1066.--William the First, "The Conqueror," came over the sea from Normandy; Matilda of Flanders, his Queen, worked the far-famed Bayeux Tapestry.
1087.--William Rufus built Westminster Hall, London Bridge, and added to the Tower; But had no gracious Queen to share his throne and power.
1100.--Henry I., "Beauclerc," his Saxon subjects' favor strove to gain; Matilda of Scotland, his first wife, then Adelicia of Louvain.
1135.--Stephen, his crown to gain, cost England many precious lives; Matilda of Boulogne--her abbey at Feversham no longer survives.
1154.--Henry II., Fitz Empress, first of the Plantagenet line of Kings; Eleanor of Aquitaine, of whose beauty "the troubadour" sings.
1189.--Richard I., the first King who fought in Palestine; Berengaria with him went, Princess of Navarre's royal line.
1199.--John signed the Magna Charta--o'er his crown the great sea rages; Isabella of Angoulême his Queen, "the Helen of the Middle Ages."
1216.--Henry III. had civil wars, where many of his people fell; Eleanor of Provence his Queen, surnamed "La Belle."
1272.--Edward I., the last King to hold the Crusader's lance; Eleanora of Castile first wife; then Marguerite of France.
1307.--Edward II., murdered monarch of a kingly race; Isabella, "the Fair," from France, most beauteous of face.
1327.--Edward III., to claim his rights in France, lost many brave men slain; Philippa of Hainault, his loving wife, from Belgium's fertile plain.
1377.--Richard II., feeble King, to Bolingbroke his crown he did resign; Anne of Bohemia, then Isabella of France, Queen at the age of nine.
1399.--Henry IV. obtained a usurper's crown through many cruel deeds; Joanna of Navarre, a lovely lady, long imprisoned in the Castle of Leeds.
1413.--Henry V. carried war again to the sunny land of France; Katherine of Valois, not long a Queen, whose beauty did entrance.
1422.--Henry VI.'s reign was troubled by the wars of York and Lancaster; Margaret of Anjou's varied life was one of sorrow and disaster.
1461.--Edward IV.'s stormy reign first learned the art of printing; Elizabeth Wydville, an English widow, won the heart of this King.
1483.--Edward V., whose reign was the shortest in English history; The death of this King and his brother was for some time a mystery.