8 September
8 September 1157 - Richard I was born (d.1199)
Richard was born, probably at Beaumont Palace, in Oxford, England, son of King Henry II of England & Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Richard I was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine & Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, & Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, & Nantes, & was also overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. Richard is known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader & warrior.
8 September 1761 - George III married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
They married in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, the King married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he met on their wedding day. A fortnight later on 22 September, both were crowned at Westminster Abbey. George never took a mistress (in contrast with his grandfather & his sons), & the couple enjoyed a happy marriage until his mental illness struck.
They had 15 children nine sons & six daughters. In 1762, George purchased Buckingham House (on the site now occupied by Buckingham Palace) for use as a family retreat. His other residences were Kew Palace & Windsor Castle. St James's Palace was retained for official use. He did not travel extensively & spent his entire life in southern England. In the 1790s, the King & his family took holidays at Weymouth, Dorset, which he thus popularised as one of the first seaside resorts in England.
8 September 1831 - William IV coronation
When George IV died, he had no surviving legitimate children. The crown therefore passed to his younger brother, William, the third son of George III. William had spent most of his life at sea, & had joined his first ship as a midshipman, aged just thirteen. He had been given no privileges, & ate, drank, swore, & gambled, just like many a rough-&-tumble teenager in the navy. All his life he had despised airs & graces, & when he came out of naval service he lived quietly & privately with Mrs Dorothy Jordan, a successful actress, fathering their ten illegitimate children. Despite this, in 1818 the 52 year old William married 25-year-old Princess Adelaide from the small German Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen.
William, who loathed any kind of pomp or ceremony, had actually tried his best not to have any coronation at all. In the end, the 66 year old king went through with an extremely low-key event. William was a relatively popular monarch after the shameless exhibitionism of George IV. In the coronation service itself William was keen to cut out any unnecessary ceremony or expense as well. There was no ceremonial walk to the abbey; the sword was not buckled on him, as had always been the custom; & even the number of musicians was strictly limited.
However, perhaps the most surprising moment came when William was due to be anointed. When his outer robe was removed, he revealed himself to be wearing the full-dress Royal Navy uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet! This was so tightly-buttoned that the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley, in a state of consternation, was faced with the embarrassing problem of having to anoint a fully-clad admiral on the breast, the shoulders, or even the elbows.
Parliament had voted £243,000 for George IV’s coronation, but William’s cost £37,000!
9 September
9 September 1087 - William the Conqueror died
9 September 2015 – Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.
Elizabeth II (born 21 April 1926), Queen of the United Kingdom & the other Commonwealth realms since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth is the longest-lived & longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in history, the oldest living & longest-reigning current monarch, & the oldest & longest-serving incumbent head of state.
10 September
10 September 1167 – Matilda of England, Holy Roman Empress died (b. 1102)
11 September
11 September 1862 - Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (née Cavendish-Bentinck) was born.
Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (née Cavendish-Bentinck; 11 September 1862 – 23 June 1938) was the mother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother & maternal grandmother & godmother of Queen Elizabeth II.
She was born in Belgravia, Westminster, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland) & his wife, Louisa (née Burnaby).
On 16 July 1881, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, at St Peter's Church, Petersham, Surrey, & they had ten children. Claude inherited his father's title of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904, whereupon Cecilia became Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
12 September
12 September 1368 - Blanche of Lancaster died.
Blanche of Lancaster (born. 25 March 1345/1347) was a member of the English royal House of Plantagenet, daughter of the kingdom's wealthiest & most powerful peer, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. She was the first wife of John of Gaunt, the mother of King Henry IV, & the grandmother of King Henry V of England.
Blanche died at Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire, on 12 September 1368 while her husband was overseas. She was 23 years of age at the time of her death, although Froissart reported that she died aged about 22. It is believed that she may have died after contracting the Black Death which was rife in Europe at that time. Her funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral in London was preceded by a magnificent cortege attended by most of the upper nobility & clergy. John of Gaunt held annual commemorations of her death for the rest of his life & established a joint chantry foundation on his own death.
