List of monarchs of the British Isles by cause of death

This is a list of Monarchs of the British Isles by cause of death.
They are grouped by the type of death and then ordered by the date of death. The monarchical status of some people is disputed, but they have been included here for the sake of completeness.
== Natural causes ==
Those monarchs that are assumed to have died through natural causes (through disease).
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
Kenneth I 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	after 800 	843–858 	13 February 858 	Tumour
Constantine II 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	before 879 	900–943 	952 	
Edred 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 923 	946–955 	23 November 955 	
Edgar the Peaceable 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 943 	959–975 	8 July 975 	
Ethelred the Unready 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 968 	978–10131014–1016 	23 April 1016 	
Edmund Ironside 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 988/993 	1016 	30 November 1016 	
Sweyn Forkbeard 	Danish Kings (England) 	??? 	1013–1014 	3 February 1014 	
Malcolm II 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	c. 980 	1005–1034 	25 November 1034 	
Canute 	Danish Kings (England) 	c. 995 	1016–1035 	12 November 1035 	
Harold Harefoot 	Danish Kings (England) 	c. 1015 	1035–1040 	17 March 1040 	
Harthacanute 	Danish Kings (England) 	1018 	1040–1042 	8 June 1042 	
St Edward the Confessor	West Saxon Restoration (England) 	c. 1004 	1042–1066 	4 January 1066 	
Edgar 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	1074 	1097–1107 	8 January 1107 	Duncan, p. 60
Alexander I 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	c. 1078 	1107–1124 	23 April 1124 	
Edgar the Atheling 	West Saxon Restoration (England) 	c. 1051 	1066 	c. 1126 	Proclaimed by surviving English nobles, clerics and magnates, but never crowned, as the Normans approached after Hastings.
Henry I 	The Normans (England) 	c. 1068 	1100–1135 	 	Died of food poisoning from eating "a surfeit of lampreys"
David I 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	1084 	1124–1153 	24 May 1153 	
Stephen 	House of Blois (England) 	c. 1096 	1135–1154 	25 October 1154 	
Malcolm IV 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	23 April/24 May 1141	1153–1165 	9 December 1165 	His premature death may have been hastened by osteitis deformans.Duncan, pp. 74–75.
Matilda (Empress Maud) 	Angevins or Plantagenets (England) 	February 1102 	1141 	10 September 1167 	
Henry II 	Angevins or Plantagenets (England) 	5 March 1133 	1154–1189 	6 July 1189 	
William I 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	c. 1143 	1165–1214 	4 December 1214 	Natural causes
John "Lackland" 	Monarchs of England and Ireland (England)	24 December 1166 	1199–1216 	18/19 October 1216	Retreating from the French invasion, John crossed the marshy area known as The Wash in East Anglia and eventually succumbed to dysentery.
Alexander II 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	24 August 1198 	1214–1249 	6 July 1249 	Died after suffering a fever at the Isle of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides
Henry III 	Monarchs of England and Ireland (England)	1 October 1207 	1216–1272 	16 November 1272 	
Margaret 	House of Fairhair (England) 	9 April 1283 	1286–1290 	26 September 1290 	
Edward I "Longshanks" 	House of Plantagenet (England) 	17/18 June 1239 	1272–1307 	7 July 1307 	Dysentery (confirmed); cancer (possible)
John 	House of Balliol (Scotland) 	c. 1249 	1292–1296 	c. November 1314 	Natural causes
Robert I 	House of Bruce (Scotland) 	11 July 1274 	1306–1329 	7 June 1329 	Suffered for some years from what some contemporary accounts describe as an "unclean ailment"; the traditional story is that he died of leprosy, but this is disputed. Other suggestions include syphilis, psoriasis, and a series of strokes.
