Part 3: From 32 to 1, how the voting went to find the true Greatest Ruler of England!

In Part 1 of this 3 part series, I described why and how the members of The History of England podcast went about voting for the Greatest Ruler of England. As connoisseurs of English history, we felt we were uniquely qualified to vote on this subject and to come to the correct conclusion. In Part 2 of this series we looked at each of the 58 recognised rulers of England and learnt a little about each of them and in which episodes their rule was covered in the History of England podcast, if it has been covered.

In this last part of the series, we will look at how the competition progressed and discuss any points of contention.

Round 2

Round 2 was a simple head-to-head round with pairs of monarchs voted for in Round 1 up against each other.

Heat 1 : Canute (Cnut) versus Edgar. Simple victory for King Canute, though some of the members with Anglo-Saxon leanings were shocked at a Dane gaining a victory over a true Anglo-Saxon King.

Heat 2 : Athelstan versus Anne. Despite quite a bit of sympathy for the 18 times pregnant, yet in the end childless Anne, the first King of England prevailed.

Heat 3: Victoria versus George III. The more well-known and until recently longest serving monarch defeated her long-lived but mentally ill grandfather, who also reigned when the British Empire lost the Americas.

Heat 4: Elizabeth I versus George I. Whilst Queenie had to literally use every trick in the book to stay alive long enough to ascend to the throne, George I who barely had any claim to the English throne, but was protestant was handed it to him on a plate. Not surprisingly, Queenie won this one in a landslide.

Heat 5 : Henry VIII versus Henry VII. Son versus dad. In this case the big man didn’t come out on top. Lots of historians are on a bit of a downer on the Tudors and Henry in particular these days, so Henry VII got the nod.

Heat 6: Edward IV versus Henry IV. Edward the IV is everybody’s favourite usurper, married for love instead of power and did a pretty decent job. Henry IV was a usurper too, and when young was a dashing figure, but his reign was a hotch-potch after that.

Heat 7: Elizabeth II versus William III and Mary II. QEII brushed aside William and Mary the only dual monarchy Great Britain has ever had (Mary had the better claim), and lets face it QEII was an amazing monarch!

Heat 8: George VI versus Edward VI. The late queen’s dad saw off Henry VIII’s only male heir Edward VI, the latter long depicted as a sickly weakling, when he was anything but. Yes, he dies young as a teenager, but so did many people of that age. up until his death he showed great resolve and physical appitude. But George VI (the monarch in the King’s Speech) got it.

Heat 9: Edward VII versus Henry I. Described as a “tubby rake” by one member of the podcast, Henry I, son of Billy the Conq got this one, probably because of his mad dash to claim the throne was a great feat of medieval athleticism, whilst his older brother William II was still warm but lying dead in a forest with an arrow sticking out of him!

Heat 10: William II versus Edward I. Easy victory for Edward I here, I mean you would not want to mess with Eddie … they bred them hard in those days!

Heat 11: Charles II versus Edward (The Confessor). It was Eddie’s supposed promise to Billy the Conq what done him in I think … The Merry Monarch won this one.

Heat 12: Edmund Ironside versus Henry II. Despite Edmund being a very impressive Anglo-Saxon King and one of the few who put up a real resistance to the later Vikings, it was that giant of the Plantagenets, Henry II who won this one easily. Another man not to mess with!

Heat 13: Edred versus Edward III. This was a no contest. Edward III has to go down as one of the greatest kings of all time, just the shear pageantry of it all.

Heat 14: William IV versus William I (The Conqueror). There was quite a bit of love for William IV, the Sailor King, but the sheer presence of Billy the Conq just blasted poor old William out of the contest. Shame.

Heat 15: Edmund versus Henry V. Another no contest, this was always going to the hero of Agincourt, Henry V.

Heat 16: Richard I versus Oliver Cromwell. Well this was a bit of a doozy, the members didn’t know which way to turn, in the end it was Cromwell who saw off Couer de Lion.

So here were the standings after Round 2.

Round 3

Round 3 had some very interesting clashes, father and daughter, the two longest reigning queens other than our late, great ERII, Saxon versus Dane, battle of the firsts and battle of the seconds, round 3 had it all!

Heat 1 : Canute v Athelstan. Thankfully the members had their wits about them on this one and sent the Dane packing 86 votes to 23, and giving Athelstan the victory that was rightfully his!

Heat 2 : Victoria v Elizabeth I. Wow! A battle of two titan Queens but you who would have thought it would be such a one-sided affair? Queenie thrashing Vicky by 104 votes to 16. Plainly the members had a candle for Queenie at this point …

Heat 3 : Henry VII v Edward IV. The Wars of the Roses (kind of) reared it’s head in this round, and it was a real slugging match in the mud for sure, but ultimately the “acceptable face of usurpation” came through once again and Edward beat Henry by 65 votes to 55.

Heat 4 : Elizabeth II v George VI. Daughter versus Father was always going to be a polite family affair, but let’s face it, despite the King’s sympathetic portrayal in The King’s Speech, his daughter’s epic reign through the most tumultuous of times won the day 92 to 43, and I’m sure Dad would have been proud.

Heat 5 : Henry I v Edward I. 105 votes to Edward to Henry’s 31. Says it all really. Edward’s strong hand won the day, but also his promotion of parliament and the imposition of the rule of law, as well as his love for Eleanor.