In 1374, six years after her death, John of Gaunt commissioned a double tomb for himself & Blanche from the mason Henry Yevele. The magnificent monument in the choir of St Paul's was completed by Yevele in 1380, with the assistance of Thomas Wrek, having cost a total of £592. Gaunt himself died in 1399, & was laid to rest beside Blanche. The two effigies were notable for having their right hands joined. An adjacent chantry chapel was added between 1399 & 1403. Blanche & John of Gaunt together had seven children.
Image above: The tomb of Blanche & John of Gaunt in St. Paul's Cathedral, as represented in an etching of 1658 by Wenceslaus Hollar. The etching includes a number of inaccuracies, for example in not showing the couple with joined hands.
12 September 1938 - Prince Arthur of Connaught died.
Prince Arthur was born on 13 January 1883 at Windsor Castle. His father was the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.
Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at Eton College. After attending finishing school, Prince Arthur was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the 7th (Queen's Own) Hussars in 1901. During the Second Boer War, he saw active duty with the 7th Hussars. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). He became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920.
During the First World War, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to British army Generals Sir John French & Sir Douglas Haig, the successive commanders of the British Expeditionary Force in France & Belgium. In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of major general & became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin, King George V. Prince Arthur acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the King's (George V) absence abroad. In 1906, by order of the King, he vested the Meiji Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Garter, as a consequence of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
On 15 October 1913, Prince Arthur married his cousin Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959) at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, London. Princess Alexandra was the eldest daughter & heir of the 1st Duke of Fife & the Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Edward VII. As such, the couple were first cousins once removed. They had a son, Alastair.
In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general & commander-in-chief in South Africa. The Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, including serving as chairman of the board of directors of Middlesex Hospital. Like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924.
Prince Arthur of Connaught died of stomach cancer at age 55 on 12 September 1938. He is buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore. One of his last public appearances was at the coronation of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth in May 1937.
13 September
13 September 1409 - Isabella of Valois died
Isabella of France (9 November 1389 – 13 September 1409) was Queen of England as the second spouse of Richard II. She married the king at the age of six & was widowed three years later. She later married Charles, Duke of Orléans, dying in childbirth at the age of nineteen. Isabella was the daughter of Charles VI of France & Isabeau of Bavaria.
Isabella married Richard II on 31 October 1396. After the wedding, Queen Isabella followed Richard to England, where she was placed in Windsor Castle with her own court under the supervision of her appointed governess & chief lady-in-waiting Lady de Coucy (later replaced by Lady Mortimer). She was formally crowned Queen of England in Westminster in London the following year, 1397.
In 1400, Richard was killed, & the French court requested that Isabella return to France. King Henry IV initially refused, deciding Queen Isabella should marry his son, the future Henry V of England, but she refused. Knowing her spouse was dead, she went into mourning, ignoring Henry IV's demands. In August 1401, he let her go back to France, but kept her dowry. In 1406.
On 29 June 1406, Queen Isabella, aged 16, married her cousin, Charles, Duke of Orléans, aged 11. She died in childbirth at the age of 19. Her surviving daughter, Joan, married John II of Alençon in 1424. Isabella's body was interred in Blois, in the abbey of St Laumer, where it was later discovered in 1624, curiously wrapped in bands of linen plated over with quicksilver. It was then transferred to the church of the Celestines in Paris, France.
14 September
14 September 1495 - Elizabeth Tudor died
Elizabeth was the second daughter & fourth child of king Henry VII of England & Elizabeth of York, & sister to Henry VIII.
Elizabeth died at Eltham Palace in Kent on 14 September 1495 at the age of three years & two months. She was brought from Eltham in state & buried on the north side of the Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey on 27 September. Elizabeth was the first of four of Henry and Elizabeth's children to die prematurely & they were devastated by their loss. Her funeral cost a large sum of £318 (£155,479.74 in today's money), & the king erected a small tomb to his daughter in the abbey made from Purbeck & black marble. On top of the monument is a finely polished slab of black Lydian, upon which were placed inscriptions to Elizabeth & her effigy of copper gilt, both of which have now disappeared with time. The Latin from the inscription can be translated:
Elizabeth, second child of Henry the Seventh King of England, France & Ireland & of the most serene lady Queen Elizabeth his consort, who was born on the second day of the month of July in the year of Our Lord 1492, & died on the 14th day of the month of September in the year of Our Lord 1495, upon whose soul may God have mercy. Amen.
