Which are the worst British kings and queens?

I have questions about the Kings and Queens of England?

• I am very interested in old kings and queens of England so I have made a list of questions? Did people need to bow and curtsy every time they saw the king and left him? Could people say no to the king of England? What did the Queens of England do? What were women's place in the court? Did women have to do everything that was told of them? What were names that people especially that women needed to call the king such as...(You're Grace, You're Majesty, My Liege, My Lord, etc...) What was the average marriage age? How far apart were the average bride and the groom in age? It is okay if you can't answer all the question but even just a few would be helpful!

• Answer:

  In past centuries people would certainly bow or curtsey every time they entered or left the king's presence. You would also be expected to leave the king or queen's presence backwards (it was rude to turn your back on royalty). Saying no to the king was tricky, but it could be done. Anne Boleyn did it for several years. The Queens would bear the heirs to the throne, oversee the upbringing and education of their children. They would act as regents for their husbands in their absence, like Catherine of Aragon did for Henry VIII, or sometimes for sons (Eleanor of Aquitaine for instance acted as regent for Richard I while he wass away on crusade) They would concern themselves with charitable and religious works,ffor instance Matilda, wife of Henry I, endowed a leper hospital, a priory of Augustinian canons, and public baths and lavatories. In extreme cases she might haved to take up arms (as Matilda, wife of King Stephen did for instance during the prolonged war between her husband and the Empress matilda). In the medieval and early modern period there were not a great many women at court except for the queen's ladies in waiting. Most court officials and servants were men. Women at court would be expected to do what they were told by the King and Queen, but they would not be expected to do anything that was unreasonable. And in certain cases a court lady might say 'no' as for instance the aforementioned Anne boleyn did. women at court would mostly be ladies in the service of the Queen, who would keep an eye on them. The Queen was supposed to be responsible for the good conduct of her ladies. When a woman married, she was expected to obey her husband, and he was supposed to treat her with kindness and consideration. However, if she had sons they would be expected to defer to her, and a woman would also expect to be defered to by men of a lower social station. Age and rank were important factors in who told who what to do, as well as gender. 'Your Grace' was the usual form of address for kings during the medieval period, I believe the title 'Your Majesty' was introduced in the reign of Henry VIII. 'My Lord' would be a more usual form of address for a nobleman rather than the king. Girls of the upper classes were often married quite young, so a woman of noble birth might be in her early teens when she was married, though not all noble women got married that young, for instance Anne Boleyn was still unmarried when in her early twenties. Among the common people, it was more usual for people to marry in their twenties. The bridgegroom might be older than his bride, but very large differences in age were generally disapproved of. Medieval and early modern writers often mocked the idea of marriages between very young brides and very old grooms, there were lots of medieval stories about such marriages coming to grief, like for instance the Merchant's Tale in Chaucer's Canterbury tales, in which Chaucer writes : "January should not wed May."