William II had no children. He and his elder brother Robert previously agreed to be each other's heir. However, on his death, on 2 August 1100, Robert was away on crusade. Their younger brother, Henry Beauclerc, had the nobility elect him as king. Henry later warred with Robert and by treaty was recognised as king.
Henry I
The succession to Henry I was altered by the death of his son, William Adelin. Left without male heirs, Henry took the unprecedented step of making his barons swear to accept his daughter Empress Matilda, widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, as his heir. However, her cousin, Stephen of Blois (the third son of Adela of Normandy) gained the support of the barons and usurped the throne, claiming that Henry had changed his mind on his deathbed. This act provoked a seventeen-year long civil war between him and the forces loyal to Matilda.
The succession to Stephen was altered by the death of his son Eustace, whom he wished to have crowned king during his own lifetime (in imitation of the Capetian monarchy). Though Stephen still had a son, William, the boy was still young and unprepared to challenge Matilda's son, Henry of Anjou for the throne.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford that ended the Anarchy, Stephen agreed to make Henry his successor. Thus, on the day of Stephen's death, 25 October 1154, Henry became King Henry II.
Henry II
The succession to Henry II was altered by the death of his son, Henry the Young King, who was crowned king while his father still lived. Henry II had wished to divide his lands among his children upon his death, but was forced to sign the unfavorable treaty of Azay-le-Rideau on 4 July 1189 (two days before his death) with the king of France and his rebellious sons, by which he recognised his eldest son Richard as sole heir.
On the day of Henry II's death, 6 July 1189, the throne passed to his eldest living son: Richard I.
Richard I
Richard had no legitimate children. On the day of his death, 6 April 1199, if the line of succession to the English throne had followed primogeniture, he would have been succeeded by his nephew Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (born 1187), son of Richard I's brother Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. However, since Arthur had sided with Philip II of France, Richard's enemy, Richard named his younger brother John as his heir, and he became king.
John
John died, on 19 October 1216, in the midst of conflict against his barons; most of them had already recognised Prince Louis of France as king. However, with John's death, his barons saw his young son as a safer option. John's eldest son became Henry III, and the French were driven away from the country.
Henry III
On Henry III's death, on 16 November 1272, the throne passed to his eldest son, Edward I.
Edward I
On Edward I's death, on 7 July 1307, the throne passed to his eldest surviving son, Edward II.
Edward II
On the day of Edward II's abdication, 25 January 1327, the throne passed to his eldest son, Edward III.
Edward III
The succession to Edward III was governed according to his entail to the crown in 1376.[1] On his death, on 21 June 1377, the line of succession to the English throne was:
Richard disinherited Henry, who was in exile, but Richard was deposed and Bolingbroke became king as Henry IV.[2]
Henry IV
Henry had justified his usurpation by emphasising his descent in the male line. On the day of Henry IV's death, 20 March 1413, the line of succession to the English throne following agnatic primogeniture was:
However, during the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI was forcibly deposed by his third cousin, Edward, Duke of York, who became Edward IV.
Edward IV (first instance)
After George, Duke of Clarence (born 1449), was proclaimed a traitor on 31 March 1470, Edward IV never formally named a new heir as his queen Elizabeth Woodville was pregnant at the time, and he was hoping (correctly) that the child would be a boy. On 3 October 1470 however, Edward IV was deposed and the throne was restored to Henry VI, the previous monarch, during the period known as the Readeption of Henry VI.
Henry VI (second instance)
On the day of Henry VI's second deposition, 11 April 1471, the line of succession following agnatic primogeniture was:
Edward Plantagenet (born 1470), only son of Edward Plantagenet. Edward was also debarred from the succession due to his father's attainder.
George, Duke of Clarence (born 1449), fifth son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, he had rejoined his brother's forces against Henry.
Richard Plantagenet (born 1452), sixth son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York. Richard was debarred from the succession due to his attainder.
Henry was defeated in the Battle of Barnet and deposed. He died in the Tower of London on 21 May 1471, seventeen days after the final Yorkist victory in the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Edward IV (second instance)
On the day of Edward IV's death, 9 April 1483, he had two living sons:
Upon his death, the throne passed to the elder son, who became Edward V.
Edward V
On the day of Edward V's deposition, 25 June 1483, his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York, (born 1473) was the heir presumptive to throne. The King and his brother however were declared illegitimate and the throne was claimed by their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
Richard III
Following the death of Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales on 9 April 1484, Richard III never formally named a new heir. On 22 August 1485, Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and was succeeded by the victor of the battle, Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, a descendant in a legitimated line of John of Gaunt. He became Henry VII. He also buffered his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, his heir by male-preference primogeniture upon the deaths of her brothers.
Henry VII
On the day of Henry VII's death, 21 April 1509, the throne passed to his only living son, Henry VIII.
Henry VIII
On the day of Henry VIII's death, 28 January 1547, the line of succession was governed by the Third Succession Act:
Upon Henry's death, the throne passed to Henry's son, who became Edward VI.
Edward VI
On the day of Edward VI's death, 6 July 1553, the line of succession to the English throne was as follows according to the will of Henry VIII, which excluded the descendants of his elder sister, Margaret, Queen of Scotland (note: Henry VIII's will was signed with a dry stamp rather than his hand, a technicality that eventually allowed the Stuarts to succeed):
Lady Mary (born 1516), first daughter of Henry VIII
Lady Elizabeth (born 1533), second daughter of Henry VIII
Lady Jane Dudley (born 1536/7), eldest daughter of Frances Brandon
Edward VI left a Device for the Succession, in an attempt to remove the peculiarity of his sisters' illegitimacy and rights of succession. The validity of the device was challenged after his death. In Edward's Device,
Henry VIII's two illegitimate (by the Third Succession Act) daughters were excluded:
Lady Mary (born 1516), first daughter of Henry VIII
Lady Elizabeth (born 1533), second daughter of Henry VIII
During her reign, Elizabeth I never named a successor. On the day of Elizabeth's death, 24 March 1603, Elizabeth's potential heirs were from the lines of her father's two sisters:
Descendants of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, were junior in terms of primogeniture, but were placed as heirs after Henry VIII's own descendants. Descendants through Lady Katherine Grey, Mary's granddaughter, and were not considered legitimate at the time:
However, the monarchy in England was abolished and Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector. After Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored in 1660 under Charles I's eldest son, Charles II.
Charles II
On the day of Charles II death, 6 February 1685, the line of succession to the English and Scottish thrones was:
Parliament offered the throne jointly to James II's elder daughter, who became Mary II, and her husband and first cousin, William III.
William III & Mary II
The Bill of Rights 1689 established that, whichever of the joint monarchs, William III and Mary II, died first, the other would reign alone. As Mary II died first, on 28 December 1694, William III became sole remaining monarch. On the day of Mary's death, the line of succession to the English and Scottish thrones was:
Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (born 2021), elder child of Princess Beatrice
References
↑ Given-Wilson, Chris (2004). Alfonso Antón, Isabel (ed.). Building Legitimacy: Political Discourses and Forms of Legitimacy in Medieval Societies. Boston, MA: Brill. p.90. ISBN90-04-13305-4.
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