lands and estates to his many bastard sons, most of whom would attempt to claim the throne at some point in Paul's tenure as king. His eldest bastard brother, Henry of Norfolk, was the first and most dangerous of the claimants. He was an energetic figure, while Paul II was known for being submissive, his enemies calling him 'craven'. Alan FitzPaul was the only loyalist bastard, and as such was appointed to lead an army east to deal with Henry. They met on the field of Hastings, where their ancestor William the Conqueror claimed his throne. Fierce fighting lasted for nearly two days, before Alan FitzPaul was struck by an arrow and fell off his horse, dead. Henry continued his march to London, only to be met by another claimant-Owen of Cornwall, the half-Welsh son of Paul I. Henry fell in battle, as did Owen, leaving Paul as undisputed king of England by 1309. However, a year later he himself died when an outbreak of the bloody flux struck the capital, leaving his infant daughter, Tatiana, as the only heir of his body.
[9] Tatiana's "rule" only lasted five years, and the entire time was spent with various regents ranging from her mother to the King of Scotland. Tatiana died in 1315, the last of her house, of a fall from her pony, though the circumstances have forever remained suspicious, many chroniclers pointedly remarking on how the only injury to her was a broken neck. Her death left the throne of England up for grabs for the first time since the death of Edward the Confessor. Her "tragic death" also led her to be beatified as Saint Tatiana in 1505 by the Church.
[10] Upon the death of Tatiana without an heir, the English nobility were confronted with the fact that there were literally dozens of people with claim to the throne. They attempted to elect John, the Duke of Norfolk as King, but 'King John' was discovered to have died while in route to the meeting and is generally not considered to have been an English monarch. Since he lacked any living children at the time the situation fell into chaos as several English nobles claimed to be King, while the Kings of Scotland, France, the Duke of Burgundy, and Tatiana's distant Kiev relations all claimed the English crown. The War was fought primarily in England, though a few battles were fought in France and the eight years of conflict left the nation devastated. But in the end it was Robert, the illegitamet son of King Robert of Scotalnd who prevailed and became King Robert I of England.
[11] Lord Robert Bruce was an illegitimate son of King Robert I of Scotland and an unknown mother, born in 1294. He was knighted and awarded the royal arms at Bannockburn.
At the age of 21, his father, gave him men to support his claim to the English throne, his military adviser was Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife, who would later sit in the English court.
He marched with his army south, within a year, he gained the seat of York and at the end of the eight years war of English Succession, had by force been elected by all the English noblemen as the true King of England.
His basturd state was pushed out of the window, after he compared himself to King William I, and to secure his reign married Lady Elizabeth of Eltham, in 1324 at the age of 29, who gave him three children, with one being his son and successor William IV to the English throne.
His fathers alliance with France saw a tighter rule between France and England, his daughter marrying Daphne Louis, who would be later, King Louis XI of France. He died at age 71, of hydration after contracting diarrihea and sickness.
[12] William IV is a controversial figure in English history, primarily due to the failed invasion of Scotland that would lead to much grief for the House of Bruce. He was already in middle age at his ascension to the throne, married to Princess Mary of Scotland, his first cousin. He had three sons by her, and a daughter who died in infancy-none of his children would survive his military failures. Despite this, he must also be remembered for centralizing the power of the English crown towards himself, reforming the justice system to be more partial to his wishes, and ruthlessly crushing any opposition to his own rule. In 1370, his uncle King James of Scotland died without a clear heir, and William chose to press his own (illegitimate) claim to the throne, arguing that he and his wife should become the new King and Queen of Scotland. However, this met with fierce opposition from the Scots, and started a long and brutal war that ended in 1375 with the death of King William's three sons in the disastrous battle of Galloway. In order to secure the succession, he named his sister's son, Philip of France as his heir, and died two years later during an outbreak of plague in London.
[13] Philip of France was the second son of Louis XI of France and Joan of England, not expected to become King of France since his brother Dauphin Louis already had a son, Prince Henri with his wife pregnant with another he accepted the English throne enthusiastically, however he didn't give up his claims to the French throne. While not greeted warmly by the nobility, Philip quickly got to work mending fences with Scotland and sealed the Treaty of Liverpool with a marriage to Mary of Scots. However events in France would overtake his work, his brother's wife died in childbirth, giving birth to a stillborn girl, then an outbreak of smallpox killed both the Dauphin and his son, leaving Philip as the heir to France. In 1381 his father died of a fever, thus making Philip the ruler of both kingdoms. He spent the rest of his reign alternating between England and France, and did much to improve the roads and navies of both nations to make this easier on himself and his court. He desired greater unity between his two realms, but opposition from factions in both nations made this impossible. Not to mention that his wife only bore him five daughters, meaning that his eldest daughter, Marie, was in line for the English throne, but the French were divided on her succession to the French throne, however Philip negotiated with the most powerful of them to agree to the 'Pragmatic Sanction' which would allow his daughter to rule both realms. However on his deathbed he warned her that she would have to fight for what was hers and that she would need to be strong.