The plate at the feet of Elizabeth's effigy is translated as:
Hereafter Death has a royal offspring in this tomb viz. the young & noble Elizabeth daughter of that illustrious prince, Henry the Seventh, who swayed the sceptre of two kingdoms, Attrapos, the most severe messenger of Death, snatched her away but may she have eternal life in Heaven.
Portrait of the Royal Tudors. At left, Henry VII, with Prince Arthur behind him, then Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), & Prince Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Princess Margaret, then Princess Elizabeth who didn't survive childhood, Princess Mary, & Princess Katherine, who died shortly after her birth.
15 September
15 September 1984 - Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex was born
As the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, & Diana, Princess of Wales, he is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne. Born in St Mary's Hospital, London, Harry was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School, & Eton College. He spent parts of his gap year in Australia & Lesotho, then underwent officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet into the Blues and Royals, serving temporarily with his brother William & completed training as a troop leader. In 2007–2008, he served for over ten weeks in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–2013 with the Army Air Corps. In June 2015, he resigned from the army.
Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 & remains the patron of its foundation. He also gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust & Walking With The Wounded. To encourage people to open up about their mental health issues, Harry, alongside the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, initiated the mental health awareness campaign "Heads Together" in April 2016.
In 2018, Harry was made Duke of Sussex prior to his wedding to American actress Meghan Markle. In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family & moved to the Duchess's native Southern California. In October 2020, they launched Archewell Inc., an American public organisation that focuses on non-profit activities & creative media ventures. They have two children, Archie & Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
16 September
16 September 1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
He was a Welsh leader who instigated a fierce & long-running war of independence against English rule. He was the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.
16 September 1701 - The deposed & exiled King James II & VII died
James II & VII (born. 14 October 1633)
Coronation: 23 April 1685.
James II & VII was King of England & Ireland as James II & King of Scotland as James VII,& from 6 February 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
He was the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland & Ireland; his reign is now remembered primarily for struggles over religious tolerance. However, it also involved the principles of absolutism & divine right of kings, & his deposition ended a century of political & civil strife by confirming the primacy of Parliament over the Crown. James inherited the thrones of England, Ireland & Scotland from his elder brother Charles II with widespread support in all three countries, largely based on the principle of divine right or birth. Tolerance for his personal Catholicism did not apply to it in general & when the English & Scottish Parliaments refused to pass his measures, James attempted to impose them by decree; it was a political principle, rather than a religious one, that ultimately led to his removal.
In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a crisis; the first on 10 June was the birth of James's son & heir James Francis Edward, threatening to create a Roman Catholic dynasty & excluding his Anglican daughter Mary & her Protestant husband William of Orange. The second was the prosecution of the Seven Bishops for seditious libel; this was viewed as an assault on the Church of England & their acquittal on 30 June destroyed his political authority in England. Anti-Catholic riots in England & Scotland now made it seem only his removal as monarch could prevent a civil war. Leading members of the English political class invited William of Orange to assume the English throne; after he landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, James's army deserted, & he went into exile in France on 23 December. In February 1689, a special Convention Parliament held that the king had "vacated" the English throne & installed William & Mary as joint monarchs, establishing the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth. James landed in Ireland on 14 March 1689 in an attempt to recover his kingdoms, but despite a simultaneous rising in Scotland, in April a Scottish Convention followed that of England by finding that James had "forfeited" the throne & offered it to William & Mary. After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James returned to France, where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by Louis XIV.
Children;
By Anne Hyde (b. 12 March 1637 – d. 31 March 1671);
Charles, Duke of Cambridge (22 October 1660 - 5 May 1661)
Mary II (30 April 1662 - 28 December 1694)
James, Duke of Cambridge (11 or 12 July 1663 - 20 June 1667)
Anne (6 February 1665 - 1 August 1714)
Charles, Duke of Kendal (4 July 1666 - 22 May 1667)
Edgar, Duke of Cambridge (14 September 1667 - 8 June 1671)
Henrietta (13 January 1669 - 15 November 1669)
Catherine (9 February 1671 - 5 December 1671)
By Mary of Modena (b. 5 October 1658 – d. 7 May 1718);
Unnamed child (March or May 1674), miscarriage
Catherine Laura (10 January 1675 - 3 October 1675), died of convulsions.