Edward Balliol 	House of Balliol (Scotland) 	c. 1283 	1332–1336 	c. 1364 	Natural causes
David II 	House of Bruce (Scotland) 	5 March 1324 	1329–1371 	22 February 1371 	Natural causes
Edward III 	Monarchs of England and Ireland (England)	13 November 1312 	1327–1377 	21 June 1377 	Died of a stroke
Robert II 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	2 March 1316 	1371–1390 	19 April 1390 	
Robert III 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	c. 1340 	1390–1406 	4 April 1406 	
Henry IV 	House of Lancaster (England) 	15 April 1367 	1399–1413 	20 March 1413 	Several years of ill health- some type of visible skin ailment. Leprosy is also rumoured to have been possible.
Henry V 	House of Lancaster (England) 	16 September 1386 	1413–1422 	31 August 1422 	Natural causes, probably dysentery
Edward IV 	House of York (England) 	28 April 1442 	1461–14701471–1483 	9 April 1483 	
Henry VII 	House of Tudor (England) 	28 January 1457 	1485–1509 	21 April 1509 	Tuberculosis
James V 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	10 April 1512 	1513–1542 	14 December 1542 	Died of ill health shortly after the Battle of Solway Moss
Henry VIII 	House of Tudor (England) 	28 June 1491 	1509–1547 	28 January 1547 	Suffered from gout, Obesity dates from a jousting accident in 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound. This prevented him from exercising and gradually became ulcerated. Also possibly suffered from syphilis and/or diabetes
Edward VI 	House of Tudor (England) 	12 October 1537 	1547–1553 	6 July 1553 	Tuberculosis, arsenic poisoning, or congenital syphilis?
Mary I 	House of Tudor (England) 	18 February 1516 	1553–1558 	17 November 1558 	Possibly ovarian cancer
Philip 	House of Habsburg (England) 	21 May 1527 	1554–1558 	13 September 1598 	
Elizabeth I 	House of Tudor (England) 	7 September 1533 	1558–1603 	24 March 1603 	Suffered from frailty and insomnia
James VI & I 	House of Stuart 	19 June 1566 	1567–1625 	27 March 1625 	Suffered from senility and died of 'tertian ague', probably brought on by kidney failure and a stroke
Charles II 	House of Stuart 	29 May 1630 	1660–1685 England1649–1651 and 1660–1685 Scotland(1649–1685 de jure)	6 February 1685 	Died suddenly of uremia
James II & VII 	House of Stuart 	14 October 1633 	1685–1688 	16 September 1701 	Stroke
Mary II 	House of Stuart 	30 April 1662 	1689–1694 	28 December 1694 	Died of smallpox at Kensington Palace
Anne 	House of Stuart 	6 February 1665 	1702–1714 	1 August 1714 	Died of suppressed gout, ending in erysipelas, an abscess and fever. Her 17 ill-fated pregnancies perhaps ravaged her body.
George I 	House of Hanover 	28 May 1660 	1714–1727 	11 June 1727 	Stroke
George II 	House of Hanover 	10 November 1683 	1727–1760 	25 October 1760 	Aortic dissection while on the toilet
George III 	House of Hanover 	4 June 1738 	1760–1820 	29 January 1820 	Porphyria - a genetic disorder. Suffered bouts of mental illness from 1788 onwards.
George IV 	House of Hanover 	12 August 1762 	1820–1830 	26 June 1830 	Upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the rupture of gastric varices. Suffered from cataracts, alcoholism, opioid dependence, obesity, gout, oedema, arteriosclerosis and possibly porphyria and cancer.
William IV 	House of Hanover 	21 August 1765 	1830–1837 	20 June 1837 	Congestive heart failure and bronchopneumonia.
Victoria 	House of Hanover 	24 May 1819 	1837–1901 	22 January 1901 	Age and heart failure
Edward VII 	House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 	9 November 1841 	1901–1910 	6 May 1910 	Bed-ridden by bronchitis, he died of a myocardial infarction
George VI 	House of Windsor 	14 December 1895 	1936–1952 	6 February 1952 	Suffered from lung cancer and arteriosclerosis due to heavy smoking; died of a coronary thrombosis
Edward VIII 	House of Windsor 	23 June 1894 	1936 	28 May 1972 	Throat cancer
==Killed==
===In battle===
Those that died in battle either as the antagoniser or otherwise.
