The beginning of the monarchy in Britain could be traced back to the 9th century. In the following thousands of years, altogether 12 royal houses have ruled the country. Chronically speaking, there were Normans, Plantagenet family, House of Lancaster, House of York, House of Lancaster, House of York, House of Tudor, House of Stuart, Commonwealth, House of Stuart, House of Hanover, House of Sax-Cobourg-Gotha and House of Winsor.
The throne was hereditary, that is, only the members of royal family could became the monarch. If the throne is passed on to a male member of the royal family, the name of the royal house will remain the same; however, once the throne is given to the female member of the royal family, the name of royal house will change with the family name or land. The only exception is the current royal house the House of Winsor.
The originally name of the House of Winsor was House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a German name coming from Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The name was carried on by Queen Victoria's son Edward VII. However, when Edward VII's son George V was on the throne, the First World War broke out in which Germany was the enemy of Britain. Under this circumstance, George V renounced all the German title inherited from his grandfather and changed the name of the royal house to Winsor. The present Elizabeth II is the fourth monarch of House of Winsor.
The current royal family includes Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip and their four children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Prince Charles had two sons Prince William and Prince Henry lining behind him to take the throne. Since April 2011, the British royal family received a new member Princess Kate.
英国君主制最早可以追溯到公元9世纪。在接下来的十几个世纪中,共有12家皇室家族统治过 英国。英国历代朝代依次是诺曼王朝、金雀花王朝、兰开斯特王朝、约克王朝、兰开斯特王朝、约 克王朝、都铎王朝、斯图亚特王朝、共和国时期、斯图亚特王朝、汉诺威王朝、萨克斯·科堡·哥 达王朝和温莎王朝。 英国皇位是世袭的,因此只有皇室成员才有权利继承皇位。如果皇位传给男性皇室成员,那么 朝代名称保持不变;而如果皇位传给女性皇室成员,那么新的朝代通常是根据执政王的家族姓氏或 封地来命名,然而,英国目前的朝代——温莎王朝是唯一不是这样命名的朝代。 根据以上规定,温莎王朝最初叫做“萨克斯·科堡·哥达”王朝,这是继承了他母亲维多利 亚女王的王位后根据他父亲德国萨克斯·科堡·哥达家族王子艾尔伯特的封号“萨克斯·科堡·哥 达”命名的。爱德华七世在位时,第一次世界大战爆发。德国成为英国的死敌。1901年继位的英王 乔治五世居然还保持着具有浓厚德国色彩的朝代名称——萨克斯·科堡·哥达王朝,引起英国人民 强烈的愤怒和不满,因此乔治五世决定放弃“萨克斯·科堡·哥达”这个德国姓氏并更改为温莎王 朝。现在的伊丽莎白二世女王是温莎王朝第四代君主。 当今温莎王朝的皇室成员包括伊丽莎白二世女王和丈夫菲利普王子以及四个子女查尔斯王子、 安娜公主、安德鲁王子和爱德华王子。王储查尔斯王子生有两个儿子威廉王子和哈里王子,两人排 在父亲之后依次继承皇位。2011年4月英国皇室迎来了新成员凯特王妃。
084 Mary I
Mary I was the fi rst English queen in the history of England whose ruling lasted from 1553 to 1558. During the reign of Mary I, the economy of England declined sharply and the Protestants were cruelly oppressed and England lost its last continental territory, Calais, in the war with France.
Mary I was born on 18 February 1516 as the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. When Henry VIII intended to divorce Catherine and was rejected by Roman Pope, he built up the Church of England and allowed himself to settle his own affair, that is to divorce Catherine. Mary I suffered a lot from the divorce. At the time when Ann Boleyn was the new queen, Mary I was deprived of her title and made into a maid for Ann's daughter Elizabeth.
Mary was a devout Catholic all though her life despite that her father spent most of his time breaking with the Roman Catholic Church. Because of her religious belief, when she was due to become the queen of England, a faction of Protestants made her cousin Lady Jane Grey queen instead of her. However, with the support of most English people who favored her more, Mary replaced Jane Grey only nine days after her crowning.
However, once queen, Mary I's ruling disappointed English people one time after another. First, she denied all the effort her father and her halfbrother Edward made in establishing Church of England and conformed to Roman Catholic again. In order to seek obedience, she made laws against Protestants beliefs. In the following years, Mary's persecution of Protestants was extremely bloody. Within only 3 years, near 300 hundred Protestants were burnt at the stake and earned
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OCABULARY 7kCnti5nentlE n. a. di5vaut a. 5fAkFEn n. 5krauniN n. a. v. E5bi:djEns, -diEns n. 7pE:si5kju:FEn n. 5blQdi a. vt. ad. kEu5E:s vt. 背景链接T
IPS ·were popular. Then, she married Philip II of Spain which irritated her subjects because English people have long considered Spain as their biggest enemy. What's more, Philip was also a Catholic; it added more negative feelings on English people towards Philip. It was Philip who coerced Mary to enter war with France, which resulted in the loss of Calais, England's last possession in France.
Deserted by Philip, Mary I died childless on 17 November 1558 owning to sickness and was succeeded by her Protestant halfsister Elizabeth I.
085 Elizabeth I
W h e n Q u e e n Ma r y I died, Elizabeth took the t h r o n e a n d b e ca m e t h e Q u e e n o f En g l a n d a n d Ireland. She was the first Queen in the history that ruled the country for as long as nearly half a century from 1558 to 1603.