Unnamed child (October 1675), stillborn
Isabel (or Isabella) (28 August 1676 - 2 or 4 March 1681), buried in Westminster Abbey on 4 March as "The Lady Isabella, daughter to the Duke of York"
Charles, Duke of Cambridge (7 November 1677 - 12 December 1677), died of smallpox.
Elizabeth (c. 1678)
Unnamed child (February 1681), stillborn
Charlotte Maria (16 August 1682 - 16 October 1682), died of convulsions & buried in Westminster Abbey as "The Lady Charlott-Marie, daughter to the Duke of York"
Unnamed child (October 1683), stillborn
Unnamed child (May 1684), miscarriage
James, Prince of Wales "the Old Pretender" (10 June 1688 - 1 January 1766)
Louisa Maria Teresa (28 June 1692 - 18 April 1712)
By his mistresses;
By Arabella Churchill;
Henrietta FitzJames (1667 - 3 April 1730)
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick (21 August 1670 - 12 June 1734)
Henry FitzJames, 1st Duke of Albemarle (August 1673 - December 1702)
Arabella FitzJames (1674 - 7 November 1704)
By Catherine Sedley;
Catherine Darnley (c. 1681 - 13 March 1743), alleged daughter.
James Darnley (1684 - 22 April 1685).
Charles Darnley (died young).
17 September
17 September 1767 - Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany died
Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, (Edward Augustus; 25 March 1739 – 17 September 1767) was the younger brother of king George III & the second son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, & Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
As a boy, Prince Edward, with his brother, went through long hours of schooling in arithmetic, Latin, geometry, writing, religion, French, German, Greek & even dancing to be well rounded. For the future George III, the young Prince Edward was his only constant companion, but it was Edward who was their mother's favourite. Prince Edward showed an interest in naval affairs & sought permission to serve with the Royal Navy. He participated in the naval descents against the French coast taking part in the failed Raid on St Malo, which ended in the Battle of St. Cast in 1758. He was promoted to captain of HMS Phoenix on 14 June 1759. He was made Rear-Admiral of the Blue in 1761, vice-admiral of the blue in 1762, & in 1766, only a year before his death, rising to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.
He was created Duke of York and Albany & Earl of Ulster by his paternal grandfather, George II, on 1 April 1760. When Edward's brother ascended the throne on 25 October 1760 as George III, he named Edward a privy counsellor.
From the time his brother became king & until the birth of the king's first child, the future George IV, on 12 August 1762, the duke was heir presumptive to the British throne. In the late summer of 1767, on his way to Genoa, the duke fell ill & had to be landed in the harbour of Monaco. He died in the Palace of Honoré III, Prince of Monaco, on 17 September. The state bedchamber where the ill duke died has since been known as the York Room. After his death, his body was returned to London aboard HMS Montreal, & is interred in Westminster Abbey.
18 September
18 September 1066 – Norwegian king Harald Hardrada lands with Tostig Godwinson at the mouth of the Humber River with 10,000 troops & 300 long ships & begins his invasion of England. Both would die at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066.
18 September 1714 – George I arrives in Great Britain after becoming king on August 1.
George I was King of Great Britain & Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death in 1727.
19 September
19 September 1356 - Battle of Poitiers
20 September
20 September 1066 - Battle of Fulford
The Battle of Fulford was fought on the outskirts of the village of Fulford near York in England, on 20 September 1066, when King Harald III of Norway, also known as Harald Hardrada ("harðráði" in Old Norse, meaning "hard ruler"), & Tostig Godwinson, his English ally, fought and defeated the Northern Earls Edwin & Morcar.