[14] The first challenge to Queen Marie's rule came, surprisingly, from England rather than France. The Duke of York, James, had rallied an army of men to attempt to free the English from France, as Marie was seen as being a French monarch rather than an English one. In order to settle the matter, Marie obtained the support of her distant cousin, Henri de Anjou, by promising to marry him. He led his forces into Normandy and from there across the channel into England, where he defeated James in the decisive Battle of London. Unfortunately, he took a tumble from his horse shortly after the battle and died, leaving the Duchy of Anjou to his closest relative, Marie herself. With the men from her new lands, she successfully defeated another rebel, Duke Henry of Cornwall. By 1412, she was relatively unchallenged, as most of the Englishmen had accepted her as queen-but France was another matter. Her status as the most eligible maiden in France prompted Duke Louis of Aquitaine to kidnap her and force her to marry him. Her other suitors, particularly Duke Arnaud of Burgundy, contested the marriage and invaded Aquitaine. A fierce civil war broke out, eventually ending with the death of Duke Louis. The marriage between Marie and Louis was declared invalid on the grounds of consanguinity (a largely formal gesture, considering he was already dead) and was pressured heavily into marrying Duke Arnaud. Fortunately, she was able to avoid another unhappy marriage by earning the support of Count Denis of Mortain, her second cousin, and with his aid organizing a convenient accident for Duke Arnaud. The rest of her reign was spent in peace, save for a short border war in 1442 with Navarra that ended in the annexation of Navarra into France, though Marie did not claim the title Queen of Navarra. In August of 1444, Marie caught a pox that left her on her deathbed, and as her final act appointed an heir, not one of her own body (as she had never married) but instead her nephew, Alexander of Burgundy. She then passed away, leaving the fate of the Dual Monarchy into their hands.
[15] Alexander (Alexandre in French) was the son of Joan of France, the second eldest of Philip's daughters and Duke Charles (brother and successor of Arnaud) of Burgundy. His reign was noted for tense relations between the Dual Monarchy and Aragon due to the French annexation of Navarre, several border smirches were fought though a formal war was never declared. Alexander married Margaret of Scotland to reinforce the peace with the Scots, even while launching several programs in both of his Kingdoms in order to draw them closer to the Dual Kingdoms. During Alexander's reign a real desire to make the Dual Crown permanent truly began to emerge among the nobility in both Kingdoms. This was encouraged by Alexander, though he did not live to see it through, leaving it to his niece, Victoria to complete his work.
[16] Victoria I was the eldest niece of Alexander as the man had no sons nor any daughters. She was the daughter of his brother Louis, who passed away several years ago. Victoria continued her uncle's work but suffered many setbacks due to stubborn nobles. However, through diplomacy she was able to alleviate many concerns and in the 1505, the Dual Crown Act was signed by every significant noble in England and France. Finally in 1506, Victoria married Richard of York, a prominent noble of England. Their son _____, born in 1507 was designated as heir to the Dual Kingdom and the Duchy of Burgundy. He succeeded his mother after her death from illness in 1527
[17] Henry IV, son of Victoria I inherited his mother's throne at the age of 19 and ruled as King for 62 years. Henry IV was not as diplomatic as his mother and so struggled to keep the nobles of the Dual Monarchy happy but thanks in part to his uncle William of Lancaster was able to stave off a civil war in 1548. William of Lancaster's death in 1569 actually saw his son Richard become Henry IV's closest advisor, having been his friend for nearly twenty years. Together they oversaw a peaceful period of twenty years where no nobles threatened to revolt. Henry IV died in 1589 and was succeeded by his son William IV
[18] William IV inherited his father's throne in December 1589 and died in a shipwreck in March 1590. Having ruled for a grand total of 4 months, he was succeeded by his only surviving sibling, his sister Victoria II
[19] Victoria II inherited her brother's throne in the Dual Kingdoms and was immediately beset by the First French Civil War (1590-1598) which was started by Charles VI, Duke of Berry, who was incensed that a woman was ruling France again. Charles however died in the fifth year of the war and his successor Robert III of Berry immediately continued the war. Robert III was defeated in 1598. However the Second French Civil War (1599-1610) was started by Duke Henri of Bourbon after Victoria II raised taxes in France as a punishment for the previous Civil War. The Duke was able to hold out for eleven years before his final defeat outside of Paris in 1610. Victoria was furious with the French nobility after this as they whilst none of them aided Duke Henri, they did not aid her either so she stripped all the current nobles of thier titles and gave them to her close relatives and closest friends. This led to the Third French Civil War (1612-1623) which was led by the former Duke of Normandy, Robert of Normandy who commanded an army of 35,000 against the Queen. Finally, after defeating the third Civil War of her reign, Victoria II decided to try and alleviate tensions. She lowered taxes in France and restored all but the former Duke of Normandy to thier former titles. Robert would suffer in prison until his death in 1624. Victoria II then ruled for two more years before dying from illness. She was succeeded by her son ____, who was a member of the House of Lancaster due to Victoria's marriage to her cousin John of Lancaster
