Who was the greatest ruler in English/British history and why?

Question

Who was the greatest ruler in English/British history and why?

Answer 1

I believe it is Elizabeth I.  She was the only monarch of modern times who fought off a serious invasion of England.  She walked in public despite constant threats to her life and attempted assassinations.  She chose wise leaders, and gave up her chance at love and marriage, because it was better for the country that she remain unmarried.  Her reign was, all things considered, a reign of peace, and arts and science flourished.  She was the first ruler to attempt a colony in the new world.  The English navy grew to world power during her reign.  She also reigned in her own right, unlike Victoria, who had little power but to consult with the prime ministers.

Answer 2

British history is blessed by skilled and charismatic monarchs, but also tainted by incompetent and even murderous ones. The argument over which king or queen was the greatest will never be settled - history is about interpretation, after all.

There were mentioned of three great English/British monarchs

HENRY VIII: Responsible for the Reformation in England and founded the Church of England with himself as its supreme head.

ELIZABETH I: The England she inherited was described by one of her own agents as "a bone between two dogs" - France and Spain. Few believed then that she (a mere woman, with a disputed claim) could hold the throne without tying the country to some greater power. Instead, after 45 years of solo rule, she left a realm sure of its place in the world, with the confidence only half a century of stability could give. One that had seen the expansion of its interests, the securing of its borders, and the regularisation of its currency, as well as the great flowering of the Renaissance.

VICTORIA: In 1837 Victoria inherited a throne toppling on the edge of extinction. The crown was in disrepute, while mounting public and parliamentary demand for constitutional change threatened to sweep the monarchy away. Victoria brilliantly responded to the challenge by adapting her role to the modern age. Rather than dictate policy, she sought to encourage, occasionally to caution, her ministers in their business whilst preserving the mystique of her position. Above all, she desired to rule for the people rather than over them. No sovereign has studied their function more closely or worked harder. Victoria transformed the monarchy from a remote, absolutist concept into a public institution which still thrives.

Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6936...

Answer 3

under the reign of queen victoria england became the first world power, with colonies all over the world, from new zeland to canada

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch. The period centred on her reign is known as the Victorian era.

Though Victoria ascended the throne at a time when the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy in which the king or queen held few political powers, she still served as a very important symbolic figure of her time. The Victorian era represented the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of significant social, economic, and technological progress in the United Kingdom. Victoria's reign was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire; during this period it reached its zenith, becoming the foremost global power of the time.

Victoria was the granddaughter of George III, and was a descendant of most major European royal houses. She arranged marriages for her children and grandchildren across the continent, tying Europe together. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover. Her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Queen Victoria's reign marked the gradual establishment of modern constitutional monarchy. A series of legal reforms saw the House of Commons' power increase, at the expense of the House of Lords and the monarchy, with the monarch's role becoming gradually more symbolic. Since Victoria's reign the monarch has had only, in Walter Bagehot's words, "the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn".

As Victoria's monarchy became more symbolic than political, it placed a strong emphasis on morality and family values, in contrast to the sexual, financial and personal scandals that had been associated with previous members of the House of Hanover and which had discredited the monarchy. Victoria's reign created for Britain the concept of the 'family monarchy' with which the burgeoning middle classes could identify.

Internationally Victoria was a major figure, not just in image or in terms of Britain's influence through the empire, but also because of family links throughout Europe's royal families, earning her the affectionate nickname "the grandmother of Europe". For example, three of the main monarchs with countries involved in the First World War on the opposing side were either grandchildren of Victoria's or married to a grandchild of hers. Eight of Victoria's nine children married members of European royal families, and the other, Princess Louise, married the Marquis of Lorne, a future Governor-General of Canada.

Victoria was the first known carrier of haemophilia in the royal line. It is unclear how she acquired the gene. Since no haemophiliacs were among her known ancestors, hers was quite possibly an instance of spontaneous mutation, which account for about ⅓ of all haemophilia A and 20% of all haemophilia B cases. Evidence indicates Victoria passed the gene on to two of her five daughters: Princess Alice and Princess Beatrice. Her son, Prince Leopold was affected by the disease. The most famous haemophilia victims among her descendants were her great-grandson, Alexei, Tsarevich of Russia and some of the sons of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain (Victoria's granddaughter).

As of 2007, the European monarchs and former monarchs descended from Victoria are: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (as well as her husband), the King of Norway, the King of Sweden, the Queen of Denmark, the King of Spain, the former King of the Hellenes and the former King of Romania (deposed). The pretenders to the thrones of Serbia, Russia, Prussia and Germany, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Hanover, Hesse, Baden and France (Legitimist) are also descendants.

Queen Victoria experienced unpopularity during the first years of her widowhood, but afterwards became extremely well-liked during the 1880s and 1890s. In 2002, the British Broadcasting Corporation conducted a poll regarding the 100 Greatest Britons; Victoria attained the eighteenth place.

Innovations of the Victorian era include postage stamps, the first of which—the Penny Black (issued 1840)—featured an image of the Queen, and the railway, which Victoria was the first British Sovereign to ride.

Several places in the world have been named after Victoria, including two Australian States (Victoria and Queensland), the capitals of British Columbia (Victoria, British Columbia), and Saskatchewan (Regina), the capital of the Seychelles, Africa's largest lake, and Victoria Falls. See also List of places named after Queen Victoria.

Victoria Day is a Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24 in honour of both Queen Victoria's birthday and the current reigning Canadian Sovereign's birthday. While Victoria Day is often thought of as a purely Canadian event, it is also celebrated in some parts of Scotland, particularly in Edinburgh and Dundee, where it is also a public holiday.

Queen Victoria remains the most commemorated British monarch in history, with statues to her erected throughout the former territories of the British Empire. These range from the prominent, such as the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, which was erected as part of the remodelling of the façade of the Palace a decade after her death, to the obscure: in the town of Cape Coast, Ghana, a bust of the Queen presides, rather forlornly, over a small park where goats graze around her. Many institutions, thoroughfares, parks, and structures bear her name. See also Victoria (disambiguation).

Post-colonial sensitivities have led to the removal of Victoria's image and name from some of these legacies. For instance, probably the grandest train station and terminus in Mumbai (Formerly Bombay) India, Victoria Terminus, has been renamed after the seventeenth century Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji. A famous engineering college in the same city, Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) has been cleverly renamed after the queen mother of king Shivaji, Jijabai: the new name Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute retains the same well known abbreviation, VJTI. The statue of Queen Victoria sculpted by Irishman John Hughes, erected in front of Leinster House in Dublin in 1924, was removed in 1947 after years of criticism that it was inappropriate to have the British Queen's likeness stand in front of the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Irish Free State. After decades in storage the statue was given by Ireland to Australia and unveiled on 20 December 1987 to stand outside the Queen Victoria Building in the centre of Sydney, capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales.

There is a statue of Queen Victoria in Victoria Square in Adelaide, capital city of the Australian state of South Australia; in Queen's Square in Brisbane, capital city of the Australian state of Queensland; and in the Domain Gardens in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian State of Victoria. A bronze statue of Queen Victoria stands in the main street of the city of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. At Bangalore, India, the statue of the Queen stands at the beginning of MG Road, one of the city's major roads.

wow. she was a great leader.

Answer 4

elisabeth I

she said she could be put ashore in her petticoat and would still end up ruler of the land

Answer 5

elizabeth 1 when the spanish armada was comming she

was on the street with a sword in her hand