The most interesting and bizarre facts about the Monarchs of England, Wales and Scotland

[Audio] The most interesting and bizarre facts about the Monarchs of England, Wales and Scotland. Elmir Mammadli Primary school number 16 STO in Warsaw.

[Audio] He loved taxes a lot. Henry VII improved tax collection. He did it by introducing ruthlessly effective systems, such as the catch-22 method for nobility: on the one hand, the nobility who spent little must have saved much and so presumably could afford the increased taxes; on the other hand, the wealthy who spent much obviously had the means to pay the increased taxes. King Henry VII will accuse and put to death Sir Richard Empson and Sir Edmund Dudley, two of his most despised tax collectors, in 1510. He was a notoriously frugal man who was good at extorting money from his peasants on a variety of pretexts, such as war with Scotland or France. However, rather than being used for the intended purpose, the money frequently ended up in the king's personal coffers..

[Audio] In total, Henry had six wives. Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine of Aragon were among them. He was unable to divorce Catherine of Aragon and remarry Anne Boleyn, since this was not permitted by the Roman Catholic Church. Henry created the Church of England as a substitute for the papacy in Rome in order to avoid this. The king had three children: a son, Edward, and a daughter, Mary, with Jane Seymour, Elizabeth, and Catherine of Aragon. After Henry's passing, all three of his offspring would rule England; Elizabeth, the last monarch of the Tudor family, ruled for a lauded 45 years..

[Audio] James II had a particular interest in weaponry, which eventually caused his passing. He made an effort to besiege Roxburgh Castle in 1460, one of the last Scottish fortresses that the English still controlled after the Wars of Independence. In order to aid in the siege warfare, James II made sure that a significant number of artillery pieces from Flanders were transported to the castle. James died instantly when a cannon that he was standing next to detonated on August 3rd, 1460. But the Scots persisted in their siege, and a few days later they succeeded in recapturing the castle..

[Audio] Elizabeth almost got married to the husband of her sister. After Mary, Elizabeth's sister, passed away, King Philip II of Spain proposed to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had divorced Mary's mother in part because he had come to believe that it was improper for a man to wed his brother's wife. Mary and Philip were cousins. Philip seemed less hesitant to set up a parallel scenario with Elizabeth. Elizabeth rejected Philip and ultimately engaged in combat with him during the Spanish Armada..

[Audio] Questionable circumstances surround William II's death in 1100, when he was out hunting in the New Forest; some have suggested that he was assassinated to ensure his younger brother Henry's succession to the throne. Oddly enough, he wasn't the only member of the family to meet that fate: Richard, William's older brother, also passed away in a hunting accident in the New Forest somewhere in the 1070s, and another Richard, his nephew, too passed away in a hunting accident in the New Forest in 1099..

[Audio] After giving birth to three children, Margaret, Alexander's wife, passed away in 1275. The Scottish succession, however, was in disarray because all three of the children passed away before Alexander. His eldest daughter, also named Margaret, had wed Norway's King Eric II, and the two had a daughter, also named Margaret. Alexander designated Margaret, his three-year-old granddaughter, as his presumed heir. Alexander, who had been repeatedly warned not to ride in a storm in the dark, passed away on March 19, 1286, at the age of just 44, breaking his neck after falling from his horse..

[Audio] The majority of Brits have only ever known Elizabeth as their monarch. According to information released by the UK Office of National Statistics in 2017, 81% of UK citizens were not alive when Elizabeth took the throne. After her father passed away in 1952, she promptly ascended to the throne. She was the world's longest-reigning monarch alive when she passed away at age 96..

[Audio] The only English king to have been executed is Charles I. There were numerous causes for that. For instance: During his reign, Charles I took various actions that enraged the parliament. Even more people were offended by his marriage to Henrietta Maria, a Catholic. Charles, like his father James I, thought he was above the law and had been picked by God. He failed to respect the court, and he was eventually given an execution warrant. Before he was buried, his head was sewn back onto his body after he had been beheaded..

[Audio] Wales has only ever had one king. Not only was he the last King of Wales, but he was also the most powerful. His name was Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. After becoming king of North Wales in 1039, he fought a costly struggle to take control of the country's southwest while persistently pursuing an aggressive and expansionist policy on his eastern border with England. An English soldier who didn't recognize Llywelyn killed him, during the battle. Before his body was found, it took a day. His head was severed from his body and sent to the English king before being mounted on the Tower of London's gatehouse. There it stayed for at least fifteen years, the horrifying prize..

Logo company name Description automatically generated.