Tostig was Harold Godwinson's banished brother. He had allied with King Harald of Norway. The battle was a victory for the Viking army. The earls of York could have hidden behind the walls of their city but instead they met the Viking army across a river. All day the English desperately tried to break the Viking shield wall but to no avail. Tostig was opposed by Earl Morcar who had displaced him as Earl of Northumbria.
20 September 1486 - Arthur, Prince of Wales was born
Arthur was Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester & Duke of Cornwall. As the eldest son & heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur was viewed by contemporaries as the great hope of the newly established House of Tudor. His mother, Elizabeth of York, was the daughter of Edward IV, & his birth cemented the union between the House of Tudor & the House of York.
For more about Prince Arthur visit.
21 September.
21 September 1327 - King Edward II died
On 23 September Edward III was informed that his father the deposed king Edward II had died at Berkeley Castle during the night of 21 September.
The king had been imprisoned Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, since around 5 April 1327. Most historians believe that Edward probably was murdered on the orders of the new regime, although it is impossible to be certain. If Edward did die from natural causes, his death may have been hastened by depression following his imprisonment.
Edward's body was embalmed at Berkeley Castle, where it was viewed by local leaders from Bristol & Gloucester. It was then taken to Gloucester Abbey on 21 October, & on 20 December Edward was buried by the high altar, the funeral having probably been delayed to allow Edward III to attend in person. Gloucester was probably chosen because other abbeys had refused or been forbidden to take the King's body, & because it was close to Berkeley. The funeral was a grand affair & cost £351 in total, complete with gilt lions, standards painted with gold leaf & oak barriers to manage the anticipated crowds.
A temporary wooden effigy with a copper crown was made for the funeral; this is the first known use of a funeral effigy in England, & was probably necessary because of the condition of the King's body, which had been dead for three months. Edward's heart was removed, placed in a silver container, & later buried with Isabella at Newgate Church in London. His tomb includes a very early example of an English alabaster effigy, with a tomb-chest & a canopy made of oolite & Purbeck stone. Edward was buried in the shirt, coif & gloves from his coronation, & his effigy depicts him as king, holding a sceptre & orb, & wearing a strawberry-leaf crown. The effigy features a pronounced lower lip, & may be a close likeness of Edward.
Visit Gloucester Cathedral
22 September
22 September 1515 - Anne of Cleves was born
Anne was born on 22 September 1515 in Düsseldorf, the second daughter of John III of the House of La Marck, Duke of Jülich jure uxoris, Cleves, Berg jure uxoris, Count of Mark, also known as de la Marck & Ravensberg jure uxoris (often referred to as Duke of Cleves) who died in 1538, & his wife Maria, Duchess of Julich-Berg (1491–1543).
Anne of Cleves was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. The marriage was annulled, never consummated, & as a result, she was not crowned queen consort.
Following the annulment of their marriage, Anne was given a generous settlement by the King, & thereafter referred to as the King's Beloved Sister. She lived to see the coronation of Queen Mary I, outliving the rest of Henry's wives. Anne died at Chelsea Old Manor on 16 July 1557.
22 September 1761 - George III coronation
George III & Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz are crowned King & Queen, respectively, of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
George III (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain & Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland until his death in 1820. George III was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818)
23 September
1896 – Queen Victoria surpasses her grandfather King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.
On 23 September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. With a reign of 63 years, seven months, & two days, Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch & the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history until her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II surpassed her on 9 September 2015. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover. Her son and successor Edward VII belonged to her husband's House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.
23 September 1951 - King George VI had surgery to have his left lung removed
The stress of the second world war had taken its toll on the King's health, exacerbated by his heavy smoking & subsequent development of lung cancer among other ailments, including arteriosclerosis & thromboangiitis obliterans. A planned tour of Australia & New Zealand was postponed after the King suffered an arterial blockage in his right leg, which threatened the loss of the leg & was treated with a right lumbar sympathectomy in March 1949.
His elder daughter Elizabeth, the heir presumptive, took on more royal duties as her father's health deteriorated. The delayed tour was re-organised, with Elizabeth & her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, taking the place of the King & Queen. The King was well enough to open the Festival of Britain in May 1951, but on 23 September 1951, his left lung was removed by Clement Price Thomas after a malignant tumour was found.
