First royal in England?

Question

Who was the first King of England and who was the first royal family. How was this family chosen to do this.

Answer 1

King William was the 1st king of England, prior to that it was divided up between various rulers.  Remember the start of the poem-

Willy, Willy, Harry, Ste,

Harry, d**k, John Harry three.

Answer 2

Egbert of Wessex has been called "the first king of all England" and "the first king of all the English." Egbert of Wessex was noted for helping to make Wessex such a powerful kingdom that England was eventually unified around it. Because he was accepted as king in Essex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex and for a time also managed to conquer Mercia, he has been called "the first king of all England."

Since Egbert was declared the first "King of all England", his family became the first "English royal" family known as the House of Wessex. The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic or the Saxon royal house, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom in southwest England known as Wessex. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex to the unification of the Kingdoms of England.

Note: Egbert was not "chosen" to become a monarch, he actually fought for it. That is how most of the royals came to be, they fought for their land and power through battles against other powerful leaders. During ancient time, people did not "choose" their leader in a diplomatic way, whoever wins the battleground wear the crown, there was no vote like we have in modern time.

Answer 3

I thought it was one of those great and noble Plantagenets.  Everyone wants to forget the Plantagenets!

Answer 4

The answer to this is a long one - you're best of referring to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_mon... for the full answer.

Afred the Great secured the kingdom of Wessex and controlled much of Mercia, too.  He then became King of the Anglo-Saxons.

This did not include all of England, let alone Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

There have been many periods where kings have been overthrown and when the crown has been stolen away by another family from it's rightful owners.

Have a look at the website above for the full details.

Nick

:)

Answer 5

The first King recognised by the Royal family itself was Cerdic of Wessex. He was a tribal leader in Wessex and was fortunate to become Bretwalda (overall leader) of the other nascent kingdoms at the time. Under pressure from Danish incusion the Wessex rulers (particularly Alfred) became rulers of all the English.

Queen Elizabeth II can trace her ancestry directly back to Cerdic. Prior to him, his forebears are subject to guess-work and myth-making.

His family were probably dominant in Wessex because of superior organisational or fighting skills.

Answer 6

I have had to check wiki and this is what it says



This is a list of the monarchs of England. The first ruler in Britain to adopt the title King of the English (Rex Anglorum in Latin) was Offa of Mercia in 774, though the continuous list of English monarchs traditionally begins with Egbert of Wessex in 829. The English kingdom was not permanently unified until 927, under Athelstan. Wales was annexed in 1536, and England underwent union with Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Since that date the title King (or Queen) of England is incorrect, though has remained in wide usage to the present day.

Answer 7

William 1st was first king of the whole of England. Kings before him were only kings of areas IE Wessex etc. they were called the Normans and became rulers when Will beat Harold at Hastings 1066. Both were promised the crown by Edward the Confessor.