by Alison Weir
The reader may find it helpful to note the following points:
1. Britain’s Royal Families covers the period from A.D. 800 to the present day. The monarchs belonging to each royal house appear in chronological order. Every member of the various royal dynasties of England, Scotland and Great Britain is included, even children who died in infancy. Since the succession has usually been invested in the male line, the descendants of female members of the royal families beyond the first generation have not been included, except where relevant to the succession. Likewise, the descendants of the illegitimate children of monarchs have not been included.
2. All names in the book have been Anglicised or Latinised for the sake of clarity. Where a person is known by more than one name, all the alternatives are given.
3. Where any fact or date is in dispute, this is indicated in the text, and all the possibilities are listed.
4. Many dates are either not known or disputed, and the following examples serve to illustrate how they appear in the text:
Example 1 c.848 means around the year or date specified.
Example 2 848/9 means during the period or years specified.
Example 3 848? means the date has been estimated using circumstantial evidence and guesswork, and is purely conjectural.
5. The following rule applies to the listing of subjects by name:
Example 1 Name followed by a question mark (?) means there is doubt that the person actually existed.
Example 2 Name preceded by a question mark (?) means there is doubt that the name is correct.
6. County boundaries given are those relevant to the period in question.
Select Bibliography
The works consulted during the 22 years it has taken me to research this book are too numerous to mention. What follows is a list of the most important sources. Books marked * are especially recommended for researching royal genealogy. Every effort has been made to trace a publisher for each book listed; unfortunately, this was not possible in every case.
Adam of Usk: Chronicon (ed. E. M. Thompson, 1876).
Adamson, D. & Dewar, P. B.: The House of Nell Gwynn (Kimber, 1974).
Akrigg, G. P. V.: Jacobean Pageant, or the Court of King James I (Hamish Hamilton, 1962).
Albert, M. A.: The Divorce (Harrap, 1965).
Alderman, C. L.: Blood Red the Roses: The Wars of the Roses (Bailey and Swinfen, 1973).
Alexander, Marc: The Outrageous Queens (1977).
H.R.H. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone: For My Grandchildren (Evans, 1966).
Altschul, M.: A Baronial Family in Mediaeval England: The Clares, 1217–1314 (Johns Hopkins, 1965).
Ancient Charters, Royal and Private, prior to A.D. 1200 (ed. J. H. Round, Pipe Roll Society, 1888).
Andrews, A: The Royal Whore (Hutchinson, 1971).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ed. G. N. Garmonsway, Dent, 1954).
Anominalle Chronicle (ed. V. H. Galbraith, 1967).
Appleby, J. T.: England without Richard (Bell, 1965).
Appleby, J. T.: Henry II, the Vanquished King (Bell, 1962).
Appleby, J. T.: The Troubled Reign of King Stephen (Bell, 1969).
Archaeologia (102 vols., Society of Antiquaries of London, 1773–1969).
Argy, J. & Riches, W.: Britain’s Royal Brides (Sphere Books, 1977).
Armitage-Smith, S.: John of Gaunt (Constable, 1904).
Ashdown, D. M.: Ladies in Waiting (Arthur Barker, 1976).
Ashdown, D. M.: Princess of Wales (John Murray, 1979).
Ashdown, D. M.: Queen Victoria’s Mother (Robert Hale, 1974).
Ashley, M.: Charles II, the Man and the Statesman (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971).
Ashley, M.: The Glorious Revolution of 1688 (Hodder and Stoughton, 1966).
Ashley, M.: James II (Dent, 1977).
Ashley, M.: King John (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Ashley, M.: The Stuarts in Love (Hodder and Stoughton, 1963).
Ashley, M.: William I (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973).
Ashton, R.: James I by his Contemporaries (Hutchinson, 1969).
Asser, Bishop: Life of King Alfred (ed. W. M. Stevenson, Oxford University Press, 1904).
Ayling, S.: George the Third (Collins, 1972).
Bacon, Francis: The Life of Henry VII (1622; ed. J. R. Lumby, Cambridge University Press, 1902).
Bagley, J. J.: Henry VIII (Batsford, 1962).
Bagley, J. J.: Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England (Herbert Jenkins, 1948).
Baker, Geoffrey le: Chronicon (ed. E. M. Thompson, Oxford University Press, 1889).
Baker, Richard: A Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans’ Government unto the Death of King James (1643).
Baker, T.: The Normans (Cassell, 1966).
Barber, R.: Henry Plantagenet: A Biography of Henry II of England (Boydell Press, 1972).
Barlow, F.: Edward the Confessor (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1970).*
Barlow, F.: The Feudal Kingdom of England (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961).
Barlow, F.: William I and the Norman Conquest (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965).
Battiscombe, G.: Queen Alexandra (Constable, 1969).
Baxter, S. B.: William III (Longman, 1966).
Bayley, J.: History and Antiquities of the Tower of London (Jennings and Chaplin, 1830).
Beamish, T.: Battle Royal (Muller, 1965).
Beaverbrook, Lord: The Abdication of King Edward VIII (Hamish Hamilton, 1966).