In October 1951, Princess Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh went on a month-long tour of Canada; the trip had been delayed for a week due to the King's illness. At the State Opening of Parliament in November, the King's speech from the throne was read for him by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Simonds. His Christmas broadcast of 1951 was recorded in sections, & then edited together.
On 31 January 1952, despite advice from those close to him, the King went to London Airport to see off Princess Elizabeth, who was going on her tour of Australia via Kenya. On the morning of 6 February, George VI was found dead in bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk. He had died from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at the age of 56. His daughter Elizabeth flew back to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II.
24 September
24 September 1645 – The Battle of Rowton Heath is a Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded in person by King Charles.
24 September 1950 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine died
Princess Victoria Alberta Elizabeth Mathilde Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, later Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven was the eldest daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1837–1892), & his first wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (1843–1878), daughter of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Her mother died while her brother & sisters were still young, which placed her in an early position of responsibility over her siblings. Over her father's disapproval, she married his morganatic first cousin Prince Louis of Battenberg, an officer in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, & lived most of her married life in various parts of Europe at her husband's naval posts & visiting her many royal relations. She was perceived by her family as liberal in outlook, straightforward, practical & bright.
During World War I, she & her husband abandoned their German titles and adopted the British-sounding surname of Mountbatten, which was simply a translation into English of the German "Battenberg". Two of her sisters Elisabeth & Alix, who had married into the Russian imperial family were killed by communist revolutionaries.
She was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, & mother-in-law of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden.
25 September
25 September 1066 - The Battle of Stamford Bridge
The Battle of Stamford Bridge. Harald Hardrada (or Harald III), the invading King of Norway, is defeated by King Harold II of England.
For more about The Battle of Stamford Bridge visit
26 September
26 September 1087 – William II is crowned King of England, & reigns until 1100.
William II (c. 1056 – 2 August 1100), the third son of William the Conqueror, was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100. William is commonly referred to as William Rufus (Rufus being Latin for "the Red"), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, due to having red hair as a child that grew out in later life.
27 September
27 September 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme river, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
William assembled a large invasion fleet & an army gathered from Normandy & all over France, including large contingents from Brittany & Flanders. He mustered his forces at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme & was ready to cross the Channel by about 12 August. The exact numbers & composition of William's force are unknown. A contemporary document claims that William had 726 ships, but this may be an inflated figure. Figures given by contemporary writers are highly exaggerated, varying from 14,000 to 150,000 men. Modern historians have offered a range of estimates for the size of William's forces: 7000–8000 men, 1000–2000 of them cavalry; 10,000–12,000 men; 10,000 men, 3000 of them cavalry; or 7500 men. The army would have consisted of a mix of cavalry, infantry, & archers or crossbowmen, with about equal numbers of cavalry and archers & the foot soldiers equal in number to the other two types combined.
27 September 1915 - Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon was killed in action at the Battle of Loos
28 September
28 September 1066 – William the Conqueror lands in England, beginning the Norman conquest.
They landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September & erected a wooden castle at Hastings, from which they raided the surrounding area. This ensured supplies for the army, & as Harold & his family held many of the lands in the area, it weakened William's opponent & made him more likely to attack to put an end to the raiding.
28 September 1106 – King Henry I of England defeats his brother Robert Curthose at the Battle of Tinchebray.
The Battle of Tinchebray took place in Tinchebray (today in the Orne département of France), Normandy, between an invading force led by King Henry I of England, & the Norman army of his elder brother Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy. Henry's knights won a decisive victory: they captured Robert, & Henry imprisoned him in England (in Devizes Castle) & then in Wales until Robert's death (in Cardiff Castle) in 1134.
Henry invaded Normandy in 1105 in the course of an ongoing dynastic dispute with his brother. He took Bayeux & Caen, but broke off his campaign because of political problems arising from an investiture controversy. With these settled, he returned to Normandy in the spring of 1106. After quickly taking the fortified abbey of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives (near Falaise), Henry turned south & besieged Tinchebray Castle, on a hill above the town. Tinchebray is on the border of the county of Mortain, in the southwest of Normandy, & was held by William, Count of Mortain, who was one of the few important Norman barons still loyal to Robert. Duke Robert then brought up his forces to break the siege. After some unsuccessful negotiations, Duke Robert decided that a battle in the open was his best option.
