Wikipedia

Regnal years of English monarchs

The regnal years of English and British monarchs are the official ruling years of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England from 1066 to May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain from May 1707 to January 1801, and the United Kingdom since January 1801.

Monarch No. of years First regnal year Regnal year start date Regnal year end date End of final year
William I 21 1066 14 October 13 October 9 September 1087
William II 13 1087 26 September 25 September 2 August 1100
Henry I 36 1100 5 August 4 August 1 December 1135
Stephen 19 1135 26 December 25 December 25 October 1154
Henry II 35 1154 19 December 18 December 6 July 1189
Richard I 10 1189 3 September 2 September 6 April 1199
John 18 1199 May (Ascension Day)[a] May (varied) 19 October 1216
Henry III 57 1216 28 October 27 October 16 November 1272
Edward I 35 1272 20 November 20 November[b] 7 July 1307
Edward II 20 1307 8 July 7 July 20 January 1327
Edward III 51 (England),
38 (France)[c]		 1327 25 January 24 January 21 June 1377
Richard II 23 1377 22 June[d] 21 June 29 September 1399
Henry IV 14 1399 30 September 29 September 20 March 1413
Henry V 10 1413 21 March 20 March 31 August 1422
Henry VI 39 + 1[e] 1422 1 September 31 August 4 March 1461
Edward IV 23 1461 4 March 3 March 9 April 1483
Edward V 1 1483 9 April 25 June 25 June 1483
Richard III 3 1483 26 June 25 June 22 August 1485
Henry VII 24 1485 22 August 21 August 21 April 1509
Henry VIII 38 1509 22 April 21 April 28 January 1547
Edward VI 7 1547 28 January 27 January 6 July 1553
Mary I 2 1553 6 July[f] 5 July 24 July 1554[g]
"Philip and Mary" 5 & 6[g] 1554 25 July 24 July 17 November 1558
Elizabeth I 45 1558 17 November 16 November 24 March 1603
James I 23 1603 24 March 23 March 27 March 1625[1]
Charles I 24 1625 27 March 26 March 30 January 1649
Charles II 37[h] 1649 30 January 29 January 6 February 1685
James II 4 1685 6 February 5 February 11 December 1688[i]
"William and Mary" 6 1689 13 February[j] 12 February 27 December 1694
William III 8
(7 to 14)[k]		 1694 28 December[k] 27 December 8 March 1702
Anne 13 1702 8 March 7 March 1 August 1714
George I 13 1714 1 August 31 July 11 June 1727
George II 34 1727 11 June 10 June 25 October 1760
George III 60[l] 1760 25 October 24 October 29 January 1820
George IV 11[m] 1820 29 January 28 January 26 June 1830
William IV 7 1830 26 June 25 June 20 June 1837
Victoria 64 1837 20 June 19 June 22 January 1901
Edward VII 10 1901 22 January 21 January 6 May 1910
George V 26 1910 6 May 5 May 20 January 1936
Edward VIII 1 1936 20 January 11 December 11 December 1936
George VI 16 1936 11 December 10 December 5 February 1952[2]
Elizabeth II 71 1952 6 February 5 February 8 September 2022
Charles III Ongoing 2022 8 September 7 September
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Notes