Beckingsale, B. W.: Elizabeth I (Batsford, 1963).
Bennett, D.: King without a Crown (Heinemann, 1977).
Bennett, D.: Vicky (Collins and Harvill, 1971).
Berry, P.: By Royal Appointment (Femina, 1970).
Bevan, B.: Charles the Second’s French Mistress (Robert Hale, 1972).
Bevan, B.: I was James the Second’s Queen (Robert Hale, 1963).
Bevan, B.: King James III of England (Robert Hale, 1962).
Bevan, B.: Nell Gwyn (Robert Hale, 1969).
Bingham, C.: Edward II (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973).
Bingham, C.: James V, King of Scots (Collins, 1971).
Bingham, C.: The Kings and Queens of Scotland (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976).*
Bingham, C.: The Stewart Kingdom of Scotland (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974).
Black, J. B.: The Reign of Elizabeth (Oxford University Press, 1959).
Blackman, John: Collectarium Mansuetudinum et Bonorium Morum Regis Henrici VI (ed. M. R. James, 1919).
Bloom, U.: The House of Kent (Robert Hale, 1969).
Bloom, Ursula: Princesses in Love (Robert Hale, 1973).
Bone, Q.: Henrietta Maria, Queen of the Cavaliers (Owen, 1973).
The Book of Burials of True Noble Persons (MS. in the Royal College of Arms).
Borrow, G. W. S.: Robert the Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965).
Bowle, J.: Charles the First (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975).
Bowle, J.: Henry VIII (Allen and Unwin, 1964).
Brooke, C.: The Saxon and Norman Kings (Batsford, 1963).
Brooke, J.: King George III (Constable, 1972).
Brooke-Little, J. P.: Boutell’s Heraldry (Frederick Warne, 1973).
Bruce, M. L: Anne Boleyn (Collins, 1972).
Bruce, M. L: The Making of Henry VIII (Collins, 1977).
The Brut, or The Chronicles of England (ed. F. Brie, Early English Texts Society, 1906, 1908).
Bryant, A.: The Age of Chivalry (Collins, 1963).
Brysson-Morrison, N.: The Private Life of Henry VIII (Robert Hale, 1964).
Burke’s Guide to the Royal Family (Burke’s Peerage, 1973).*
Burke’s Peerage (various editions).*
Butler, I.: Rule of Three (Hodder and Stoughton, 1967).
Byrne, M. St. Clair: The Letters of King Henry VIII (Cassell, 1936).
Calendar of Charter Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office (6 vols., H.M.S.O., 1903).
Calendar of Documents preserved in France, ill
ustrative of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1, 918–1206 (ed. J. H. Round, 1899).
Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters (ed. W. H. Bliss, 1893).
Calendar of Letters, Despatches and State Papers relating to Negotiations between England and Spain (ed. O. A. Bergenroth, 13 vols., H.M.S.O., 1862–1954).
Calendar of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII (ed. J. S. Brewer, J. Gairdner, and R. H. Brodie, 21 vols., H.M.S.O., 1862–1932).
Calendar of Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office (H.M.S.O., 1906).
Calendar of State Papers: Milan (ed. A. B. Hinds, H.M.S.O., 1913).
Calendar of State Papers: Venice (ed. R. Brown and A. B. Hinds, 38 vols., Longman, 1864–1937).
Capgrave, John: The Book of the Illustrious Henries (ed. F. C. Hingston, Longman, Brown, Green, 1858).
Carpenter, E. (ed.): A House of Kings: The History of Westminster Abbey (Baker, 1966).
Cassavetti, E.: The Lion and the Lilies: The Stuarts and France (MacDonald and Jane’s, 1977).
Cathcart, H.: Anne and the Princesses Royal (W. H. Allen, 1973).
Cathcart, H.: The Duchess of Kent (W. H. Allen, 1971).
Cathcart, H.: Her Majesty (W. H. Allen, 1962).
Chandos Herald: Life of the Black Prince (ed. M. K. Pope and E. C. Lodge, Clarendon Press, 1910).
Chapman, H. W.: Anne Boleyn (Jonathan Cape, 1974).
Chapman, H. W.: Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark (Jonathan Cape, 1971).
Chapman, H. W.: Lady Jane Grey (Jonathan Cape, 1962).
Chapman, H. W.: The Last Tudor King (Jonathan Cape, 1958).
Chapman, H. W.: Mary II, Queen of England (Jonathan Cape, 1953).
Chapman, H. W.: Privileged Persons (Jonathan Cape, 1966).
Chapman, H. W.: Queen Anne’s Son (Jonathan Cape, 1954).
Chapman, H. W.: The Sisters of Henry VIII (Jonathan Cape, 1969).
Chapman, H. W.: The Tragedy of Charles II (Jonathan Cape, 1964).
Chapman, H. W.: Two Tudor Portraits (Jonathan Cape, 1960).
Cheetham, A.: Richard III (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Chevenix-Trench, C.: The Royal Malady (Longmans, 1964).
Chrimes, S. B.: Henry VII (Eyre Methuen, 1972).
Chrimes, S. B.: Lancastrians, Yorkists, and Henry VII (Macmillan, 1964).