El i za be th w as b o r n on 7 September 1533 as the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn and halfsister of Mary I. Like Mary, Elizabeth also had a painful childhood. When she was only two years old, her mother was accused of being unfaithful to her father and was beheaded, then Elizabeth was declared not the daughter of Henry VIII. As a Protestant, when Mary was listed the next monarch after Edward, Elizabeth was brought out to prevent Mary becoming Queen. In addition, listed second in line behind Mary I, Elizabeth has been long considered as a big threat by Mary and even put in prison for some time. These experiences taught Elizabeth how to avoid unnecessary risks and she tried to keep away from any political involvement.
When Elizabeth took the throne from Mary I, the country was in chaos. The English people suffered a lot from Mary's ruling and expected little from another woman ruler. Elizabeth soon proved them wrong with her intelligence and sophisticated handling of religious issues. Elizabeth accepted the existence of different religious worship and embraced them. As a protestant, Elizabeth broke away from the Catholic Pope as was wished and reestablished the Church of England as her father did.
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OCABULARY E5kju:z vt. vi. bi5hed vt. in5vClvmEnt n. sE5fistikeitid a. v. 5rAdikEl n. a. 5vE:dVin n. a. 5ledVEndEri n. a. 背景链接T
IPS · · · · · · ·so that it could be accepted by both Catholics and Protestants. Meanwhile, she had to fight with a small group of conservative Catholics and radical Protestants. Elizabeth's religious measures on the whole satisfied different religious groups and held them together.
Elizabeth I devoted all her life to the nation and never got married, thus gaining the title "Virgin Queen". In her ruling, great achievements were made. Britain defeated the Spanish Armada and became the No. 1 on the sea. The comprehensive national strength enhanced steadily. Therefore, Elizabeth I's reign is also referred as the Golden Age or the Elizabethan Age which is considered to be one of the most glorious in English history. The legendary Elizabeth I died on 24 March 1603, leaving no heir to succeed her crown. Her cousin James VI of Scotland became the next monarch, known as King James I of England.
086 Queen Victoria
Q u e e n Vi c t o r i a became the Queen of England in 1837 at the age of 18 and ruled the country till her death in 1901. Reigning England for 63 years, she was the longest reigning British monarch. Queen Victoria u she r ed th e g l or i o us "Victorian Era" in Britain during which period the British Empire reached its height and became the leading power of the world.
Born on 24 May 1819, Victoria was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, and Victoria Maria Louisa of SaxeCoburg. Her father died when she was only eight months old and she was raised by her mother. At the age of 18, upon her uncle King William IV's death, Victoria inherited the crown and became the British Queen since William IV had no legitimate children. Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert on 10 February 1840 and they had nine children. The couple was very happy together and set a very good example for the whole empire. Albert was Victoria's secret secretary and Victoria relied on him heavily. It was during Albert's lifetime that Queen Victoria was the most active in ruling. However, the death of Albert in 1861 left Victoria heartbroken. She had never recovered from her husband's death. Gradually, she withdrawn from public life and even missed the state opening of Parliament which made her unpopular among her subjects. Her focus was on her family. All of her nine children got married and eight of them had children of
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OCABULARY 5iErE n. 5QFE n. vt. vi. li5dVitimit a. vt. wiT5drC: vt. vi. ri5^ein n. vt. vi. 5empris n. prCs5periti n. 背景链接T
IPSeventually married into the European royal families, such as Spain, Russia, Sweden and etc. Victoria was thus known as the "Grandmother of Europe".
By the late 1870 and 1880s, Victoria gradually returned to public life and regained favor. In 1877, she became the Empress of India. During her reign, the British took up a quarter of the world's territory and the British Empire included Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and most parts of Africa. The expansion in Industry and trade turned Britain into the workshop of the world. Every aspect of Britain and British people's life was improved and developed.
After witnessing the prosperity she brought to Britain, Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901.
087 Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II is the fifth monarch of the House of Winsor and the present Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She is also one of the longest monarchs on the throne. Elizabeth II is highly respected for her rich experience in political issues since she has worked with six governments and eleven ministers. In her weekly meeting with the prime minister, she could always offer good advice to handle the public affairs.
Born in 21 April 1926 as the first daughter of Albert, duck of York and Lady Elizabeth BowesLyon, Elizabeth didn't expect too much from becoming the British Queen because her father was the second son of King George V and the throne should be given to her uncle King Edward Ⅷ. However, King Edward Ⅷ gave up the throne to marry a divorced American woman Wallis Warfield Simpson and became the first king in the British history to give up the throne. Elizabeth II's father Albert succeeded the throne and became King George VI which made Elizabeth the next in line to become a queen. Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten,
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OCABULARY ris5pektid a. v. di5vC:sd a. sEk5si:d vi. vt.lef5tenEnt; le5tenEnt; lju:5tenEnt
n. 5sQbdVikt n. vt. a. 5kB:sl n. vt. 背景链接
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IPSa British naval lieutenant in 1947 and her husband became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Their first son Prince Charles was born in 1948 and they have three other children Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Queen Elizabeth made effort to shorten the distance between common people and royal families. She allowed the public to have more information about the royal families so that the life of royal family became less mysterious. Queen Elizabeth even met her subjects informally and invited people of all walks of life to lunch at Buckingham Palace. In 1992, the Winsor Castle caught fire and caused some damage. In order to raise money to repair Winsor Castle, the Buckingham Palace was partly opened to the tourists in the following year. Consequently, the British public had a closer access to the royal family.
Prince Charles, the first son of Queen Elizabeth will be the next king of Britain, followed by his son Prince William and Prince Harry.