Several years have been referred to as the Year of the Three Kings or Year of Three Kings. This list does include all years in which a country has had three kings or three claimants to the throne.
1016 in England: ÃÂthelred the Unready died in April, leaving the throne to Edmund Ironside, who reigned only until November, when he died and was succeeded by Cnut the Great.
1066 in England: Upon the death of Edward the Confessor in January, Harold Godwinson (Earl of Wessex), William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), and Harald Hardrada (King of Norway) all claimed the title of King of England. Harold defeated Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, leaving him to face William at the Battle of Hastings. William defeated Harold's forces (killing him in the process) and became king.
1316 in France: Louis X died in June, leaving the throne to his posthumous son as John I. Born on 15 November, John died only four days later, marking the end of more than three centuries of stable father-to-son succession to the French throne. John's uncle and regent Philip, Count of Poitiers, succeeded him as Philip V.
1483 in England: Edward IV died in April. His son Edward V, reigned until June, when his uncle and Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester deposed him and assumed the throne as Richard III.
1888 and 1889 in Buganda: Mwanga II fled in September 1888 after his chiefs sought to replace him with his brother, Kiweewa. Six weeks later, Muslim chiefs captured Kiweewa and replaced him with their initial pick to be kabaka, Kalema. In 1889, Mwanga retook the throne from Kiweewa.
1936 in the United Kingdom: After the death of George V in January, his son Edward VIII became king, only to abdicate in December amidst a constitutional crisis. He was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI.
2001 in Nepal: Upon the assassination of King Birendra in the Nepalese royal massacre, Crown Prince Dipendra, the perpetrator, was named king despite being comatose after shooting himself. Dipendra's uncle Gyanendra served as regent until the formerâÂÂs death three days later. Gyanendra then became king and was later deposed by the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.
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