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  1. ↑ John of England's regnal years are unusual for not starting on the same date every year, but rather on Ascension Day, a movable feast of the liturgical calendar. Start dates for John's regnal years are (Sweet & Maxwell's Guide 1962, p. 23):
    • Year 1 – 27 May 1199
    • Year 2 – 18 May 1200
    • Year 3 – 3 May 1201
    • Year 4 – 23 May 1202
    • Year 5 – 15 May 1203
    • Year 6 – 3 June 1204
    • Year 7 – 19 May 1205
    • Year 8 – 11 May 1206
    • Year 9 – 31 May 1207
    • Year 10 – 15 May 1208
    • Year 11 – 7 May 1209
    • Year 12 – 27 May 1210
    • Year 13 – 12 May 1211
    • Year 14 – 3 May 1212
    • Year 15 – 23 May 1213
    • Year 16 – 8 May 1214
    • Year 17 – 28 May 1215
    • Year 18 – 19 May 1216
  2. ↑ Edward I's regnal years are unusual for starting and ending on the same day (20 November), rather than ending one day, and starting the next.
  3. ↑ Edward III is given two different regnal years, one for England, and another for France (the only claimant for whom this is done). English years are unbroken between 1327 and 1377. French years are counted from the start date of 25 January 1340 (beginning of Year 1 France and Year 14 England), and interrupted on 8 May 1360 (end of Year 21 France); the French numbering resumes on 11 June 1369 as beginning of French Year 30, and follows the English start/end dates (25/24 January) thereafter until 21 June 1377, the end of English year 51 and French year 38.
  4. ↑ From Richard II onwards, every new king's regnal year begins exactly on the day on or after the end of the previous king's reign (previous transitions often had a gap of several days, sometimes weeks). Henceforth, in official terms, "England always has a king", i.e. there will not be a day in subsequent English history without a reigning monarch (with the exception of the Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689; see below).
  5. ↑ Henry VI was deposed by Edward IV on 4 March 1461, officially bringing his reign and last regnal year to a close. However, Henry VI briefly recovered the throne in 1470–1471, so he has an extra regnal year, dated from 9 October 1470 to c. April 1471, and referred to as the 49th year ("Anno ab inchoatione regni nostri") or 1st year of restoration ("Readeptionis nostrae regiae potestatis"). Henry VI's "restoration" year does not mar the continuity of Edward IV's regnal years – Edward IV's 10th Year is counted unbroken as beginning from 4 March 1470 and ending 3 March 1471, his 11th year beginning 4 March 1471, etc.
  6. ↑ Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Days Queen", who was Queen Jane from 6 July 1553 to 17 July 1553, is not present in the official record. Mary I's reign officially begins on 6 July 1553.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Mary I married the Habsburg prince Philip (future Philip II of Spain) on 25 July 1554, who was promptly made co-ruler of England. Their joint reign is officially referred to as "Philip and Mary", but the numbering of their regnal years is not reset to 1 for both, but rather retained separately for each. So the first year of "Philip and Mary", which begins on 25 July 1554, is officially referred to as "1 & 2" (1st year of Philip, 2nd year of Mary). There is the complication, of course, that Mary's previous regnal year began on 6 July, a few weeks before Philip's start date of 25 July. So the numbers between those two days are adjusted. Taken continuously, the regnal year numbers are:
    • 1 Mary : 6 July 1553 – 5 Jul 1554
    • 2 Mary : 6 Jul 1554 – 24 Jul 1554
    • 1 & 2 Philip and Mary : 25 Jul 1554 – 5 Jul 1555
    • 1 & 3 Philip and Mary: 6 Jul 1555 – 24 Jul 1555
    • 2 & 3 Philip and Mary; 25 Jul 1555 – 5 Jul 1556
    • 2 & 4 Philip and Mary: 6 Jul 1556 – 24 Jul 1556
    • 3 & 4 Philip and Mary; 25 Jul 1556 – 5 Jul 1557
    • 3 & 5 Philip and Mary: 6 Jul 1557 – 24 Jul 1557
    • 4 & 5 Philip and Mary; 25 Jul 1557 – 5 Jul 1558
    • 4 & 6 Philip and Mary: 6 Jul 1558 – 24 Jul 1558
    • 5 & 6 Philip and Mary: 25 Jul 1558 – 17 November 1558
  8. ↑ The Commonwealth era (1649–1660) is obliterated from the official record. The beginning regnal date of Charles II is 30 January 1649, the day his father was executed. However, Charles II would only become de facto king on 29 May 1660, officially regarded as the 12th year of his reign. During the Commonwealth era, public documents did not have any regnal or republican calendar, just the conventional calendar date, the "Year of Our Lord", with normal month and day.
  9. ↑ The English official record regards James II as having abdicated on 11 December 1688, the day he slipped out of London (he was captured the next day in Rochester). His formal deposition did not take instrument until 12 February 1689, by a declaration of the convention of old parliamentarians at Westminster (see "Glorious Revolution"), which backdated the "abdication" to 11 December. That declaration was entered into statute law later that year, in December 1689 (1 Will & Mar., 2nd Sess., c.2).
  10. ↑ This is the exception to "England always has a King" rule, prevailing since the reign of Richard II. With James II officially deposed on 11 December 1688, and William & Mary officially beginning 13 February 1689, there is a space of nearly two months in which England, officially speaking, is without a monarch.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 In regnal numbering, the relationship between "William and Mary" and "William III" is a little tricky. In the Philip and Mary I case, back in the 1550s, each monarch was given their own regnal date and stuck with it. William III and Mary II ascended as monarchs on the same date (13 February 1689), and so it was unnecessary to state it as "1 & 1 William and Mary", but simply "1 William and Mary". But Mary's death (on 27 December 1694, in the 6th year of W & M) complicated numbering. If the 1550s model had been used, then William III should have continued on his 6th year until 13 February 1695, when the new regnal year, the 7th year of William III, should have begun. However, in this instance, the regnal start day (but not the year) was reset after Mary's death, so William III's 7th year began prematurely on 28 December 1694.
  12. ↑ George III was declared incapacitated on 5 February 1811, in the course of his 51st regnal year. However, the regnal dating was unaffected by the Regency, so regnal years were still measured by George III's regnal date of 25 October, until his death in 1820.
  13. ↑ George IV's period as prince regent (1811–1820) for his ailing father, George III, is not counted in his regnal numbering.

References

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Citations

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  1. ↑ Sweet & Maxwell's Guide 1962, p. 29.
  2. ↑ Sweet & Maxwell's Guide 1962, p. 33.
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