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Evolution of the Royal Arms of England 
George I Reigned 1714-1727 Born 1660 - Died 1727 George I - In 1714, the fourth quarter was changed to three sections tierced per pale and per chevron for Hanover: (1) Gules two lions passant guardant or; (2) Or semy of hearts gules a lion rampant azure; and (3) Gules a horse courant argent. Overall, an escutcheon of pretence gulescharged with the Crown of Charlemagne.) Same arms for George II. George I was Elector of Hanover and the first Hanoverian king of Great Britain as a result of the Act of Settlement of 1701. A great-grandson of King James I, George married his cousin Sophia Dorothea in 1682. Just twelve years later, however, he divorced her for alleged infidelity and imprisoned her in a castle until her death, 32 years later. In 1701 he became eligible for the English throne following the Act of Settlement. This sought to guarantee a Protestant monarch in opposition to the exiled Catholic claimant James Edward, the Old Pretender. George was third in line to the throne, after Princess Anne (queen from 1702-14) and his mother Sophia. When George's mother died in June 1714, he became heir and, on the death of Queen Anne in August, he became king. |