Henry's army was organized into three groups. Ranulf of Bayeux, Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, & William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, commanded the two primary forces. A reserve, commanded by Elias I of Maine, remained out of sight on the flank. The battle lasted an hour. Henry dismounted & ordered most of his knights to dismount. This was unusual given Norman battle tactics, & meant the infantry played a decisive role. William, Count of Évreux, charged the front line, with men from Bayeux, Avranches & the Cotentin. Henry's reserve proved decisive.
Most of Robert's army was captured or killed. Those captured included Robert, Edgar Atheling (uncle of Henry's wife), & William, Count of Mortain. Robert de Bellême, commanding the Duke's rear guard, led the retreat, saving himself from capture or death. Most of the prisoners were released, but Robert Curthose & William of Mortain spent the rest of their lives in captivity.
29 September
29 September 1766 - Charlotte, Princess Royal was born
Charlotte, Princess Royal, was Queen of Württemberg as the wife of King Frederick I.
Princess Charlotte was born on 29 September 1766 at Buckingham House, London, to British monarch, King George III & Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Charlotte was officially designated as Princess Royal on 22 June 1789. Like her siblings, the Princess Royal was educated by tutors & spent most her childhood at Buckingham House, Kew Palace, & Windsor Castle, where her wet nurse was Frances, wife of James Muttlebury.
On 18 May 1797, the Princess Royal was married at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London, to Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Württemberg, the eldest son & heir apparent of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg & his wife, Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt.
Did you know? Frederick I was known for his size: at 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) & about 200 kg (440 lb).
The younger Frederick succeeded his father as the reigning Duke of Württemberg on 22 December 1797. Duke Frederick II had two sons & two daughters by his first marriage to the late Princess Augusta (1764 – 1788), the daughter of Duke Karl II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel & Princess Augusta of Great Britain (the elder sister of George III) & thus Charlotte's first cousin; Princess Augusta was also the elder sister of Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of the future George IV (then Prince of Wales). The marriage between Duke Frederick & the Princess Royal produced one child: a stillborn daughter on 27 April 1798.
Charlotte was a godmother (by proxy) at the christening of her niece, Princess Victoria of Kent (the future Queen Victoria), in 1819. In 1827, she returned to Britain for the first time since her wedding in 1797 in order to have surgery for dropsy. She died at Ludwigsburg Palace on 6 October 1828 and is buried in its royal vault.
29 September 1791 - Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (son of George III) married Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia.
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom & Hanover, & his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profession, from 1764 to 1803 he was Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück in the Holy Roman Empire. From the death of his father in 1820 until his own death in 1827 he was the heir presumptive to his elder brother, George IV, in both the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland & the Kingdom of Hanover.
Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (7 May 1767 – 6 August 1820) was a Prussian & British princess. She was the eldest daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia & Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
30 September
30 September 1399 – Henry IV is proclaimed king of England.
Henry IV (April 1367 – 20 March 1413) was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the first English ruler since the Norman Conquest, over three hundred years prior, whose mother tongue was English rather than French. He was known as Henry Bolingbroke before ascending to the throne.
Henry was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, & his first wife Blanche. Gaunt was the third son of King Edward III. Blanche was the daughter of the wealthy royal politician & nobleman Henry, Duke of Lancaster. Henry was involved in the revolt of the Lords Appellant against his nephew king Richard II in 1388. He was later exiled by the king. After Gaunt died in 1399, Richard did not allow Henry to inherit his father's duchy. That year, Henry rallied a group of supporters, overthrew & imprisoned Richard II, & usurped the throne.
As king, Henry faced a number of rebellions. Owain Glyndŵr, the self-proclaimed ruler of Wales, revolted against the king. Henry IV defeated Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. The king suffered from poor health in the latter part of his reign, & his eldest son, Henry of Monmouth, assumed the reins of government in 1410. Henry IV died in 1413, and was succeeded by his son.