Heat 6 : Charles II v Henry II. The Merry monarch versus the definitely not merry monarch, but someone who liked a good laugh not doubt, but you needed to make sure whether he was really joking. Another titanic lawmaker and one who provided a huge step to the British and English attitude to law and order. Charlie, though no slouch himself and a very canny operator, not adverse to compromise (unlike Dad) , didn’t really stand a chance here. Henry won 136 to 12 …

Heat 7 : Edward III v William I (The Conqueror). If ever there was a contest where every true bloodied Englishman or woman should have been cheering on Edward III, this was it. Get that Norman out of here! Thankfully the members saw through things properly and kicked The Bastard out with Edward gaining 111 votes to 29 for the Norman invader…

Heat 8 : Henry V v Oliver Cromwell. Well Henry took this one 102 to 35, but I feel a bit sorry for Cromwell here. In all conscience, Cromwell was probably the better ruler and the more able administrator, but, you know … Agincourt … ’nuff said.

So here were the standings after Round 3.

Quarter Finals

The last 8 contestants poised to go into battle in the quarter finals, let’s see how they did!

Heat 1 : Athelstan v Elizabeth I. This quarter final saw through our first Semi-Finalist, in the end after a tough battle it was Gloriana, The Virgin Queen herself who battered her way past stout defence from the first King of all England Athelstan. Many fine words were said of the Saxon, many honourable defences, but the achievements, the perils endured and survived, the mystique and the myth of Elizabeth I proved too much for the brave grandson of Alfred the Great. So, we bid farewell to the father of all England from the competition.

Heat 2 : Edward IV v. Elizabeth II. The second heat of the Quarter Finals saw the late Queen Elizabeth II (66 votes) and her motor mechanic skills win over the crowd ahead of Edward IV (53 votes) and his magnate bashing skills … But it was a good contest again with another great turnout from the listeners, So we now had an all girl’s semi-final with Elizabeth I squaring up to Elizabeth II, that promised to be quite some match!

Heat 3 : Henry II v. Edward I. This Quarter Final saw the Battle of the Hard Men. In the end it wasn’t as tight a fight as many thought it might be. The clear winner was the instigator of English Common Law, Henry II (102 votes). The whole law thing seemed to be the main crowd pleaser for members of the podcast. Henry was generally forgiven for the unfortunate incident in Canterbury Cathedral, which was put down to over-zealous courtiers taking far too seriously a half-drunk in-jest throwaway line by Henry, liking as he did, a good joke. Edward I (31 votes) got plaudits for his support of parliament and his general preference for law and order, but his over-zealous interference in Scottish affairs and the subsequent fall out counted as a too big a black mark to match Henry’s fan club following.  So, Henry II cheerfully went through to the second Semi-Final.

Heat 4 : Edward III v. Henry V. Finishing off the semi-finals was “top lad” Edward III (77 votes) winning his joust against the Hero of Agincourt, Henry V (50 votes). Voting was consistent throughout the day and many fine words were written of both kings but the longevity of Edward III and some of his achievements off of the battlefield seem to count for more than Henry Vs incredible military successes.  So, Henry retired once more from the field of battle yet again not quite finishing what he started, and Edward III was now readying himself to face Henry II in the second semi-final.

Semi-Final 1 : Elizabeth I v. Elizabeth II. Was as mentioned an all ladies affair and a great semi-final it was too. However, the Battle of the Elizabeth’s was in the end a reasonably easy victory for Queenie (122 votes), but not without a lot of love and kind words given to our late great Queen Elizabeth II (40 votes)! 

Semi-Final 2: Henry II v. Edward III. This was, as expected a “slug-fest” between two of the finest warrior kings England ever had. Edward III the king who propelled England as a serious player into the political minefield that was Medieval Europe, brought the whole idea of chivalry to England, instigating traditions and awards that are still honoured to his day. Henry II likewise had a profound effect on the nation of England, promoting the rule of law to the top table and setting in stone one of the key aspects of England – nobody is above the law! In the end it was Edward’s military victories, his own fondness for law but above all his glamour and bling that one the day. Edward went through to the final with 135 votes to Henry’s 114.

The final was run over two days of voting, and in the end it was a decisive victory for Queenie! Yes Elizabeth I, was proclaimed by the listeners of The History of England, who “The Greatest Ruler” of England really was.

So we had the winner of our tournament at last ladies and gentlemen, after a long and hard fought battle, Queen Elizabeth I emerged victorious (145 votes)  over Edward III (94 votes). Not only in real life did she have immense challenges to overcome, she defeated eight monarchs in this competition to come out on top.

In Round 1 she defeated Edward V, Edmund II (Ironside) and George IV. In Round 2 she easily bested George I. She faced a much tougher nut to crack in Round 3 with Victoria. In the Quarter Finals she faced off and defeated Athelstan in a tough slogging match. In the semi-finals she defeated Elizabeth II after another tough bout and then finally she had an extended battle with Edward III for the grand title. Poor lass, must have been be knackered!

A good word for our runner-up too, Edward III, the warrior king, and he, as you would expect was pretty noble in defeat. You can see him kissing the hand of the Virgin Queen, what a guy!

So there you have it, we all now know who truly is the Greatest Ruler of England. It is Elizabeth I, Gloriana. You can tell your friends and family they can all stop worrying now, we have the definitive answer!

Here’s the final scores on the doors.

Don’t forget to visit The History of England Podcast site and see how to become a member. The podcast is available on all good platforms, as of the time of writing, the David Crowther the presenter and author has just covered in his own wonderfully funny and informative style the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Cheers