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
Constantine I 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	unknown 	862–877 	877 	Killed fighting the Viking army
Edward the Elder 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 874–877 	899–924 	17 July 924 	Died leading an army against a Cambro-Mercian rebellion at Farndon-Upon-Dee
Malcolm I 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	before 900 	943–954 	954 	
Indulf 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	954–962 	962 	Killed fighting Vikings near Cullen
Kenneth III 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	before 967 	997–1005 	1005 	Killed in battle at Strathearn by Malcolm II
Duncan I 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	unknown 	1034–1040	15 August 1040 	Killed by his own men led by Mac Bethed at Pitgaveny near Elgin
Macbeth 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	c. 1005 	1040–1057	15 August 1057 	Defeated and mortally wounded by Máel Coluim mac Donnchada at the Battle of Lumphanan, dying at Scone.
Harold Godwinson 	West Saxon Restoration (England) 	c. 1022 	1066 	14 October 1066 	Killed at the Battle of Hastings
William I, the Conqueror	The Normans (England) 	c. 1028 	1066–1087	9 September 1087	Died at the Convent of St Gervais, near Rouen, France, from abdominal injuries received from his saddle pommel when he fell off a horse at the Siege of Mantes.
Malcolm III 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	c. 1031 	1058–1093	13 November 1093	Ambushed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, near Alnwick
Richard I, the Lionheart	Angevins or Plantagenets (England)	8 September 1157 	1189–1199	6 April 1199 	Died during a siege of the castle of Châlus-Charbrol in Limousin, France, facing a rebellion by the Viscount of Limoges and his half-brother, the Count of Angoulême
James II 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	16 October 1430 	1437–1460	3 August 1460 	An early-adopter of artillery, James was killed when a cannon exploded while attacking one of the last Scottish castles still held by the English after the Wars of Independence.
Richard III 	House of York (England) 	2 October 1452 	1483–1485	22 August 1485 	Killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
James III 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	10 July 1451/May 1452	1460–1488	11 June 1488 	Killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn while fighting an army raised by disaffected nobles, former councillors, and his son, the future James IV of Scotland.
James IV 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	17 March 1473 	1488–1513	9 September 1513	Killed at the Battle of Flodden while attacking the English
===Murdered, assassinated, executed or euthanised===
Those that were murdered, assassinated, executed away from the battlefield, or euthanised by their doctors.
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
Áed 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	unknown 	877–878 	878 	Killed by his successor, Giric
Edmund I 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 921 	939–946 	26 May 946 	Murdered at a party in Pucklechurch by Leofa, an exiled thief
Dub 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	962–966 	967 	
Cuilén 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	966–971 	971 	Killed in Lothian when the hall he was in was burnt to the ground
Amlaíb 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	?–977 	977 	Killed by Kenneth II
St Edward the Martyr	West Saxons (England) 	c. 962 	975–978 	18 March 978 	Killed at Corfe Castle by his stepmother Ælfthryth or one of her party. Canonised as Saint Edward the Martyr in 1001.
Kenneth II 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	971–?977–995 	995 	
Constantine III 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	before 971 	995–997 	997 	
Lulach 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	before 1033 	1057–1058 	17 March 1058 	Assassinated and succeeded by Malcolm III
Duncan II 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland) 	before 1069 	1094 	12 November 1094 	Killed by Máel Petair of Mearns
Edward II 	Monarchs of England and Ireland (England) 	25 April 1284 	1307–1327 	21 September 1327	Supposedly murdered in Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire after a metal tube (or, in some versions, a sawn-off ram's horn) and a red-hot poker were inserted into his anus. Allegedly by Sir John Maltravers of Dorset. No contemporary account survives to this effect, which is probably a later interpolation
James I 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	c. 25 July 1394 	1406–1437 	21 February 1437 	A group of Scots led by Sir Robert Graham assassinated James at the Friars Preachers Monastery in Perth. He attempted to escape his assailants through a sewer but, three days earlier, he had had the other end of the drain blocked up because of its connection to the tennis court outside.
