Who was the first ever king/queen?

Question

Also: How did the monarchy begin? How were the first ever king/queen/monarchs chosen? Involves a lot about religion or something?

I watched Elizabeth (great film) on Film4 yesterday and this question sprung to mind.

I am referring to England's Monarchy.

Answer 1

King Alfred the Great was the first King of all England, before that all the kingdoms of England had their own king.

The current Monarchy can trace itself back to Cerdic though, a Saxon king in the 5th century who was born in Germany, but came and invaded what is now England with the Anglo-Saxons, who are now the English, displacing the original Welsh population. We have no record of his ancestors, but they wouldn't have been kings, merely tribal leaders (the Saxons didn't have Kings until they came to England). He wasn't the only king who came across in the Anglo-Saxon invasion, but he was the ancestor of all the Kings of Wessex, who eventually became the Kings of all England, after Alfred claimed that title, and that line lives on to this day as kings of all England and later Britain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerdic_of_Wessex

Remember, the current monarchy is the line of what was the English monarchy, who just happen to rule over all of the UK now. There may have been Kings of all of what is now England before Alfred, but England didn't exist then, and they aren't related at all to the current Monarchs.

Answer 2

Well depending on how you interpret, king queen/monarchy, probably they have existed as long as man.
In the earliest of recorded history there have been kings and queens, old testament, ancient Egypt etc
In ancient times, Britain was a collection of kingdoms whereby several kings ruled. Put simply, wherever humans have lived as a social group, there has been a hierarchy, and notably a leader, picked for strength, wisdom, courage etc. As the society grew in numbers, and evolved so would the system of monarchy, i.e. the dynasty of leaders following on in succession. In Britain our monarchy has over 1000 year history and despite a lot of nonsensical rumblings from some, will continue for the foreseeable future. These are my thoughts, not a catalyst for further infantile ramblings!

Answer 3

Greetings from sunny Florida. Are you talking about england only? If so.. The Romans ruled England from 43 - 450 AD. England was divided into Kingdoms from 613-1017. Then the Danish ruled from 1017-1066, at which time, Englands fist 'proper' King, William the Conquerer (William I) won the battle of Hastings and then the England Monarchy carried on nearly uninterrupted, if you forget about that mess in the mid 17th century.

i found a great site: http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5.asp

Answer 4

To start each tribe had it's own King, then as tribes fought each other and took over their opponents territory the area each king controlled would get bigger. King Alfred was often hailed as the 1st King of the Britons, but even he did not rule all of England. The first King of England, Wales and Scotland was James 1st who ruled after Elizabeth.

Answer 5

Canute, when they told him of what it meant to be a King, that he could command the whole country, He went and sat in the ocean as the tide was coming in and ordered the waves to go back out. He did this to show how foolish the idea of "King" was.

At least I think it was Canute, here is the wikipedia link anyhow.

Answer 6

Elvis was the first rock n roll king

Answer 7

I believe Oscar Wilde was the first queen.

Answer 8

Alfred the Great.

And by the way, Cate Blanchett will be filming an "ELIZABETH" sequel.

Answer 9

I don't think we will ever know the first ever royal family. Pre humans existed in tribes, and my guess would be it was one of the homonoids(first pre human species).

Answer 10

Hmmmmm, good question. You can probably go to www.wikipedia.org to find out the answer.