Why no female monarchs early on?

[JonnyBoy12]

Does anyone know why there were no female rulers of England before Elizabeth 1, who was the daugheter of Henry 8th? Did he change this law himself then?

[MustafaTickl]

Well, Queen Boudicea was indisputably the first to be buried under a platform in Kings Cross Station.

[jno]

I don't know the ruler, JonnyBoy, but who does it list before Elizabeth? The sequence was Henry VIII (1509-47), Edward VI (1547-53), Lady Jane Grey (nine days, not crowned, 1553), Mary I (1553-1558), Elizabeth (1558-1603).

Mustafa, define 'indisputably'.

[jake-the-peg]

Well, Elanor was not Queen (other than queen consort) but certainly regent.

There were others who exercised a lot of power too. Henry VI' s wife Margaret of Anjou was a very dominant person and very much wore the breaches in their relationship.

When they were captured by Richard duke of York, she escaped and raised an army eventually capturing York and beheading him, freeing her husband before finally losing the Battle of Towton which was the bloodiest battle on English soil - 30,000 dead maybe 1% of England.

You wouldn't have wanted to get on Margarets wrong side

[MustafaTickl]

Indisputably - impossible to doubt or dispute: not open to question: obviously the truth by conforming to reality and expectation.

[MustafaTickl]

Breeches, Jake.

[naomi24]

Too true Jake!

[JonnyBoy12]

The Ruler of Rulers I refer to is made of wood, and is available at most English Heritage sites, the one I saw it at is Stokesay Castle. I did not go back further than 1066, so that is why I slipped up. I was also told that there are 602 rooms at Buckingham Palace, but on a recent visit there this was not completely true.

[Famous5]

Another point to consider is that until the 1880s married women couldn't own property in their own right - it all went to the husband. So the greatest property a woman could own was the nation, and nobody wanted to give sovereignty to another country. Mary was perilously close to this when she married Phillip of Spain

[MustafaTickl]

As you say,Jonny,the Ruler of Rulers starts at 1066 - we have one here. A useful reference for British Monarchs is here but is incomplete as under Monarchs of England and Wales it omits Lady Jane Grey who was Queen for 9 days in 1553.

The number of rooms in Buckingham Palace is officially stated to be 775.