Henry VI 	House of Lancaster (England) 	6 December 1421 	1422–14611470–1471	21 May 1471 	Imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was murdered
Jane 	House of Tudor (England) 	c. October 1537 	1553 	12 February 1554 	Executed (beheaded)
Mary I 	House of Stuart (Scotland) 	8 December 1542 	1542–1567 	8 February 1587 	Convicted of treason against the English Crown and beheaded at Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire
Charles I 	House of Stuart 	19 November 1600	1625–1649 	30 January 1649 	Found guilty of high treason by 59 commissioners and was beheaded
George V 	House of Saxe-Coburg-GothaHouse of Windsor	3 June 1865 	1910–1936 	20 January 1936 	Drug overdose (Euthanasia lethal injection administered by his doctor)
===Other===
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
Richard II	Angevins or Plantagenets (England)	6 January 1367 	1377–1399	c. 14 February 1400	Placed in Pontefract Castle, and probably murdered (or starved to death) there.
Edward V 	House of York (England) 	4 November 1470	1483 	c. 1483 	Imprisoned in the Tower of London along with his younger brother Richard, Duke of York; the date and cause of death of both Princes in the Tower remain unknown.
==Accidental death==
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
William II, Rufus	The Normans (England) 	c. 1056 	1087–1100	2 August 1100	Killed by an arrow through the heart during a hunting trip
Alexander III 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland)	4 September 1241	1249–1286	19 March 1286	Fell from his horse in the dark while riding to visit the queen at Kinghorn in Fife. He had been separated from his guides and it is assumed that in the dark his horse lost its footing.
William III & II 	House of Orange 	14 November 1650	1689–1702	8 March 1702 	Died of pneumonia, a complication from a broken collarbone resulting from a fall off his horse. He was asthmatic.
==Unknown==
Name 	House 	Born 	Reign 	Death 	Notes
Donald I 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	unknown 	858–862 	13 April 862 	According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, died "at the palace of Cinnbelathoir", possibly near or at Scone, probably from natural causes
Eochaid 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	878–889 	 	
Giric 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	878–889 	 	
Alfred the Great	West Saxons (England) 	c. 849 	871–899 	26 October 899	Married to Ealhswith in 868.Father of Edward the Elder
Donald II 	House of Alpin (Scotland) 	 	889–900 	 	According to the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba killed in battle against Vikings at Dunnottar
Ælfweard 	West Saxons (England) 	 	924 	2 August 924 	Apparently natural causes
Athelstan 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 895 	924–939 	27 October 939	Died at Gloucester, apparently natural causes
Edwy the Fair 	West Saxons (England) 	c. 941 	955–959 	1 October 959 	Presumed to be natural causes
Donald III 	House of Dunkeld (Scotland)	before 1040	1093–10941094–1097	1097 or after 	William of Malmesbury tells us that he was "slain by the craftiness of David ... and by the strength of William [Rufus]".Scottish Annals, p. 119. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says of Domnall that he was expelled, while the Annals of Tigernach have him blinded by his brother, for which we should read nephew.Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 1097. John of Fordun, following the king-lists, writes that Domnall was "blinded, and doomed to eternal imprisonment" by Edgar, omitting that the place of his imprisonment was said to be Rescobie, by Forfar, in Angus.Fordun, V, xxvi; Duncan, pp. 57–58; Oram, David I, pp. 47–48.
==See also==
* List of British monarchs by longevity
==Notes==
==References==
* Anderson, Alan Orr, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers A.D. 500–1286. D. Nutt, London, 1908.
* Duncan, A.A.M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002.
* John of Fordun, Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, ed. William Forbes Skene, tr. Felix J.H. Skene, 2 vols. Reprinted, Llanerch Press, Lampeter, 1993.
* McDonald, R. Andrew, Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266. Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003.
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