A Chronicle of England during the reigns of the Tudors (ed. W. Douglas-Hamilton, 2 vols., Camden Society, 1875).
Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London (ed. J. Nichols, Camden Society, 1852).
Chronicle of London, 1089–1483 (ed. H. Nicholas, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1827).
Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I (ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols., Rolls Series, H.M.S.O., 1864–5).
Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II (ed. W. Stubbs, Rolls Series, H.M.S.O., 1882).
Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I (ed. R. Howlett, Rolls Series, H.M.S.O., 1885).
Chronicles of the White Rose (ed. J. O. Halliwell, Camden Society, 1835).
Chronicum Monasterii de Abingdon (ed. J. Stevenson, Rolls Series, H.M.S.O., 1858).
Chronique de la Traison et Mort de Richard II (ed. B. Williams, English Historical Society, 1846).
Chroniques des Comtes d’Anjou (ed. L. Halphen and R. Poupardin, 1913).
Clarke, J.: George III (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Clear, C.: Royal Children (Arthur Barker, 1984).
Clive, M.: This Sun of York. A Biography of Edward IV (Macmillan, 1973).
Cobbett’s Complete Collection of State Trials (1809; Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972).
Cole, H.: The Black Prince (Granada, 1976).
Cole, H.: The Wars of the Roses (Hart-Davis MacGibbon, 1973).
A Collection of the Wills of the Kings and Queens of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VII (ed. J. Nichols, 1780).
Commines, Philippe de: Mémoires (ed. M. Jones, Penguin, 1972).
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom (ed. G. H. White, 13 vols., St. Catherine’s Press, 1910–59).*
Costain, T. B.: Three Edwards (Doubleday, 1958).
Cowan, I. B.: The Enigma of Mary Stuart (Gollancz, 1971).
Cowan, M.: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Frewin, 1968).
Creston, D.: The Youthful Queen Victoria (Macmillan, 1952).
Creton, Jean: Histoire de Roy d’Angleterre, Richard (ed. J. A. C. Buchon, Collection des Chroniques Françaises, Paris, 1826).
Cronne, H. A.: The Reign of Stephen, 1135–1154: Anarchy in England (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970).
Cullen, T.: The Empress Brown (The Bodley Head, 1969).
Dart, John: The History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of Westminster (2 vols., 1723).
Davis, H. W. C.: England under the Normans and Angevins, 1066–1272 (Methuen, 1905).
Davis, R. H. C.: King Stephen (Longmans, 1967).
Delderfield, E. R.: Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain (Raleigh Press, 1966).*
Denholm-Young, N.: Richard of Cornwall (Blackwell, 1947).
Dewhurst, J.: Royal Confinements (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980).
Dictionary of National Biography (ed. L. Stephen and S. Lee, 63 vols., Oxford University Press, 1885–1900).
Donaldson, F.: Edward VIII (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974).
Donaldson, G.: Mary, Queen of Scots (English Universities Press, 1974).
Donaldson, G.: Scottish Kings (Batsford, 1967).
Douglas, D. C.: William the Conqueror (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1964).*
Duff, D.: Albert and Victoria (Muller, 1977).
Duff, D.: Edward of Kent (Muller, 1938).
Duff, D.: Hessian Tapestry (Muller, 1967).
Duff, D.: The Shy Princess (Muller, 1958).
Duggan, A.: Devil’s Brood: The Angevin Family (Faber and Faber, 1957).
Durant, H.: Sorrowful Captives: The Tudor Earls of Devon (Griffin Press, 1960).
Dutton, R.: English Court Life from Henry VII to George II (Batsford, 1963).
Eadmer: Historia Novorum and Vita Sancti Anselmi (ed. M. Rule, Longman, 1884).
Earle, P.: Henry V (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Earle, P.: James II (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Edwards, Anne: Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor (Hodder and Stoughton, 1984).
Elmham, Thomas: Gesta Henrici Quinti (ed. B. Williams, English Historical Society, 1850).
Elsberry, T.: Marie of Roumania (Cassell, 1973).
Elsna, H.: Catherine of Braganza (Robert Hale, 1967).
Elton, G. R.: England under the Tudors (Methuen, 1955).
Emerson, B.: The Black Prince (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976).
An English Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI (ed. J. S. Davies, 1856).
Epton, N.: Victoria and her Daughters (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971).
Erickson, C.: Anne Boleyn (Dent, 1984).
Erickson, C.: Bloody Mary (Dent, 1978).
Erickson, C.: Great Harry: A Life of King Henry VIII (Dent, 1980).
Erlanger, P.: Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England (Elek Books, 1970).
Fabyan, Robert: The Concordance of Histories: The New Chronicles of England and France (ed. H. Ellis, Rivington, 1811).
Falkus, C.: Charles II (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972).
Farjeon, E. and H.: Kings and Queens (Dent, 1953, 1983).
The Fifteenth Century Chronicles (ed. J. Gairdner, 1880).
The First English Life of Henry V (ed. C. L. Kingsford, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1911).
Florence of Worcester: Chronicon ex Chronicis (ed. B. Thorpe, English Historical Society, 1848–9).